Book ~ "Nobody Wants Your Sh*t: The Art of Decluttering Before You Die" (2023) Messie Condo

From Goodreads ~ Inspired by "The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning", "Nobody Wants Your Sh*t" will light a fire under your untidy ass with humor and helpful organizing tips that you’ll actually want to use.

Like a delightfully foul-mouthed best friend, this book dishes out the funny, unpretentious advice you need to hear most. You’ll discover how to deal with your sh*t like there’s no tomorrow, live in the moment without the f*cking mess, and make your life and your eventual death a hell of a lot easier. With this witty guide, you’ll learn how to

• ditch the d*mn indecision
• get your sh*t together and feel fantastic
• give your busy family a f*cking breakand more!

Whether you’re getting ready to move in, move on, or just move your ass, Nobody Wants Your Sh*t will help you take control of your f*cking life.

Nobody Wants Your Sh*t is the push we all need ... your stuff will become someone else’s problem if you don’t deal with it now. The book is about “death cleaning,” which means decluttering while you’re alive, capable and in charge of your own decisions. The author pushes you to stop keeping things “just in case” and start asking whether they actually add anything to your life right now. If they don’t, they’re just taking up space physically and mentally. 

The book talks about why we hang onto stuff (guilt, nostalgia, fear of waste, etc.), how to make decisions faster and how to tackle clutter in chunks so it doesn’t feel overwhelming. It’s less about having a picture-perfect home and more about not leaving a mountain of junk for your loved ones to sort through later. In addition, it talks about the importance of having a will, ensuring someone knows about your accounts and passwords, etc. As a head's up, there is a lot of swearing.

I was never one for knickknacks but suddenly in the 1990s I was ... now I have a couple of shelves of pictures, knickknacks, ornaments, etc. I like them but what will happen to them once I'm gone? Whoever clears out my stuff will be left to deal with them. And that's what this book is all about. In the last few years as I've gotten older, I have been mindful about what I buy. I try to buy things that I will use and enjoy now (like scented candles) rather than something that will sit on a shelf and get dusty or hang in my closet. It helps that I've never been a big shopper ... I tend to buy what I need or really  really want. I never had anything of value passed on to me and I don't have much of value to pass on to anyone (I'm childfree).