Swedish Death Cleaning??

 

For those who don't already know there is a decluttering technique called Swedish Death Cleaning.  I came across it a couple of years ago and was intrigued as it is literally preparing yourself and your home for the inevitable.  Ironically enough I had just done a big "getting your affairs in order" project with my important papers, passwords, will, etc. thinking I was so on top of things, well ahead of the game.  And then, a month later I had a mild heart attack a then two more a couple months later.  Whoa!  You just never know when life will throw you a curveball, that's for sure.

 

I think, no matter what our age or our current state of health and finances, it is important to keep our affairs in order, especially if we have children under the age of eighteen.  I also think it is important to leave as little mess behind for others to take care as we possibly can.  Whether it is because of an illness, infirmary, incapacity or our death I feel we need to make sure that while others are worrying (maybe freaking out) or grieving that we do as much ahead of time as we can to mitigate the impact on our loved ones.

 

I've cleaned out a few houses after loved ones have passed on.  I've also heard a lot of stories of people going through their parents and grandparents things trying to cope with their grief while at the same time they are coping with massive amounts of stuff.  Trying to find those important papers and not knowing what to do with the monumental task they have just inherited.  As I continually go through things in my home and scale down my possessions I keep this in the back of my mind.  I want to make things as easy as possible for the people I leave behind.

 

I am currently in a new stage of life.  All of my children are now out of the house and I no longer need a lot of the items I used to.  So many things that were part of our daily life are no longer relevant and I can let them go.  I want to live with less because I know it will make life much easier for me, especially as I age, but it will also make it much easier on the ones I leave behind should something happen health wise or my time comes and I croak.  Oddly enough, that helps me a lot as I make my way through my home once again on my decluttering journey.