Note: This piece was written exactly one year before the US death toll from COVID surpassed 500,000. Death, especially the untimely kind, has been on my mind a lot, so I thought it worth reposting.

This blog may be uncomfortable, but it’s exactly the discomfort we need to discuss—the one thing that unites us all—regardless of sex, race, religion, socio-economic status, education, geography, how we love. Everybody dies.

In The Me-Suite, we’re life-minded which means we lead our lives with purpose, planning and power. Being life-minded means we take time to think about the opposite—going to a better place, kicking the bucket, meeting the maker, passing on, biting the dust.

Over the last few years, I have settled three estates. One estate, my father’s, was well-planned throughout an illness. My father talked me through a list of 57 items I was to execute for my mother after he passed. And it was difficult. The second estate involved two complicated Trusts with ancient documentation in a dysfunctional family…and it was difficult. The third was a suicide with no Will…and it was difficult. It’s always difficult.

The Me-Suite mindset and disciplines help us live the life we want to live and ensure those who follow after us live the life we want them to live.

With a Me-Suite mindset, we:

1. Show gratitude—think about the person you’ve been meaning to thank, and thank them this week. It will feel so good. “Let each thing you would do, say, or intend, be like that of a dying person.” —Marcus Aurelius

2. Adopt dostadning (no, this is not a typo)

   Acknowledge we are not here forever, and we don’t know our day. Have open conversations about the one thing that binds us all—the fact that life is never long enough. And yes, this can be very awkward at all ages. Check out the book The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning: How to Free Yourself and Your Family from a Lifetime of Clutter.

3. Have the right papers: Consult an estate planning attorney no matter your age. At a minimum, we all need:

• Will, Durable Power of Attorney, Healthcare Directive, Insurance Documentation

• List of account numbers, passwords, key contacts, location of safes or storage facilities

• More complicated affairs may require Trusts and additional powers of attorney

Let’s be more open, realistic and prepared. In short, let’s be more Swedish.