A Beginners Guide to Death Cleaning

Döstädning or Swedish death cleaning is a type of decluttering. The term is a hybrid of two words, “dö” meaning death and “städning”, meaning cleaning. Simply, it involves a process of clearing out unnecessary belongings.  It can be undertaken at any age or life stage. It’s recommended to be done sooner rather than later, before … Read more

Deck the Halls?-Dealing with Grief During the Holidays

Have a Holly Jolly Christmas? I’m not going to lie. Holidays are a difficult time for me. Emotionally speaking. I’m a bit of a Grinch. I find the season over-commercialized, wasteful and just a little bit tacky. I know, Bah Humbug. There ARE certain things I find charming like: little boys dressing up in clip … Read more

Simple Life Lessons from a Spider

Will you walk into my parlour? Some people don’t like spiders. That might be an understatement. I have a highly educated, logical friend who becomes paralyzed by fear if a spider shares her space. I don’t mind them in the least. I think they are hardworking and purposeful creatures. Industrious. Unless, one happens to be … Read more

Navigating Stormy Seas-Last Wishes of a Dying Parent

“I have to get my yardarm clear”, as my Dad would say. Meaning, to clear oneself of blame and settle any outstanding grievances. Fulfilling the last wishes of a dying loved one is not always possible. This is a difficult thing to admit. It’s even more difficult breaking the news to your terminally ill father. … Read more

5 Important Things to do Before You Die-It’s Not Too Late!

If you clicked on this expecting a typical bucket list of wild and crazy things to do before you die then you might be disappointed. Instead of skydiving and swimming with dolphins, you’ll find a practical list of what you should actually do to leave an organized legacy before you die. Boring, you say? Well, … Read more

Memento Mori: Modern Memorials

I recently loaded an app on my phone called WeCroak (http://www.wecroak.com). It sends me a notification, five times a day, reminding that I’m going to die.  When the notifications come you can open the app to reveal a death-related quote.  The creator of the app was inspired by a Bhutanese folk saying that: “To be … Read more