Our homes affect our well-being. This became clear to Clara Johansson when visiting clients in their homes as a social worker. She decided to trust her conviction that we can fare better in well thought-out homes. Today, she helps people to tidy up at home and understand themselves and their behaviour.
“By far the best thing about my job is seeing people let go of things that have been keeping them back or causing them discomfort, and open themselves for a new life”, says Clara Johansson.
She graduated as a social worker from Linköping University and is passionate about people and their homes. She has combined her two passions since 2018 in the SolClara company, which helps people tidy up and organise their homes.
She felt it was natural to start her own business. She visited many homes during her five years as a social worker, and realised the significance of our homes for our well-being.
“I talked to a lot of people about how they were faring at home, and it became clear that many of them were not doing well. I know that it’s possible to make changes to improve well-being at home. I was itching to get going. I wanted to do something.” Photo credit Emi Svedberg
Creating order that persists
She decided to go for it, and travelled to London to take courses as a KonMari consultant. The KonMari method, developed by organisation expert Marie Kondo, focusses on creating order that persists. The core is a clearing process in which everything a person owns is cleared away. The only items retained are those that give good vibrations.
“You don’t just do one room at a time, but take the whole home at once. Both the clearing out and the organisation process are done in categories, and items of the same sort are to be given the same home.”
The psychological aspect
Clara Johansson has really got hold of the clearing process. But as time has passed, she has come to focus more intensively on the psychological aspect. As a social worker, she is interested in people and what causes them to feel good or otherwise – what causes various behaviours.
“The well-being of people, the connections between a person and their home, and the emotional ties we have to our possessions are what I focus on. When we examine in depth why we hold onto things and what it is that causes us to feel off kilter at home, well, then we can create a sustainable home in which we thrive”, she says.
Our homes are often not suited to the life we are living.
Meeting people
I learned a lot during my education as social worker that I use in my role today.
Increased knowledge about home and health
Translation by George Farrants.
