The Difficult Conversation
Today we are going to discuss a difficult topic that lot of people need help with. A lot of us baby boomers are now dealing with how to handle the stuff that our parents will leave behind. Most of us don’t want to talk about it, but we have to start that conversation now before we reach that point of not knowing what to do with the left-behind clutter! Indeed, there’s a lot of guilt surrounding it. Especially when you grew up in a household that “keeps” things out of guilt for its value. And most of the time, our parents didn’t have the time to release those things when they are about to go.
In having this conversation with our loved ones, we have to be tactful and persistent (this would also benefit our kids as they would then know what to do when our time comes.) We could start our conversation with,
“You have many nice things, have you thought about what to do with them later on?” or,
“Do you enjoy having all this stuff?”
Lessening the burden of those we leave behind can be a great motivation for this conversation.
Death Cleaning
I came upon this book called The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning by Margareta Magnusson that I thought might help you. I love this book because it’s funny and straightforward.
And one of the tips that Margaret suggested is the “throw away box.” This means collecting their personal stuff like old love letters, travel memories, programs, etc and putting them in a box. You and your loved one can go through these things. Then you can keep this box somewhere for some time if they still provide value to you, so when your time comes, your children can finally let them go as you have already carried the feelings with it.
Great idea isn’t it? Here are some tips I discovered that might help you too:
- I got this amazing idea from a friend to auction the items you didn’t want to keep so they would be owned by those who would actually enjoy them.
- Donate those stuff. You could let your loved one decide the charity or community that is close to their heart.
- Repurpose the items. Some of the old stuff just need repainting or redesigning!
- Digitalize printed photos. And try to let go of photos that your loved one doesn’t want to keep, or those that you are no longer attached to.
“The more you dive into cleaning the braver you become”
We will dive into more of these tips so join me in this episode!
Need more help?
If you are still struggling with clearing away stuff, I could help you overcome this through private coaching. We will deal with your clutter, both in your environment and in mind. Death cleaning will also be dealt with in this coaching!
You could also reach out to me for one-on-one coaching so we could focus on your own unique experience. I always want to make things simple and easy. And I want you to have that life too!
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