In life there are objects. And there is space.
I am currently rediscovering a fascination and attraction to the space between objects.
Periodically, as time permits, we return to a space of creating space.
The selling continues as we reduce the items surrounding us. Gradually we whittle down the list of possessions and still there seems to be more coming out of the woodwork! As though the very vacuum of space is pulling in more items to fill it. Phenomenal.
Each week more stuff leaves the house. It boggles my mind. “When will it come to an end?”
We have met some really lovely people as they drop in to pick up items. Some are on a similar journey to us, renovating older homes and looking for unique pieces. We certainly have some unique pieces, but not everything is going to have a place in the house. We are also sensitive to the fact that much of the stuff we do have – and cherish – is possibly going to be handed down. I have to keep thinking whether this is something that is going to burden our children or will they pass them over.
With this in mind, the Muse of Serendipity has introduced me to the concept of döstädning. Rapidly doing the rounds on-line as Swedish Death Cleaning.
It is apparently something of a tradition in Sweden that implores you to stop asking yourself if something sparks joy, and start considering how your clutter will affect your loved ones after you pass on. Evidently it is something usually started when you reach your 50’s.
Death cleaning isn’t the story of death and its slow, ungainly inevitability. But rather the story of life, your life, the good memories and the bad. The good ones you keep. The bad you expunge.
— Margareta Magnusson
Swedish Death Cleaning would have saved me a lot of time and money and grief.
Petit Paradis 