June 14th, 2018
Book Review: “The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning: How to Free Yourself and Your Family from a Lifetime of Clutter” by Margareta Magnusson
Don’t Let The Name Fool You
It is not a sad book. Döstädning. Dö is “death” and städning is “cleaning.” In Sweden it is a term that means that you remove unnecessary things and make your home nice and orderly when you think the time is coming closer for you to leave the planet.
The book is written by a woman between 80-100 (does not reveal her actual age) and she states we do not have to wait to do this. She reminds us that the number of our possessions grows over the years. The situation can get out of control, so it is best to do this practice on a continual basis. Margareta suggests that we get comfortable with talking about death and addressing the issue of “all the things” with our parents. She says “a loved one wants to inherit nice things from you, not all things from you.”
It is a quick read (couple hours or so) and quite inspiring and light. Let me know if you read it!