Mail Online

Swedish ‘death cleaning’ helps loved ones cope when you go

IT IS very hard to go through someone’s possessions after they’ve died. Instead, I’ve been reading about the Swedish habit of ‘death cleaning’.

This isn’t as morbid as it sounds and doesn’t involve any actual cleaning.

Instead, it’s about going through all your own possessions and getting rid of things that accumulate and which you don’t need or want any more.

This will make it easier for your loved ones when you die. In the book The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning, author Margareta Magnusson writes: ‘Visit [your] storage areas and start pulling out what’s there. Who do you think will take care of all that when you are no longer here?’

Another plus, she says, is that we’ll be able to better enjoy life when there’s less mess and clutter to deal with.

It has prompted me to go through some of my own things: boxes of knick-knacks and stuff I’ve kept from school that mean nothing to anyone but me.

Anything I want to keep, I’ve put in a box which can be thrown out when I’ve gone. There’s a square of Mum’s jumper in there.

Instead of piles of photos,

I’ve been keeping one or two which help me remember people or occasions.

It’s been cathartic, in a way.

Health

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2023-03-26T07:00:00.0000000Z

2023-03-26T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://mailonline.pressreader.com/article/282613152032688

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