32. Swedish Death Cleaning: A Surprisingly Uplifting Book About Letting Go

What do you want your loved ones to deal with when you’re gone—boxes of clutter or a home that tells a clear story?

In this week’s episode of the Downsizing Roadmap Podcast, we review the bestselling book The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning by Margareta Magnusson—a heartfelt, humorous, and refreshingly honest guide to decluttering your life with intention and grace.

Despite its name, Swedish Death Cleaning isn’t about death—it’s about living with less regret, less mess, and more freedom. We’re diving deep into the book’s core messages, including:

• What “döstädning” really means—and why it’s not morbid
• How to let go of guilt when downsizing your stuff
• The power of the “Throwaway Box”
• Why decluttering now is a profound gift to your family
• Where to start when the idea of sorting through it all feels overwhelming
• Why humor and honesty are your best tools for aging well

Whether you’ve read the book or just heard about it, this episode is packed with insights and gentle nudges to help you start your own version of Swedish Death Cleaning—on your own timeline.

🎧 Listen in, laugh a little, and find out why this short book might just change how you think about letting go.

Mentioned in this episode:

• The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning by Margareta Magnusson: https://a.co/d/5mUxIRs
• Learn more about our workshops, podcast episodes, and free downsizing guide at: https://www.downsizingroadmap.com
  
  

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Let’s simplify, declutter, and create space for your next chapter—together!

Transcript

Jodi Rosko 0:01

Welcome back to another episode of the Downsizing Roadmap Podcast with your hosts Jody Roscoe and Heather Fisher. We're talking about all things downsizing, from our own experiences with clients to guest experts. Let's make downsizing easier, one conversation at a time.

Heather Fisher 0:17

Hi, welcome back to Downsizing Roadmap Podcast. We are gonna revisit one of our favorite things to do today and do a little book review of a downsizing book that we have both read and enjoyed. I struggle with that work, but I will get it.

Jodi Rosko 0:39

I'm Heather Fisher. Yeah, so this book um was written by Margarita Magnuson. Hopefully I'm saying that right. Um and she um she wrote all about Swedish death cleaning, which sounds terrifying.

Heather Fisher 0:53

Yes.

Jodi Rosko 0:54

A little bit.

Heather Fisher 0:54

It sounds very brutal. Yes. Yeah, overwhelming. But what we found in going through the book is that this is, you know, a process uh gets its name uh from a concept in Sweden where you are doing this cleaning uh out of your belongings. Uh sometimes that is at the end of life as you're preparing not to leave this for uh those that come after you to deal with. Um but she addresses in the book that it can definitely be at other big, you know, changes of seasons of life that it's great to do at at any time.

Jodi Rosko 1:34

Yeah, I think that, you know, it sounds so like, oh my gosh. Um but actually it's the opposite. It's an a really interesting mindset, uh thought process through it, and I think it's very um purposeful and warm and um funny and really human the way that that she talks about it. Um she also seems like a really interesting person. She describes herself as somebody between 80 and 100. Yes. And uh she has very, very strong ideas about how everything should be.

Heather Fisher 2:06

As with any lady, never ask your age. You just get the range there, you know, take that. One of the things I I liked, you know, just the aim of the book um or of this process. Um she mentions that, you know, all of us have collected so much wonderful stuff in our lives, and nobody but you can evaluate or take care of that meaning of it.

Jodi Rosko 2:31

Which I think is so true. And I think that we have we have a lot of people that we hear that are like, I'm just gonna let my kids deal with it. Like, I'm just gonna let my kids deal with it. And her process and mindset, or this process and mindset, um, is really about sharing the reasons why you've kept those things and what that looks like. And your kids can't deal with it because they don't know those things. And so your kids are gonna be like, this means nothing to me, and so it means, you know, it's gonna go, versus hearing, you know, what it means to you because you're the one who collected it.

