Decluttering Through Grief

Sustainable Minimalists

Bleav + Stephanie Seferian

Kids & Family, Leisure, Parenting, Home & Garden

4.8 • 1.1K Ratings

🗓️ 4 April 2023

⏱️ 35 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

After losing a loved one, deciding what to do with their possessions is a complicated process. We humans tend to attach sentiment to physical things; it's no surprise, then, that many of us find ourselves suffering over not just the loss of life but also over the perceived loss of memories embedded within their belongings. Today's conversation offers insight into decluttering through grief. Krista St. Germain is a Post-Traumatic Growth and grief expert; she's also a widow who believes that pain is inevitable but whether or not we suffer is entirely within our control. Here's a preview: [6:00] How to know when the time is right to sort through your deceased loved one's belongings (and where to start) [9:45] Here's how facing sentimental clutter head-on fits within the grieving process [22:00] Where to start and how to keep going: Krista's best tips [27:00] Practical ways to steer clear of indecision drama [30:00] How to best memorialize a loved one without keeping every single thing Resources mentioned: The Widowed Mom Podcast Join our (free!) community here. Find your tribe. Sustainable Minimalists are on Facebook, Instagram + Youtube. Email me and say hello! MamaMinimalistBoston@gmail.com. Our Sponsors:* Thank you to LifeStraw! https://lifestraw.com/Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/sustainable-minimalists/exclusive-content

Transcript

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0:00.0	Well, hello there listeners, and welcome back. My name is Stephanie Safarian. You are
0:05.1	listening to episode 358 of sustainable minimalists, a two to three time per
0:11.0	week show, depending on the week, about intentional and eco-minimalist
0:15.1	living. When it comes to decluttering questions that you all send to me I tend to
0:22.1	get amalgamations of a similar question all the time and the
0:26.3	question is how do we sort through and declutter the stuff of our deceased loved one. We humans, we have many irksome habits, but one in
0:38.4	particular is, of course, we tend to attach meaning to physical items.
0:45.1	Even though we cognitively know that our memories are separate from the stuff,
0:50.6	there is emotion embedded in the stuff embedded within our grandmother's China or the smell of our father's shaving cream or our partners slippers
1:01.6	So today I'm asking my guest the questions that you all ask me. How
1:06.8	does sorting through our deceased loved ones items fit within the grieving process?
1:11.3	How do we know when is the right time
1:14.3	to embark on this emotionally trying job?
1:18.4	What is step one?
1:19.4	Where do we even begin?
1:20.6	And of course, if you haven't lost someone someone recently which I certainly hope you have not.
1:25.7	My guest and I today touch on how to best support the people in our lives who have and who are sorting through the stuff.
1:37.0	Today I'm speaking with Krista St. Germain.
1:40.0	Krista is a grief expert and she is the host of the Widowed Mom podcast.
1:44.8	A quick note before we get into it today, Krista details her own journey to becoming a
1:50.5	widowed mom. Her journey does detail drunk driving,
1:54.4	so her story may be difficult for some listeners
	...

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