What Happens to Your Stuff When You Die?

Last week, I was walking my son to school when I noticed the house on the corner with a skip in the driveway and several pieces of furniture.  Nothing special about that, right? But what caught my attention about this house was that I knew the owner had passed away. 

The treasures destined for landfill out the front was a stark reminder of what happens to our things after we’re gone. 

It’s something that not many of us like to think about, but when I’m decluttering, I’m not just doing so to create space, but to release the burden on my loved ones when I’m gone. And let’s face it, none of us know when that time is. 

After all, we can’t take our things with us. We never had it when we were born and we can’t take it when we go. 

Most of the stuff we struggle to let go of is either going to end up in landfill or in the guilty pile of a loved one’s attic or basement. 

When I glanced at that skip, I imagined my own things being cleared out, and the things that instantly came to my mind were my game consoles and Benji (the elephant plushie I’ve had since I was born). Nothing else flashed through my mind which told me that Benji and my game consoles are the most important physical things to me. 

Will the game consoles stay relevant forever? Of course not. Will anybody care about Benji when I’m gone? Unless my plushie-mad daughter claims it, I highly doubt it. We like to imagine that our close family and friends will want our treasures, but that isn’t always true because most people are already drowning in stuff. That or the stuff has become too outdated. 

See, at the end of the day, stuff is just stuff. As humans, we love to attach meaning and memories to things, but those memories and meanings are stored in our hearts and minds. No boxes or shelves needed. 

So, instead of filling landfills with our memories and letting loved ones deal with our stuff when we’re gone, why not keep only what’s important to us today? Because tomorrow isn’t guaranteed but the impact on the Earth and your loved ones is.