The Swedish phenomenon of de-cluttering before you die | ITV News

in Sweden life expectancies long but that doesn't stop people making plans early for what happens when they die here taxis help pay for everything from the cradle to the grave and that includes funerals no one wants to dwell on dying in death but I've heard that Swedes are better prepared for it than most and I've come to Gothenburg to find out how but first I've been invited to a funeral [Music] Tommi Viborg was 77 when he died his family has planned this service down to every last detail like all Swedish funerals or cremations all the basic costs are covered by the funeral tax that Tommy paid all his life I watched as every person at the service was given a chance to say their own farewell to Tommy each flower is a personal goodbye in keeping with Swedish tradition afterwards at the wake held in Tommy's favorite restaurant family and friends remembered a man who lived his life to the full his close family told me the funeral and wait for everything that they and Tommy had wanted Tommy's daughter said attitudes have changed it's sad but it's not tragic but we know that this day will come and we just have it's me one more thing that life entails the funeral should not be just for the one who died they shouldn't be able to plan it in the smallest detail because it's it's there for us who's left I wanted to find out more about the tax that helped Tommy's family arrange his funeral Jenny and Gunnarsson a funeral director says it means families can concentrate on adding the extras she says this more practical approach also helps people plan ahead more openly because they're not worried about the costs it's through our tax system we all pay towards that and that provides all of this infrastructure yeah yeah that's available to people when they die yeah chapels some of the transports the cremation a place to be buried or the you know a place of interment and I can't even imagine if we didn't have that system with so much of the cost of dying met by the state a level of financial stress has been moved what I'm learning is that most Swedes have a more open attitude towards dying and death it's not just that they're better prepared financially and more practical about it they also seem more able to talk about it it's as if they're more easily accepting death as a natural part of life and nowhere is this more obvious than at a coffee morning which everyone has come to specifically to talk about grief and dying death cafes like this are not unique to Sweden but they're becoming popular here this one was advertised on social media most who've come are strangers nothing about how what's happening here feels in any way morbid far from it the atmosphere is relaxed and the discussion that they're having well it's open and it's honest what is it that makes you want to come and share talking about death and dying death is life somebody said here I also think here I'm my age now people around me my my father died a couple of years ago my mother started death cleaning the house and other relatives it's it's coming closer there was lots of talk here about the phenomenon of death cleaning and I learned that that's throwing out or giving away possessions before we die it's uniquely Swedish idea downsizing for death it's catching on here as a way of life every time when I clean my the cellar you know yeah yeah I'm thinking okay if I die now is this something my kids want or is it useful for me that throw away so I'm thinking about death every time I'm cleaning [Music] I wanted to find out how death cleaning as an idea had begun and the answer lay in Stockholm it started as a book the gentle art of Swedish death cleaning written by a widow Margherita Magnuson in what she describes as her twilight years she told me her success is because she's broken the taboo about death when there I mention death because that's so scary people don't want to talk about it which is very silly I think because that's the only thing that's obvious that we have to that is coming to us so don't say things for your children if they don't tell you this is something that I would like to to have so do you feel more free yes I think so it's really a freedom so there is a there is a message here there's a there's a message here about how to live isn't there yes I hope so get rid of the abundance and have fun death cleaning has its evangelists this is going out this resource that I am where they go to a friend's Elizabeth collage is minimizing her possessions to get the maximum out of life this is far too much so this box will become 20 photographs yes it's my grandfather and my mother how fun I'll keep that she's ruthless not much makes the final cut Oh awful these ones I've looked through I don't want them I don't want them Elizabeth says death cleaning should be a continual process almost a cleansing and it's about being considerate too one is for the relatives that remain after you two to be kind to them not to give the painstaking work of what you have not done that is that is the main thing because it gives you self-esteem also that you can actually put yourself above your objects is it more about how you live or more about preparing to die it's it's a good question it can be both I'd like to share this with everybody everybody around the world of how how satisfying it can be so I I wish everybody good they're cleaning I left Elizabeth feeling that I was beginning to understand how dealing with the practicalities of dying has helped the Swedes I'd met better prepare for death their funeral tax reduces the final stress of planning for it and their death cleaning reduces the emotional stress of talking about it and perhaps discussing death a bit more easily is a useful reminder of just how much every second of life counts you

Channel: ITV News

Views: 125,951

Keywords: Death, Funerals, Death Cafe, Gothenburg, Sweden, Death Cleaning, On Assignment

Id: G-HLC3KtzsE

Length: 8min 27sec (507 seconds)

Published: Mon Jul 01 2019