What I've learned about death cleaning (so far)

Dreading the job is harder than starting it

I found this apt metaphor on the sidewalk near my house. Photo credit: Giyen Kim

We’re death cleaning.

Don’t worry: Rael and I are in fine health. Death cleaning is shorthand for a thorough declutter undertaken to save one’s kids from having to do it when one is inevitably…undertaken.

I first heard the term when I came across a book called The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning (affiliate link¹) by Margareta Magnusson, a bestseller in 2017. Upon hearing that title my first reaction was:

👀 😒 😠

Accurately or not, I judged it as a publisher’s attempt to cash in on the Konmari juggernaut that took off with Marie Kondo’s 2011 book, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up (affiliate link).