Healing the World: Elaine Shannon Interview
By Alex Fayle

I first met Elaine Shannon at the National Association of Professional Organizers conference in San Diego in 2005. She was running around conference finding the movers and shakers to show them the videos she had put together on organizing. Three years later, with her business partner Kim Eagles, she launched The Organizing Connection, a Web 2.0 based membership site that takes her original idea of organizing videos and expands on it a million times. I’ve been fortunate enough to work with them writing the scripts of these videos as well as having Elaine on the Board of Directors for Professional Organizers in Canada while I was President.

Who: Elaine Shannon of The Organizing Connection and www.ElaineShannon.com
Elaine is an energetic, dreamer, “I need to heal the word” kind of gal who is on a journey to living her dream of having an authentic life.

What variety of Someday Syndrome affected you the most? In what way?
I will get around to it someday. I was always the classic procrastinator and spent most of my life being late for everything. Thinking that I had all the time in the world. Maybe if I waited long enough it would come to me and it would be really easy.

How did it affect the rest of your life?
I always felt like everyone else had it better. They were lucky that things came to them and I was resentful. This is something I still struggle with. I know intellectually that happiness comes from within and why do I still look for it outside me?

How would you describe your happiness level at that time?
I would say that I did not think about it much as was living on autopilot. I just knew that I was not really happy and something was missing but not really aware of what it was.

Did the other varieties of Someday Syndrome appear in your life as well?
Someday my ship will come in is the underlying issue. Thinking that someone else would do it, fix it, or make it happen.

What changed? Was it gradual or did it come as an epiphany? Perhaps a mix the two?
I changed. Something inside me was unraveling. I felt like there was something else that I was not getting. It happened around the time I had my third child and he had so many health problems and I had a hard pregnancy and something shifted. Being with this little guy who was so sick but so happy made me see that his happiness came from inside, irregardless of his circumstances. He was pure joy to be around. This was seven years ago and the journey to self awareness is amazing…and scary at the same time. 

What dream are you in the process of realizing?
Having a family has changed everything. I see what is happening in the world. The high divorce rate, the increase in autism, families are burning and crashing every day. They don’t know how to be a family. How to stay connected and be a family. It has all become so “me” focused instead of “we” focused. So my dream is to have a family that is connected with each other and our community. I want to empower my children to find their passion and talents and to support them in reaching their fullest potential. Lastly to take our talents and passions as a family and to share what we know with other families so they can also live their lives to their fullest potential.  My dream is being realized  by creating a community website that will connect families and give them a place to share, connect and learn techniques to enable and inspire them to reach their fullest potential.

How would you describe your happiness level now?
I have at least one moment every day that I could burst with pure joy. It has been a long road and I am sure that I will have more and more of these joy filled moments every day.

What advice would you give someone in the position you were in before?
When I speak with people every day I look for the connection from person to person. Whether it is the panhandler on the street corner or your own children. We are all equal. Treat everyone with respect, see their light and embrace each meeting. Live with love in your heart.

Someday Lessons:

• There’s a big gap between knowing something and acting on it.
• Self-awareness does not happen overnight. Are you committed to the long haul?

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