Lighter Living is more than a book. Lighter Living Tasks are weekly suggestions to make progress on decluttering, organizing and simplifying your life. By working on parts of your home each week, you will be breaking big projects into small, manageable tasks.
I created a physical and digital legacy album for each of my parents. I put the very best photos of their lives from start to finish in order in one photo album that could be viewed at their celebration of life event and for the family to cherish for years to come. I did a physical album and a photo slideshow digitally simultaneously.
After completing this project for my parents, I decided to make one of myself year-to-date that could be added on to in the future years I hope to have. Making my own albums (physical and digital) was more challenging than doing it for my parents. It required that I face my mortality and realize that I would die one day. Even though we all know we are going to die, doing tasks that directly confront that fact are not easy!
The hardest part of making my own album was just committing to starting. Once I carved out a day and started to layout my favorite pictures, it began to flow. It is now complete to the present moment and I feel a tremendous peace of mind. I believe it would be difficult for my daughters to take the time to start the project from scratch and deal with the emotions of loss during bereavement. I want to give them the gift of my life to review so that they may mourn and grieve yet celebrate my life at the same time.
An additional bonus of my album being ready now is that I can show my daughters and I can share stories and answer questions while we are together. I can also throw away pictures I hate and display the ones I like best as well as fill in gaps of missing eras and significant moments to give a full view of my life and important parts I want to be remembered for when I am gone. Give it a try; you might just find the process rewarding in ways you never imagined!
Between tasks posted on this blog, be sure to read Lighter Living if you have not already.