Heather Fisher 3:05

Yeah, and in the you know, in that time where mm, you know, any one of us may have passed and someone is dealing with it, if what they come across is, you know, your legacy and the things that you loved, that you know, is a help to them as they're sad and as they're dealing with so much around that versus just a burden that they can't face that potentially just gets, you know, taken to the trash in reality because it hasn't been valued and nobody but you can put that meaning and value on so much of it.

Jodi Rosko 3:42

I mean, that was honestly me, like my mom's house, she had so much stuff, and I knew a lot of stories about a lot of the things, but there's a lot of things that I didn't know the stories about, and it was totally overwhelming when I was sad and hard to deal with, and it took way longer than it should have because I didn't want to go over there and deal with it. And I didn't get to hear all the stories from her from her mouth, you know. I didn't get to hear them because that's not something we did. So I would love to change that for other people because I think um it can really bring your family together, and I think this mindset is a really an and an interesting and useful one.

Heather Fisher 4:26

Yeah, she also mentions um here towards the beginning of the book that you know when you go through this process, you're also getting the reward of revisiting these parts of your life that you might not have seen for a while or thought about, and whether that is just going through it um by yourself and making those decisions that are easier or going through it and sharing those stories. Um, you know, we've all lived storied lives with so much that has happened to each of us and things that we forget until we see those reminders. And so, you know, it's not uh, you know, you can let go of it, but you can still enjoy that moment of going through it and revisiting, you know, vacations you might have taken, or you know, times in life that have long passed. Um I think that's a really great way to look at it as something you want to do versus a chore.

Jodi Rosko 5:24

Yeah, I recently I think we've talked about this in other episodes. I went through my high school box of stuff with my, you know, dead corsages and things that were still in there. Um and there was a couple things that I was like, oh, I remember this, and I, you know, turned to my daughter and I told stories of you know what that was, and that was fun, and that brought back memories that I hadn't thought about in a really long time. And it's not that I need to keep that, I didn't keep the you know, corsage remnants, but yeah, yeah. But it it it is, it does bring back all that stuff. So what is death cleaning really? So um uh it's uh oh gosh, what is that word? So death is der in in Swedish, and uh I can't read my writing. Stadning. Steaddening. Steaddening is cleaning, so der steaddening, and it's something that they do in Sweden all the time. And um and it's something that is part of their culture. And so I think that's really interesting. And it's not literally cleaning, it's not dusting and mopping and cleaning. Um it's it's a form of organization that day that makes your day run smoothly. So we're not gonna talk about like the how-to of actually getting rid of things. It's really more of an mental thought process, organization, and how you kind of go through your life with things.

Heather Fisher 6:41

Yeah.

Jodi Rosko 6:42

And it it just makes you ready for the next phases for sure. And and with the thought process that your kids aren't gonna have to do it and you aren't gonna leave it to them to do for your loved ones. And um, you know, living lighter now, um preparing for later.

Heather Fisher 6:58

Yeah, absolutely. You just don't want that that chaos that makes it an unhappy moment when someone has to deal with your stuff in a way that they never should have had to, because um, you know, you should have handled it yourself. Um she also talks a lot about how you should start this process way early, which is something we say all the time. She's saying, you know, when you're turning 65 or, you know, start then. Sooner even. Yeah, it could be sooner, uh, could be through other life changes, but but start this process of going through so that you have time to do it at your pace and and do it in the right way, which um, you know, definitely is something we say often.

Jodi Rosko 7:44

I think in America, you know, we're very much like keep everything just in case culture. Um we do have that, and I think, you know, some uh a lot of that, especially in our older, you know, my grandparents might you lived through the depression when they were little, and you know, my grandpa kept everything because you might need it. And so that mindset, I think, from that time has trickled down to us, even though we are living in a, you know, let's tear down kind of a mode right now. Um I think that that mindset is still in us a lot. And so um this is a different mindset, which is just kind of um curating what matters. We just had we just did a podcast on design, and this is the same idea in as that, only this is more legacy-based, I think. They go hand in hand though. Combine, you know, what what is actually mattering to you and not just keeping everything because you own it and you, you know, yeah.

