Swedish Death Cleaning

I’m not sure how to start this blog because, as is quite common, two related thoughts have popped into my head. Both of them are a bit random. 

The first is that nearly every town has an antique shop or two. The one in my mind is in Hexham and is just off the market square. We’ve been past it many times, yet it never seems open. It must be in business though as it is still there and the stock seems  to change from time to time. What strikes me when I look through the window is how much bric a brac is inside. It’s packed to the gunwales like King Tut’s tomb and a lot of it, at least to my untrained eye, seems like junk. Peering inside makes me think of how much stuff there is in the world. Stuff that was once crafted, loved and now parked, in the hope that someone will buy it before being discarded.

The second is following my mother’s stay in hospital. I am no spring chicken and she is even older. Thankfully she is better now but there were times when both she and I thought about the inevitable. We talked about what was in her house and she said that she felt sorry for whoever it was that was going to tidy it out. The stuff in her house is by now means rubbish, yet it is still stuff. Some may be wanted by the family while the rest will have to go somewhere. Where, I do not know.

Both these thoughts have come together to make me think about my own vulnerability and what would happen to all the stuff that we have in our house. Much of it falls into three categories, the personal, the useful and the detritus. Personal stuff would include clothing while the useful would include kitchen utensils or gardening tools. Apart from the sentimental, everything else will probably fall into the detritus category. What I can guarantee with certainly, however, is that each category is over represented. We simply have too much stuff.

This is where the Swedish Death Cleaning comes in, a deliberate attempt to put your physical affairs in order before you die. Rather than waiting for your unfortunate offspring to tidy up, the idea is that you make a start on it before your clogs are popped and you still have the faculties to address the things that surround you. 

I’ve made a start and have tidied out my books, my office, my clothes and several drawers (including the man one) which are now much emptier. I’ve kept what I still can’t bear to throw away or what will definitely be of use and the rest has gone either to charity or to be recycled. I’ve also instigated a rule that, where possible, if something comes into the house, then something must go out. It’s all going quite well and, to be honest, is making me feel good. Rather than stuff being a weight around my neck, I am feeling relieved. Death Cleaning can be very cathartic.

I’ve still got the loft to do as well as the under the sink collection. It’s an ongoing and iterative task, so wish me luck!