Photo courtesy of Monofocus on Pixabay.com

My friend Pat and I talk about downsizing material goods and “getting rid of stuff” nearly every time we’re together. Pat says she tries to follow Marie Kondo’s advice to keep only the items that spark joy. But, she adds, there’s a whole bunch of joy-sparking going on at her house.

Pat and I are about the same age and we have children who are married. To each other. It wasn’t until our last talk when we realized my daughter and her son have been scamming us. When I offer Laura something that has some poignancy attached to it, her response is, “No, but don’t give it away.”

Pat mentioned that the last time she offered Andrew something with sentimental attachment, he gave his standard answer: “No, but just keep it at your house.”

We figure we’ll have our revenge eventually when, after our funerals, they’ll realize that, Holy Grandpa’s gravy boat, Batman, they’ll have to make decisions on this stuff then.

The Swedish Death Cleaning process became popular in 2018 with the release of the book “The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning: How to Make Your Loved Ones’ Lives Easier and Your Own Life More Pleasant.” In summary, it’s a way of decluttering and streamlining your life, or in other words, getting rid of stuff you don’t need, don’t use, don’t wear, don’t whatever!

Getting rid of stuff makes me feel good. The feeling is like running slow motion through a green meadow on a sunny spring day; I feel free. It’s like when I get my hair trimmed and then feel thinner. That makes absolutely no sense and I know it. But it’s still how I feel.

I didn’t realize until recently that some people were taking getting rid of stuff to an extreme level. That condition is unofficially tagged as Obsessive Compulsive Spartanism. Like hoarding, it is thought to be an expression of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD). But instead of feeling the urgency to collect stuff (any stuff), the spartan-seekers have the compulsive need to get rid of stuff. Again any stuff. Stuff that they actually DO need, use, wear, whatever! Such as a can opener. Or a chair.

Apparently, this can be just as heartbreaking for family and friends as for those with a family member or friend who hoards. The Next Avenue link below is a daughter reacting to her mother’s compulsive need to rid her surroundings of nearly everything. She says in part, “When I stay at my mother’s house, I have to hide my belongings because seeing a room full of things causes her to have a meltdown. Another rule is to never leave anything behind or lend something I cherish to my mother — because they won’t be there when I get back.”

Just as with a hoarder, relationships suffer with a compulsive spartan. People no longer come to visit because there is no place to sit. With a hoarder, the chairs are not available because they are piled with belongings. With an excessive declutterer, there simply are no chairs.

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Next Avenue article on spartanism 

2-minute news clip on excessive decluttering

CBS Sunday Morning on hoarding  

CBS Sunday Morning on Marie Kondo