Author: Karen Hartline

I met with a new friend (@chancebar) a few weeks ago. I’ll be honest, I wasn’t sure what the reason was behind him asking to get together and was a little skeptical seeing as we briefly met the week before, but decided to make time to get together. We grabbed drinks and started the small talk (so what are you working on? why are you in town?) and about 15 minutes, there it was…the suggestion of me helping him with some upcoming events. I had to decline as I’m swamped with my full-time job right now and for my own sanity can’t take anything else on. At the same time, my brain started searching through my mental rolladex to think of someone else who was in the same space that I could connect him with.

Then he rocked my world in a way that’s never been rocked. He asked what he could do for me.

I was completely taken off guard with this question and again, my brain kicked in to overdrive trying to think of something. I had nothing. Then he called me on it…he asked why that was hard for me to answer and told me my demeanor completely changed. I was very uncomfortable.

I love giving gifts and doing things for others. I do it because I love the joy it brings to others, not because I expect something in return. I’m very independent and will drive myself into the ground before I ask for help with something. Alright, I call it independent. Others may call it stubborn. You say potato…I say potato. *Hmmm…that doesn’t really get my point across without audio.*

So why is it so hard for me to ask for help or even think about ways others can help me? Sometimes I wonder if this independence and self-sufficiency has lead to my lack of a dating relationship. I’ve been told I give off this ‘vibe’ that I don’t need a man…which I don’t, to be real honest, but that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t mind having one around. It has definitely caused me great stress in work situations as I won’t ask for help with work things as I feel it’s my responsibility to get things done. We’re all busy with our own things, so why would anyone have time to help me? *This is a pattern I’ve been working on for years and still can’t come to break it.*

So, I still don’t know the answer to his question of “What can I do for you?” Will I ever come up with an answer? Who knows. He did tell me he’d continue asking until I had something. I guess part of being a giver is learning to be a receiver as well. *Minds out of the gutters, kids…let’s keep things clean here!* Maybe you can help…what are things you need that I can help with? Or better yet, what are things you think I might need that you can help me with?

My name’s Karen and I’m a Twitter addict. *Hi Karen* If you know me, you’re not shocked by this confession. Twitter has truly changed my life and I really think it’s going to take over the world soon. Think of it as the Web2.0 Will Smith.

I heart Twitter so much that I not only applied for a job (I wanted to be @ev’s assistant. His loss!), but I even took them cupcakes to say congrats for their expansion. Yes, there was a slight ulterior motive behind the cupcakes (see previous sentence). Thinking I should send a bouncy castle or something for their recent news of fundraising.

As I meet new people, I often ask if they’re on Twitter. If they are, we exchange handles. If they aren’t, I get to rock their world with an intro to it. Yes, I’m that girl. It is my first choice for social media. Heck, even my blog URL is my Twitter handle (partially because karenhartline.com was taken.)

Twitter is a personal thing for me, which is why I don’t follow everyone back who follows me. It would become too overwhelming and I wouldn’t enjoy it nearly as much. I’d guess about 85% of those I follow are people I’ve met, yet I don’t follow everyone on Twitter I’ve ever met. The other 15%? People or brands I find entertaining.

I tweet multiple times a day and lately, have been trying to hold back. There’s just so much I want to share with others. There’s a sense of community when I send a tweet into twitter-space. I KNOW people are reading and I read all replies (thanks to Tweetdeck. Srsly…download this puppy if you haven’t already!)

I landed in the UK just almost 36 hours ago and will be here for 9 days. I already know it may kill me that I can’t tweet from my Blackberry, as the charges are redonkulous. If I’m not back in San Francisco on February 26th, you know why…

One final note…If you’re reading this and I don’t follow you on twitter, leave me a comment or reply to me on Twitter with your favorite cereal, band/music artist AND color and I’ll be happy to follow you. 😉 That at least makes me feel like I know you a little. And so you feel like you know me, I like Lucky Charms, Little Jackie and Green is my favorite color.