I fell in love with Margareta Magnusson when she described herself as “somewhere between eighty and one hundred” years old. You may know her from her best selling book The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning. I am happy to report she has another book, published in 2022, The Swedish Art of Aging Exuberantly.
I have enjoyed both of these books and appreciate greatly that they are not long tomes lecturing me on how to declutter, diet and live a more righteous life, but rather cozy invitations to enjoy life with greater purpose and a good bit of wicked wit.
Much of her wisdom is extremely practical. When you decide to tackle your “death cleaning” (essentially getting rid of things so that others don’t have to do it when you pass on to the Great Beyond) she encourages you not to hurry or exhaust yourself but she also warns not to start with your photographs or letters. Too much emotion and sentiment are tied to those items and you will fail before you even start.
Tom and I had already done a great deal of purging unnecessary possessions before we moved from our 2300 square foot home in Vermont to our 900 square foot apartment here in North Carolina, but I had not tackled the large box of photos that had been passed to me after my parents died. Or the large number of photographs Tom and I had collected over the years.
I spent time during the pandemic sorting through photographs and it was truly a perfect time to tackle those boxes. I was able to send my sister a large envelope of photos that featured her childhood and to also sort some of our family photos into boxes for each of our children to cherish some future day. The emotion and sentiment of sorting those photos was quite comforting during quarantine days as it made me forget the devastation of the pandemic and remember some lovely times growing up and watching our children grow up.
We had multiple carousels of slides and yes, if I were more digitally savvy I would have saved them on thumb drive but instead my husband and I went through the slides and created one carousel for each of our children. I am not sure where they will find a slide projector when they day arrives to view them, but I think they will delight in journeying back to their childhood days. And oh my! Kodachrome color is so gorgeous. It really is. Nothing like it. We also discarded lots of slides as they were terribly photographed or very repetitive. I must have had a major fascination with frozen mud at one time (all those slides discarded now I might add).
One of the joys (as well as a time obstacle) is what one discovers when going through your “stuff.” I discovered a series of letters my father wrote me about his life. I had asked him long, long ago when our children were quite young to write to me about his life. He took the request quite seriously and his letters set me upon a genealogy journey I never knew I wanted to travel. I am still traveling that journey though I had a lot more time to devote to it when we were in pandemic times.
I think we can all agree that we all have too much stuff. Possessions that once meant something to us as well as items that we have kept simply because…well, simply because keeping them takes less energy than getting rid of them.
Margareta Magnusson encourages the reader to let go of “things” that are taking up too much space, both physical and emotional. She is realistic that it is likely when we age that we will move to a smaller living space. Not everyone does but it is the trajectory for many of us. These moves necessitate some letting go. The good news is that letting go can feel incredibly wonderful and freeing.
She suggests that it will take several rounds of letting go of stuff to get to where we are comfortable with the few items that give us comfort and rid us of items that are unnecessary. I now have five pairs of shoes. I could still probably let go of at least one more of those pairs but for now, five pairs give me all the choices I need. Actually more than I really need. Once you start to let go of the too much and too many, you begin to realize how little one really needs.
And it’s not just about us. Magnusson writes:
Our planet is very small; it floats in a never-ending universe. It may perish under the weight of our consumerism.
Margaret Magnusson’s second book, the one about exhuberant aging has chapters with titles such as “Don’t Fall Over and Other Tips…”; “Take Care of Something Every Day…”; “Eat Chocolate..”; and “Wear Stripes…”. Yes, nothing that will change the direction of the planet but wonderful wisdom shared with a sense of humor we need at every age.
I especially enjoyed her chapter about wearing stripes, probably because I too love stripes (almost as much as I love polka dots). She wties:
Stripes are sporty but not so sporty that you look like you are part of the training squad for Vasaloppet. Vasaloppet is a major Swedish cross-country skiing event for the really insane…Horizontal lines are said to be calming because they echo the simplicity of the horizon; I think I agree …while stripes may not make you look young, they also do not make you look old and they always bring joy.
I think you can tell that Margareta Magnusson’s books are not ones that will make the earth spin or stop spinning. They are just a way of spending a little time with delight and joy and the wisdom of someone who proudly identifies with being somewhere between eighty and one hundred.
Happy reading!
I am somewhere between 70 and 90 and I daily worry myself about the looming move to Deerfield. Hence my own urge to downsize. Why do my eyes always lad on my husband’s stuff first?
Thank you Jeanne. So glad to hear about these books! I too downsized quite a lot before moving here. And I continue to notice things I really do not need….. Especially now. 👍