Posts Tagged Bereavement Organizing

On Sunday, Sarah and her husband went to the doctor since he had been under the weather for a while. “Pneumonia,” the doctor said, giving him some medication, “don’t go to work for a few days.” On Thursday, she called home from work to see how he was feeling. He didn’t answer. On her lunch break she went home to check on him. He was already dead.

When someone passes away, someone else inherits their belongings. In these kinds of situations, there are a lot of emotions, a lot of questions, and often, a lot of stuff. Bereavement organizing is helping with situations like this, helping the inheritor with the things they have received.

Personally, I’m comfortable with death in a way that not everyone is. My comfort with death, along with seeing the need within my own life, has made my work in bereavement organizing a natural fit for me.

In Feng Shui, an important principle is that everything is energy. I’ve come to understand that our things affect us energetically on a conscious and subconscious level.

A few months after the funeral, I visited Sarah. All of her husband’s belongings were exactly the way it had been the day he passed. She was still in shock, grieving. But when she was ready to deal with his things, she had a lot of questions: What do I keep for our young son, for me? What do I donate, sell, or just throw?

Bereavement Organizing Tips

• Find a few things to save that you love – that really represent your loved one to you and have wonderful memories attached
• Let go of things that have a bad memory for you (in Feng Shui, things with a negative memory attached can lower your energy, consciously or subconsciously)
• Take a photo of an object to honor the person, their memory, or that of an event to help you let go of the physical object
• Give yourself permission to let things go that you do not love or do not fit your life

These tips may help when organizing or decluttering a loved one’s belongings after their death, but know that there is no right or wrong way to do this – only what is best for you and your family. Honor the person and honor the process.

Su-Yoon Ko is a WWC Feng Shui Master, professional organizer, and elemental jewelry maker based in the Twin Cities. As a professional organizer, she specializes in bereavement organizing, working with clients who are attending to belongings they have inherited when they’ve lost someone. More at www.declutteringkey.com