Heather Fisher 8:41

When you can make that final shift to keeping the things that make your emotions happy and your life easier, uh you will when you're living in that emotional state, you won't need as much as you think you do when you're just kind of clinging to things because you own them or because you once liked them. Yeah. Um if you can really get in touch with those feelings around it, you'll find you need a lot less than you think. Yeah. So when she talks um here uh in the chapter on how to begin, she's definitely saying what we already know. Start with easier spaces. She mentions the closets, the basements, the attics, things you're not attached to as much. And if you you know, if you do have things in there that have been in there for ages, she says, Many of the things you have in storage have probably been standing there for ages. You may even have forgotten what it is you have what what it is you have there. Good for you because you will now realize that you will not miss anything if you throw it away.

Jodi Rosko 9:51

Right. She says, start with the forgotten things, you know, the stuff you don't care about, and that will be easy, a totally easy start, because you didn't you don't care about them. You haven't looked at them in years.

Heather Fisher 10:03

Yeah, and if it's so forgotten that those words come out of your mouth, oh my gosh, I forgot I even had this, that's an easy thing to do.

Jodi Rosko 10:14

I think sometimes people get stuck in that though. They'll go down an emotional rabbit hole because they haven't seen it in a long time and they're like, oh, maybe I need this again. And so then back to some of our other episodes, where's it going to live? Because if it's in a box in your storage unit or, you know, your storage area, then you know, it's not serving any purpose. So it's okay if you uncover things that you actually remember that you want, um, but a lot of it's gonna be stuff that you actually don't want.

Heather Fisher 10:41

Yeah, yeah. She definitely mentions um, you know, don't start with the hard stuff. Don't start with photographs or personal papers, don't start down that emotional memory lane rabbit hole because you'll never get out of it to get to the easy stuff. So absolutely, I think she dedicates a whole chapter to that at the end, uh, but it's intentionally at the end should be one of the last things.

Jodi Rosko 11:08

And I think what that can do is build momentum. We've talked about building momentum a lot, um, and build momentum and maybe give you a little bit of an emotional breakthrough of like, hey, I don't really need all this stuff. Like it'll kind of give you that.

Heather Fisher 11:20

Yeah, yeah. And uh she talks here um about the in the intention is not that we're just getting rid of everything. It really is about making our lives pleasant and more comfortable. Um, and I I feel that sometimes um just in my life, going into people's homes that I know, um, or times we've gone to clients' house where there's just so much stuff that the the home is not functioning. There's not a place to sit down and and look at paperwork or you know, eat yeah, not a place to eat or to, you know, have enough chairs for the couple people that are there without moving things. Um so if things have gotten out of hand that that's the way that you're you're living, um, you know, we definitely want to help you get on a path where you're just making your day simple and less mentally um overwhelming to look at all of that stuff. Um, you know, a home that's reasonably orderly is going to be more comfortable by default. Less taxing. Yeah. Life is better with less. Okay, so for for each person, the categories that you start with, when we say start with easy, we throw out suggestions, but that's not it's not the same for everybody. True. So um her suggestion is to write down your home's categories. You know, we all have different rooms in our house, we have different things stored in different rooms. You know, if your basement is all of your mom's things and that is a struggle for you, and we casually say, start with the basement, it's easy. You know, make before you do any of it, list your own homes categories and prioritize which one might be easy and start there. You know, ask yourself that question. Where do I already know there's a lot of things I could get get rid of and build some momentum with your own um easy starting point?

Jodi Rosko 13:30

And are there areas that are bugging you, like that you're just like, oh, that's been bothering me? Like pick one of those that's a little bit, you know, you're ready to tackle too, like that you have the energy around.

