Decluttering after the loss of a loved one

Decluttering after the loss of a loved one

by | Apr 28, 2025 | Blog-UK

Decluttering after the loss of a loved one is a tender, deeply personal process and often not easy. Where to begin? Legacy Decluttering: A compassionate Guide To Letting Go is a helpful guide written by Sheila Carroll, professional organizer and KonMari Consultant based in Amsterdam, offering supportive, practical advice for navigating this emotional journey. It begins with the reminder that there’s no set timeline—readiness is emotional, not calendar-based. Whether you’re easing in slowly or facing a time-sensitive situation, the guide helps you approach the process with clarity and care.

For urgent circumstances, it offers tools to make decisions quickly and thoughtfully, including sorting systems, help from others, and a simple script for offering items to family. Inspired by the “spark joy” principle, the guide encourages keeping only what genuinely lifts your heart, freeing yourself from guilt or obligation.

It also provides a gentle roadmap: start with less sentimental items, recognize signs it might be time to begin, and ask for help when needed—from friends, family, or professionals. Digital preservation is offered as a meaningful way to keep memories without holding onto every item.

Finally, it suggests finding purposeful new homes for belongings—through donations, returning gifts, or sharing with extended family—while emphasizing that joy and love can co-exist with letting go. Decluttering becomes not an act of forgetting, but a way to honor the past while making room for the present.

 

Sheila Carroll
Professional Organizer
https://sparkjoyeurope.com

The days before Christmas

The days before Christmas

by | Dec 15, 2024 | Blog-UK

For many people the dark days of December ein the weeks before Christmas are a time of togetherness, warmth and cosiness. For people in mourning, this can be overshadowed by loss. For them, these holidays can actually be difficult.

The emptiness that someone leaves behind is highlighted by the empty chair at the table and memories that come up unexpectedly. While the world around you is in party mode, the sadness for someone grieving surfaces.

It can help to consciously think about how you want to spend the holidays. Perhaps it is difficult to participate in certain traditions just now, because you need to slow down. It is tempting to withdraw, but being with family or friends can bring distraction and comfort. A smile or a warm/nice remembrance can bring an unexpected moment of joy.

During this period, it is important to take good care of yourself.

With the following poem from Winnie the Pooh, I like to conclude.

If there ever comes a day
when we can’t be together,
keep me in your heart,
I’ll stay there forever.”

Hooray, my practice has now been running for 6 years

Hooray, my practice has now been running for 6 years

by | Jun 20, 2024 | Blog-UK

After losing my partner, Paul, my outlook on life changed. Until then I worked for a multinational company as a Change Manager. I then opted for a different interpretation of my work, by first completing Coaching training and then Grief and Loss training at Land van Rouw.

Many clients have since found their way to my practice. It touches me, how many have made the choice to choose me. Sometimes it was the text on my website, a poem, the description of who I am, my photo, the reviews, through a telephone conversation with me, a referral from a GP or a recommendation from a client. It is both fascinating and interesting to guide people from different cultural backgrounds in my practice. For me, an essential part of this has always been to provide a safe place where people are welcome with everything going on related to their loss.

A completely different side of my work is advising P&O managers (Personnel & Organization) on how to deal with loss in the workplace and guiding support bereavement groups at Humanitas. I also get a lot of satisfaction and inspiration from this.

I am, of course, not standing still. Over the last two years I have been studying Trauma Processes at Praktijk Parabel by Gwen Timmer and I am slowly integrating this into my work.

To reflect on the success of my practice, the 1.5-hour intake / introductory meeting is free until end of September for people starting a new support program.

Different Bankholidays

Different Bankholidays

by | Dec 24, 2020 | Blog-UK

On Sunday evening I danced at home and listened to the song ‘Aquarius’ from the rock musical ‘Hair’. From this song the following lines appeal to me:
 
Harmony and understanding
Sympathy and trust abounding
No more falsehoods or derisions
Golden living dreams of visions
Mystic crystal revelation
And the mind’s true liberation
 
The Aquarian or Piscean Age represents transforming the world to more human values. The text above resonates with me.
This year was clearly a year of reflection and going more inwards.
A year where we take into account other people’s opinion, no matter how difficult this may be. A year where we have had enough of pollution and are becoming more one with nature. Unfortunately also a year were people were more lonely and where it was not always possible to say goodbye to loved ones as we were used to.
 
Christmas is a time to spend with family and due to the restrictions you might have to spend it without them. The absence which is so tangible, you wished they would be here with you. Christmas and the New Year will be different for many people this year.
No matter what kind of circumstances you may find yourself in and whatever you believe, I wish that 2021 will bring days of light, self-love and above all connection with the new age of Aquarius.