Making space for life with death cleaning

Several Seniors Are Decluttering Their Homes And Giving Away Possessions Well Before They Pass. It Makes Life Simpler And Reduces The Burden On Their Loved Ones, They Say

- Priya.Menon

“I want to die empty!” These words may sound strange, but when Chithra Viswanathan typed those words on her Facebook page, she was just re-ferring to her desire to detach from material possessions, of prized mementoes and collectibles that stand silent testimony of a life lived to the fullest. And to bestow these on people who would use or value them.

“This post is mainly meant for senior citizens. Please do not think, it is morbid. Not at all, it is practical,” she wrote, even as she introduced the Swedish concept of “döstädning”, a combination of the words death (dö) and cleaning (städning). Death cleaning is another form of decluttering, where a person organises their home and discards items well before their passing so that their near and dear ones are not left with the mammoth task.

Marie Kondo is the modern-day guru of decluttering, and many people have adopted her method of downsizing. But the concept of death cleaning was taken to the world by Margareta Magnusson, who penned ‘The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning’ in 2017. In India too, many elderly are following it in their sunset years.

Every single one of us accumulates things over our lifetime. But once you pass, what happens to that china set you inherited from your grandmother? The dried rose in between the pages of an old book that is fragrant with memories of a long-lost love? Or the baby clothes that your little one first wore? Here’s where death cleaning helps, as you get to go through your possessions and decide what to do with each one.