Heather Fisher 13:40

Yeah, yeah. So her um, you know, she gives some sections in here with some quick sorting tips, similar to what we've talked about before, but taking everything out of the closet, she says um two piles when you take everything out of um the closet, and it's immediately pile one is for clothes you want to keep, pile two is for what you want to get rid of, and you know, start there, immediately give away pile two, and then go back through pile one with more of the evaluating each piece. And so that's that quick swipe through everything, and then before you're putting it back, you know, does it fit? Are there tears and stains? Um, but that emotional first one, just your gut feeling, you might be ready to get rid of more than you think without a lot of talking about it. So let's see, what else? Um, she was talking about um that it's easier to go through your things when your home itself is organized well. So if you are starting this early, um you know, those daily habits that we talk about and picking up things at the end of each day and all of that, it's much easier to tackle going, you know, through things in the dark corners of a closet if you have a clear space to pull it out to. Um so she says she was talking with someone giving her some some tech help. The author is comical through the book.

Jodi Rosko 15:25

Yeah, it's actually very, very funny.

Heather Fisher 15:27

That's funny. And she's talking about the tech person looking at her home screen on her computer and saying that it was like putting your toilet in the kitchen, like get things organized. So I think that's talking about just grouping things in like categories before you're just diving in and starting.

Jodi Rosko 15:46

Yeah, she pokes fun at herself, she's so funny. Like it's fun, it's a funny book.

Heather Fisher 15:50

It's a very easy read. Yeah, quick read.

Jodi Rosko 15:52

It's not that big of a book, but it's definitely worth the read.

Heather Fisher 15:55

Yeah, absolutely. Um, she's just a character and making uh you know, teasing about herself and her kids and um, you know, her life in general. Um but starting with that baseline organization will really help you. Um we were talking, she had the same um reference in here to how many items are in um you know the average home, that there's so many, and it's it says to hunt for misplaced items is never an effective use of your time. Right. So definitely back to that organization.

Jodi Rosko 16:36

Yep. So that so she's saying start with the easy stuff and then the emotional stuff comes, right? Yeah. And so um so her her thought process around that is to introduce the concept of a throwaway box.

Heather Fisher 16:53

I don't know if you have that there, but um the throwaway box um is so interesting to me because we've talked about maybe boxes and we've talked about, you know, other ways of keeping things, but I think her idea of the throwaway box is that it's the box that you're keeping just for your own enjoyment. You're keeping it, it might be like your corsage from high school that you've talked about that nobody wants, or cards, or letters from somebody that nobody else will know. It's not a family heirloom, uh, but the throwaway box is giving herself permission to just have this one box to pull out and enjoy whenever she wants to. She's curated it down to the things that bring her a smile and you know, would be irrelevant to her kids going through or the legacy of her or past generations. So she has on the top of this box written, throw away when I die. You know, that's the instruction. And so she is keeping it for her, but she's not burdening with her her kids with having to go through and feel like it's important for them to keep. Yeah. So I think that's a great concept. Um, because there are things that make us all smile from a memory that aren't, you know, are from parts of our life that you're it's only your memories.

Jodi Rosko 18:23

Your kids are not gonna smile from that ever. It's not ever gonna be they're not ever gonna look at their dead corsage from whatever I did throw that away. But if I really needed it for, you know, what so that is the kind of thing that would go in the throwaway box, like because it says it's like stuff for deeply personal and maybe even embarrassing items, but they're just need to be thrown away when you're done. And it's it's one of those things where you're giving yourself permission to maybe irrationally keep some things that really kind of bring you joy for whatever reason that is, but they're not not everything needs to be passed down. And I think that's another for 200 years. Yeah, I think that's another one of her concepts is like not everything needs to be passed down. So um that doesn't mean you have to get rid of it right this minute, but again, it's a box hall, not a not a house.

Heather Fisher 19:08

I believe her um you know the section clarifies about shoebox size. Like it's not Yeah, it's just a little box. Not the giant rubber made uh bin.

Jodi Rosko 19:18

But not not everything does need to be passed down. And so if you want to keep it now because it's meaningful you for to you and you want to get it out and you're like my kids aren't gonna want it, or you know, that's okay. So that goes in the throwaway box. Um we have a maybe box and now we have a throwaway box.

Heather Fisher 19:36

Yeah, and it feels like the uh she's saying the throwaway box is an immediate throwaway, but that note is to the people that come after you, just honestly, it's a gift to them. Yeah. That they know, okay, I don't have to go through this box. It's on here, throw it away. And um that is a gift. It's a better gift than guilt.

