Sweden's 'gentle art' of house cleaning before death
Excerpted....
Death cleaning, or "dostadning" in Swedish, is the name given to the practice of sorting through your personal belongings before your death.
The concept has gained something of a cult following around the world since it was coined by author Margareta Magnusson in her 2017 bestseller "The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning: How to Free Yourself and Your Family from a Lifetime of Clutter".
"I think you should take care of your stuff so that no one else has to do all the work for you with all the crap that you have left behind," the author tells AFP.
Sorting through a lifetime of possessions "takes you back to moments you want to remember maybe, and if you don't, just throw it away", she says.
Death cleaning differs from the decluttering approach to a tidy home associated with Marie Kondo, a Japanese celebrity who gained global fame promoting the idea that people should keep only those items that bring them joy.
Swedish death cleaning is meant to relieve families of the burden of sorting through possessions after the death of a loved one.
Excerpted....
Death cleaning, or "dostadning" in Swedish, is the name given to the practice of sorting through your personal belongings before your death.
The concept has gained something of a cult following around the world since it was coined by author Margareta Magnusson in her 2017 bestseller "The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning: How to Free Yourself and Your Family from a Lifetime of Clutter".
"I think you should take care of your stuff so that no one else has to do all the work for you with all the crap that you have left behind," the author tells AFP.
Sorting through a lifetime of possessions "takes you back to moments you want to remember maybe, and if you don't, just throw it away", she says.
Death cleaning differs from the decluttering approach to a tidy home associated with Marie Kondo, a Japanese celebrity who gained global fame promoting the idea that people should keep only those items that bring them joy.
Swedish death cleaning is meant to relieve families of the burden of sorting through possessions after the death of a loved one.