I saw an article today on WaPo that caught my eye, and, at first, I wasn’t sure why. It was about a book by Margareta Magnusson, scheduled to be published in English in January, on 'The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning.’
‘Death Cleaning’ is a practice of putting one’s household 'affairs' in order prior to death. Cleaning so that one’s survivors are not burdened with it, and, perhaps more importantly, disposing of the many things we’ve accumulated that have no redeeming value or purpose.
As the article states, calling this the main message of the book:
Take responsibility for your items and don’t leave them as a burden for family and friends.
Well, I am somewhat along in years, but my hope is that the urgency for that isn’t immediate. But it wasn’t so much the timing that struck me, but, rather, the experience of relief she felt with the departure of things no longer needed.
I think of it in terms of weight. There is a weighty burden to things like those. We aren’t conscious of it many times, yet, when they’re gone, and unloaded, we understand on a visceral level that there is indeed a ‘load off.’ In a quite insidious way, those things weighed us down, and the relief felt with their passing is palpable.
So, now that it is clear to me, I am writing about this tonight for two reasons.
First, as one of my favorite philosophers (Richard Bach, in his little classic, Illusions) once wrote:
We teach best what we most need to learn.
Of course I have powerful cleaning to do. I have things I need to let go of, and things I simply need to throw away.
So I write in part for the ‘teaching of me’ aspect.
But I also write it because of the terrific sense of ‘heaviness’ so many of us share in these times of 45 (or IQ 45, as some have taken to calling him). There is heaviness in the air. Sometimes even lifting the arms can seem hard. Yet, lift them we must. Resist him we must.
Lowering the heaviness quotient in the rest of our lives can pay big dividends in our fight. I’m not guessing about this. I hope it can help you as it does me.
On to tonight’s comments! Formatted by a person who contributes lightness and energy to my tasks, brillig!
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From FindingMyVoice:
In Walter Einenkel's diary Trump jokes about Mike Pence's hatred of LGBT: 'he wants to hang them all!', ruscle offers an above-the-fold headline:
Pence Wants Gay Men To Be Hung.
Highlighted by WriterJC:
Is this fine comment by JerryM25 on Sebastian Gorka (about his wearing a badge of a Nazi war criminal), from tinaengler’s diary about his threat to the left (yes, to us).
Highlighted by potteryfan:
Is this comment by Ed Martin that surely must speak for most all of us!
TOP MOJO
Top Mojo for yesterday, October 15th 2017, first comments and tip jars excluded. Thank you mik for the mojo magic! For those of you interested in How Top Mojo Works, please see his diary on FAQing Top Mojo.
TOP PICTURES
Top Pictures for yesterday, October 15th 2017. Click any cat to be taken to the full comment or picture of the cat. Thank you jotter!