If  it’s Monday, it must  be Swedish Death Cleaning Day!

In 2017, I resolved to be open and welcoming to anything that came to me, but sometimes I also have to be ready to say goodbye. In addition to setting my my individual goal for the new year, my husband and I now share a joint goal- “Swedish Death Cleaning.” And yes, we try to do it each Monday, because Tuesday is trash day. Ok, let me explain.

 Unloading, decluttering, organizing- there’s a word for that: dostadning. 

I don’t know how to pronounce dostadning, but it’s a hybrid of the words for death and cleaning, the process of cleaning house before you die, rather then leaving it up to your loved ones to do after you’re gone. If you have ever had to do this sad task, and if you are around my age you probably have, you know that it’s hard and painful to go through the family home and do a final clearing of fifty years worth of living. So, this is why my husband and I have a new goal: Swedish Death Cleaning.

We don’t think “Swedish death cleaning” sounds sad- it actually makes us chuckle when we announce- “time to head to the basement for our Swedish Death Cleaning. It’s our special club.

I plan to update you through the year on our Swedish Death Cleaning. What say you? Will you read the book by Margaret Magnusson? What are your downsizing plans?