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"The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning: How to Free Yourself and Your Family from a Lifetime of Clutter" is a book that has been the topic of a number of discussions I've had with people lately. The book addresses the subject of downsizing and keeping only what we use. The reason to do it is to not let our "mess" be the job of our loved ones when we are gone.
Many of the topics in the book make a lot of sense as I read it. Downsizing does not need to happen just when we are old and ready to move to a smaller place or even a nursing home. It is actually a physically and emotionally demanding job to tackle and would be easier the younger we are.
Obviously, this isn't talking about young families but those of us who are past middle age could certainly benefit from at least starting the process. For some, it could take years and for some, it could be done in a few days.
If we think about it, it could be interesting to go through some of the storage areas that have "stuff" we never look at and are just saving. We might have even forgotten what is in these stored boxes. Our loved ones might benefit from stories about these items as we find them.
I was thinking of my parent's home where they lived for over 50 years. They did not accumulate stuff, and they used everything until it wore out or couldn't be fixed. But even so, there was an attic of stuff that had been there for most of these years, and we never did anything with it. Some of it was stuff they brought from their homes growing up. I try to imagine if my mom and dad would have done the Swedish death cleaning. I think my dad would have said, "Get rid of it all. We don't need it."
My mom would have gone through everything and wanted someone in the family to take what she thought was important. She would have been like me -- trying to find someone who could use everything. She might have given up the many boxes of fabric to a quilting group, realizing her dream of making quilts was not going to happen. The knickknacks she found in the attic, she would have given to the grandchildren. I don't think she would have ever completed the task because it would have been too difficult for her to give some items away that she couldn't find a "home" for.
Maybe death cleaning isn't for everyone, but even doing something is better than doing nothing. Doing "death cleaning" can make us think how we want our loved ones to remember us, saving what is meaningful to us.
I hear stories from people about their feelings when loved ones leave horrendous messes in their homes to clean out after they die. Some have to spend weeks in places where they don't live to clean out these houses. The less of that we can pass on, the better our relatives and loved ones will think of us when we're gone.
The book advocates that getting rid of anything we don't need will make us enjoy life more with less clutter. She feels we can than focus on what we really enjoy doing and will make our life less stressful. I can't say I've said "let's death clean," but I'm amazed at what we don't need when we do move things out of storage areas and think about what we really use.
St. Vincent's and Salvation Army, be ready for lots of donations.
Doris Puls, of D & O Decluttering and Organizing, is a professional organizer whose mission is to make a difference in the lives of the people she works with in homes and businesses. Contact her at organizealpena@gmail.com or at 989-356-9545.