Do You Know About Swedish Death Cleaning?

You might be afraid to know, but actually it’s a cool and freeing practice the Swedish have, and one woman in particular, Margareta Magnusson, author of the book, The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning: How to Make Your Loved Ones’ Lives Easier and Your Own Life More Pleasant. It involves making decisions about what’s important to keep and what to let go of so your loved ones aren’t left with an overwhelming mess of what seemed important to you to keep. You can be healthy and well and do this! You’ll discover that it can improve the quality of your life and make space around you to breathe and have clarity.

Let me first tell you that I inadvertently have been doing it all summer. It was easier when I didn’t know that that’s what it was called. I have saved things for decades because I am a sentimental fool when it comes to preserving every precious memory.

My husband, son, and eldest daughter are the opposite. They enjoy the moment and keep no cluttering momentos of that moment. Our youngest however, (or so I thought!) is more like me. Recently she announced that she is purging most of her toddler’s art work, while the paint is still wet, except for a few very special ones. She knows about the Enchanted Key to Reduced Clutter. I taught her about it but I have every paper towel that they painted on before the age of one, when I put a paintbrush in their hands and kept them from eating the paint on it.

So when my youngest said she doesn’t feel the need to save things, including her wedding gown, (OMG! I put mine on every year on our wedding anniversary!) I nearly fainted. Then I imagined the bins and bins and, did I mention the bins of keepsakes I’ve saved and carted around with me when we’ve moved? Thinking that one day they’d have to go through all of that seemed cruel.

Suddenly, their favorite cute dresses I saved from when they were two seemed like something fun for their daughters to wear now. I took photos of several pieces of their “art” which now was faded and often on paper that was disintegrating. I photographed several things, and have scaled down to a bin per child that one day, hopefully in the far future, they will cry and laugh as they go through, and read their little love letters to me. Our youngest wrote that my “fod is dalishus!” (Translation my “food is delicious.” LOL.) I’d never want to forget the memory of our son, when he was just four crying hysterically in the car, forcing me to pull over to go in the back seat to hug him, because he suddenly became frightened that he wouldn’t be able to find me in a future lifetime. (Yes, I cried with him.) That was written down by me.

And so, I have let things go. I saved the most precious things, like all of my journals and the kids’ first locks of hair, but I’ve filled trash bags with items that were treasures but are not now, and have recycled my mother’s empty aspirin bottles and Sucrets containers that were filled with extra buttons. Okay I saved a few.

But I feel free. It has affected what I choose to bring into the house and has made even more mindful, my purchases. It has given me permission to have more space around me and I notice that I can fill it with breath.

I’m sure that one day I will be able to store my mother’s buttons on the cloud, but for now, someone else can use and enjoy them.

Check out Swedish Death Cleaning and learn about the six basic principles that include:

It’s not sad, be gentle, no time to rush, think legacy, leave the best to last, and tell.

PS, I’m on a little getaway for a few days because I needed a break from all of that purging. So if world events have occurred since a few days ago when I scheduled this to post today, that’s the reason I’m not mentioning them. And that’s okay.

Take deep breaths, clear space and stay enchanted!