The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning: How to Free Yourself and Your Family from a Lifetime of Clutter

A thought provoking book that makes you evaluate how you live your life and what you will leave behind.

This book stresses, in a light-hearted way, the importance of sorting through your belongings now so that when you are gone, your children will enjoy fond memories as they look at what you've carefully and thoughtfully chosen to leave behind. Margareta Magnusson charmingly refers to her age as being "between eighty and one hundred years old." She herself has performed many a death cleaning, and she relates each experience in her book. This too is good, because all of us will at one time or another find ourselves in the same shoes. In fact, my husband and I have already had to death clean for his great aunt. We didn't know then that the process had a name, but we did it just the same. Believe me, the fun wore off long before the job was done.The author doesn't tell you exactly how to death clean, but she gives guidelines for how and where to begin--as well as how and where to NOT begin. (For instance, don't begin with photos. You will get bogged down in memories and may never get anything else done.) She encourages you to take your time going through your things. Hold each piece thoughtfully, recollecting the memories that it evokes. Be thankful for the purpose it served in your life, and then let it go--deliberately--finding just the right recipient for your treasure: someone who will appreciate it, who needs it, and who has room for it. Perhaps it is better to sell the item or to give it to a charity, a local library, museum, or other institution. Regardless of where it goes, you are choosing the destination for your possessions with care and love. And, of course, you are throwing away anything that has outlived its usefulness.Margareta stresses that this is not "spring cleaning," for death cleaning goes beyond the purging of things that have lost their usefulness to you. Rather, it is a new mindset, a new way of living. How? Just as you have deliberately decided what will stay and what will go, you also learn to be deliberate in what new things you introduce into your home. You have simplified your life, and now you must keep it simple. Develop a habit of discarding an old item before bringing in a new one. And with everything you keep, know where you want it to go after you die. Make a list to leave behind for your children. For each larger item, you might even want to pin a note onto it to tell them what to do with it. This way, when you are gone--and none of us knows when that will be--you will still be with them, in a way, helping them get through this chore that will be fraught with emotion.Whether or not you consider yourself "old," I highly recommend this book to you. Read it, and begin your death cleaning now. In fact, the earlier you begin, the easier it will be for you--and for those who come behind you.

Es un gran libro, con muy buenas ideas y escrito con muy buen humor.

It is for my personal library shelf. I appreciate your professional way

Uma reflexão objetiva sobre o (mau) hábito de acumular. Indispensável para quem mora em casas cheias de armários...