Jodi Rosko 19:58

Right. And it gives and it gives you the the thought process as you're going through things to think about like what is important to to um keep to us for ourselves just because we want it, and what is important to share. Yeah. And that's uh another kind of parameter that you can set around things. Oh, this I would want, you know, this is part of my legacy. It's my recipe book, I want to share it, you know, versus this is just something that reminds me of a time in my life that doesn't mean anything to anybody else. Right, my middle school journal or whatever. You know, nobody needs to see that. My diary from when I was seven. Yes.

Heather Fisher 20:37

Yes. She she also says, um, which we've mentioned many times, but you can spend time, you know, always hoping and waiting for someone, she's talking about family members here, for someone to want something in your home, but you cannot wait forever. And sometimes you must just give cherished things away, uh, but this is my favorite part of the sentence, with the wish that they end up with someone who will create new memories of their own. And so I think if you look at your donations or you know, things you give away in different um ways other than just passing it all down to your family, and you don't have to ever know what the next person is using it for or their stories around it. But if you imagine, you know, your dye your kitchen table that you loved, and then you pass that on to someone else, you can just picture the new family member, you know, the new family memories that are being made around that table. It doesn't have to be your family memories, it's the heart of the home type things, or you know, how you're making someone's life easier or something they didn't have before. Um, if you can just, you know, imagine those things a bit, it makes it easier to give away, you know, things. That you love and know that someone else will have stories around it. Yeah.

Jodi Rosko 22:05

Like a legacy of that. A legacy of stories, which Yeah, because remember, stuff's just stuff, right? And so it's the stories. And so if you give it to somebody who then uses it, because again, no stories are happening around things that are packed in boxes somewhere or shoved in the back of closets. There's no more stories. There's no life happening around those things anymore. So when you give it to somebody that you hope will be able to have more stories around it, that is giving it more life.

Heather Fisher 22:31

Yeah, she mentioned the author mentioned a friend of hers who had a very old desk that they uh sit around sometimes at the friend's house and they just imagine, you know, what l important business letters or uh, you know, what letters were written around this desk. I mean, I think she said it was a couple hundred years old and they're just imagining that past life, but you know, it was something her friend got at a flea market or something. It wasn't a family legacy.

Jodi Rosko 23:03

Yeah.

Heather Fisher 23:04

Um, so that's an enjoyable way to look at it because you're getting rid of things.

Jodi Rosko 23:08

Yeah. And really think about I get it that some that you get you can be so overwhelmed that you're like, ugh, I can't deal with that. I'm just gonna let my kids throw it away or deal with it when I'm gone because I can't deal with it. But no matter what, that will be a burden on them. It just will be a burden. Yeah. And so um, so this thought process is just about loving them enough to not leave them that burden, like you know, care caring about that, not wanting to leave them that burden and thinking about it in that way.

Heather Fisher 23:42

Yeah, absolutely. So part of the process um as she went through the um death cleaning for herself, it was as part of a move to a smaller place. Um, so one important part that she talks about is um, you know, making your choices based on that new space. And, you know, we've talked about that before, the design plan and the floor plan, space planning. Um, you know, it's a good you will likely live for many years to come at the new space, and you want that to be just as comfortable as the home you've loved for a long time. And so make that plan and go through your belongings carefully and ponder, you know, what exactly you want to keep to make that next space comfortable and to work for you, not to be just um, you know, a not living up to its size recreation of your current home that just doesn't work because you haven't planned it.

Jodi Rosko 24:44

Right. And again, who is the future you gonna be and what of these things do you not need, you know, for that next person?

Heather Fisher 24:51

Yeah, yeah. So moving through um the chapters, she well, she talks too about um there was a funny chapter in here about the things you don't want other people after you to go through. So she definitely had some funny stories about other times where she has stepped in for um family members after they've passed. I can't remember if it was her mom or an aunt or somebody, but she discovered the the hidden stash of cigarettes that she never knew were there. And um, you know, learning things about people that they might that they might not have wanted you to learn about.

Jodi Rosko 25:35

That is not the legacy they wanted to be.

Heather Fisher 25:43

But you know, it she says perhaps a nice gift uh to those loved ones who may be death cleaning for us later um would be to reduce these type of belongings a bit before we leave our present life. Um if you think that an thing they might find would cause your loved ones harm or unhappiness, make sure to go through those things while you're still here to do that. So it's definitely an enjoyable read. She's very funny and humorous as she talks through her story of going through this both for family members and for herself. Um so part of um what she was talking about, my notes in here, um put Jody's favorite line on here guilt is not a gift. Um but she's talking about learning learning early in life to just say no thank you to things. Yeah, don't even collect them in the first place. Don't collect them in the first place and be open to hearing that from somebody that you're trying to give things to. Um, you know, she says the the moment someone, in the moment that someone is giving you a gift, to always be thankful and take it with gratitude and you know, accept a gift when it's being given to you. But when it's more of a choice of something that's being passed on, it's okay to say no thank you. And it's okay if you've been given a gift that just doesn't hit the mark, that people got their emotion around giving the gift and you accepting it graciously, and you know, that moment of exchange is what people like about gift giving. In reality, they're not going to be, you know, at your house 20 years later wondering where the vase they got you, you know, why it's not living on the shelf. They, you know, we put that pressure on ourselves that they're going to be looking for it and notice. Um, but she's saying they really won't. Um, I love that concept.

Jodi Rosko 27:57

I love that concept that um the joy of the gifting has already happened.

Heather Fisher 28:02

Yeah.

Jodi Rosko 28:02

Right? And so now the thing might hit the mark for a while, it might never have hit the mark, you know, whatever that is. But that connection that you had from the gift giving happened in your relationship and it's it was a good thing and you know continues on.

Heather Fisher 28:19

Yeah, absolutely. I loved that too. And and she's you know, giving the permission that we all need sometimes to just be okay with not keeping everything from everyone and and that that doesn't change our relationships with them, those emotions around it happened and will continue to happen. Um, so um next section was talking about um, you know, just kind of scaling the things that you love down to a more reasonable um way of keeping them, uh, like a hobby, you know, talking about having a full vegetable garden versus, you know, keeping what you love and maybe having some potted uh like tomatoes grown in a pot or an herb garden. So you're keeping the the part that you love without the burden of all the stuff or all of the physical um work that comes along with that hobby, you're keeping it in a smaller way. So I think that there are so many ways we could creatively look at the things we love to do. Um, you know, whether back to the gardening example, if that was volunteering at a community garden or joining a gardening club, or you know, so many ways that you can keep the passion that you have, but you don't need to maintain, you know, an acres large garden or whatever you had.

Jodi Rosko 29:50

Um I think that goes for crafting things and you know, all the things that you might have done gung ho at one point in your life and now that's not the thing. And so I think it goes in all of those directions. You can pare down in all of that stuff.

Heather Fisher 30:04

Yeah, and share that knowledge with the younger generation, pass that on. Um, you know, so maybe for a time that they're help helping you with that, and then you're continuing to scale that down while they're you know ramping up and doing more of that. Um I know, you know, my mom and and my daughter both crochet, it skipped me. I don't know how to do that, but I know you know I never invested in learning, but um, you know, that's wonderful that they do that back and forth. And you know, my mom will give give my daughter you know yarn that she's accumulated over the years, so it it's going back and forth, but um they can just enjoy it at a smaller scale. Um so one of the sections we said we would get to, she talks about photos. Um, so the the book has a wonderful section um on photos, and this goes back. Um, I noticed a part in here that we visited in one of our episodes about the different uh downsizing personalities.

Jodi Rosko 31:13

Yeah.

Heather Fisher 31:14

And um, so her suggestion or she's talking about when she gave photos um to her family, um, and and she's saying, if you have several children, I think this goes beyond photos, it goes um to you know, all of their personalities uh around many things, but don't have the expectation that they will all behave the same equally in response to a gift. You know, if you made a photo album for each of them, one may be like, ah, okay. Yeah. Set it on a shelf and never look at it again. One might pour over it and ask for stories and you know, pull out the photos to look at more closely. You know, they'll they will hit different people in different ways. Um so if you're gifting photos or anything else to your children or to other family or friends, uh just keeping in mind that they'll receive it in the way um that they want to. So their personality. Their personality, yeah. Um so one of the um instances she's talking about is um she had sorted photos um into envelopes before a holiday. So she had an envelope for each kid, a packet of photos that were specific to them, and so after dinner they're still at the table. Um she passed you know these packets um out and sorted them into envelopes with each of their names on it. She passed them out and um they were all gathered and she said, she says, at first things were quiet as people opened their envelopes and began to look through their photos, but after a while I heard the chatter. Wow, look at you. Have you seen this one? Do you remember that? And so it went. It became a lot of fun. When everybody had seen enough, all the sorted photos were again unsorted in one big messy pile. I sorted them one more time and put them in their envelope to give to each child when they visited next in case they wanted to save them. Um but she's talking about that evening of sharing them and reminiscing over them and talking amongst each other was more valuable to her than what the ch each child does with that packet of photos. She'll still give it to them and and that is, you know, a perfectly um wonderful thing to give them. But if it sits on a shelf and they never look at it or whether they love it, it doesn't matter because they had this shared night of talking about the stories of the photos. Um so we we had a friend tell us something similar after someone had passed and they all got together to sort through um their mom's photos, and those are the memories you want to create versus the expectation of everything being received in the way that you intended. Yeah, so here's where she's talking about the throwaway box, which we talked about.

Jodi Rosko 34:32

Um keep all of your embarrassing things in there.

Heather Fisher 34:37

Yes, yes. Yeah, and so the in summary, I mean we're really towards the end of the book, but in summary, um this this process of death cleaning, I won't try the Swedish word again, um but this this process is as much or more for you as for the people who come after you. Um there's so many levels of how you know this lets your your later years or a new phase of life just be easier and calmer and more enjoyable. And you have that peace of mind that everything is handled and ready for others to come after you and know what to do. You know, it's a a playbook for them of of what to do with your stuff because you've already handled the majority of it. You've told them the stories, you've made notes on what they should do.

Jodi Rosko 35:35

What they if they wanted to keep something, made notes on that kind of thing.

Heather Fisher 35:39

You've given things already that someone may have already told you that they wanted, um, and then you are just living that carefree things are done, and mentally that is a great place, a great place to live.

Jodi Rosko 35:55

Yeah, so if you're stuck on your mindset around um around starting getting started and all of that, um this is a great book to read because she's funny and it's very human. She doesn't take herself too seriously about it. Um and sometimes I feel like aging is you know framed in fear and you know worry about what that all is. And this isn't that at all. This is this feels like it's she's liberating herself from these things and giving her spell herself space to live in reality. Yeah, yeah. It's not putting off the living. I think that's what it she was saying. Death cleaning is isn't about dying, it's about not putting off living. Like so live with all of the things. And um her h it she said her husband said he wanted to die um with his debts paid and a clean conscience and his house in order. And um, she thought that was a lovely ambition. So debts paid, clean conscience, house in order.

Heather Fisher 36:55

Yeah, so that's that's the path we're all on to accomplish that. We hope that we helped you by sharing this book. Uh it's the gentle art of sweeter death cleaning. Then go get it. And I would highly recommend it if you're in the midst of trying to find that mindset around downsizing, around going through your things. And um, you know, we'll be back with more advice next time. We look forward to talking to you. And uh thanks for joining us. If you need any resources, they're on our website, uh, downsizingroadmap.com. Talk to you next time. Thanks for joining us on the Downsizing Roadmap Podcast. If you found this episode helpful, be sure to subscribe, leave us a review, and share it with someone who might need a little downsizing inspiration. Have questions or ideas for future episodes, reach out to us on our website, www.downsizingroadmap.com. Until next time, let's keep simplifying and moving forward.