Live your rich life while death cleaning!

I recently blew through two streaming series — How To Get Rich on Netflix and The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning on Peacock — and watching them in tandem was an unexpectedly simpatico experience.

That might not be the reaction you’d expect from reading those two show titles, but it’s true! And here’s why.

First, I was surprised that I enjoyed How to Get Rich as much as I did. Not because I gleaned a whole bunch of life-changing financial wisdom from it (though I am always trying to learn and be more confident in this area).

But I found it refreshing that the host, Ramit Sethi, encouraged everyone to focus their attention and finances on what matters, and get rid of what doesn’t matter.

This is not a revolutionary or groundbreaking idea — in fact, it’s something I practice regularly — but I was thrilled to see it espoused as a financial tactic on a global scale.

I’m not an official Buddhist, but I embrace the idea that each day is a constant practice and even a struggle towards full enlightenment, which we’ll never actually reach in this lifetime.

So yes, obviously it makes sense to direct your financial goals toward the experiences that light you up and all the stuff that supports those moments.

And it helps to keep this principle in mind for all aspects of your life: your daily habits and your intentions, as we say in the woo-woo world.

As our lives and habits change, it’s — dare I say — fun? to reassess your intentions every season or so. And that’s where The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning comes in to, uh, clean up.

I pretty much knew I was going to love this one right off the bat: It’s produced by some of the same people who do Queer Eye, so it’s got a similar sensibility. And it’s narrated by Amy Poehler, who gives it just the right amount of sass. (Her comments on the creepy dolls in one person’s basement will make your day.)

And though it deals with some mature subject matter and minor swearing (one of the episodes is titled “F*ck Cancer,” after all), I daresay this is required viewing for the entire household.

If you struggle with the idea of minimalism with your worldly possessions but also can’t bear to part with a single sentimental tchotchke, you may feel very seen by this show.

Even as someone who’s been called “ruthless” in my purging efforts, I identified with the emotional journeys of the participants as they worked through house-fuls of old photographs, hand-me-down furniture, decades of amassed clothes, and in one instance, about a million tiki mugs.

I’m sure I’m not the only one who reassessed a lot of stuff around the house in 2020 and 2021. And I’m always adding and subtracting from my emotional and physical piles of stuff as I go through my days.

To be fair, again, life is a struggle toward enlightenment. I still hoard way too many old t-shirts and sweatshirts, and please don’t suggest I turn them into a quilt. Not to mention that currently, half the contents of my kitchen are in the living and dining room while we paint the ceiling and walls, and I’m feeling a little embarrassed to own so many “essential” items.

But the point of death cleaning isn’t to bog us down with negative thoughts on our eventual separation from all our stuff — it’s to lighten the load and help free us from the weight of the self-imposed pressures we associate with all this accumulation.

How to Get Rich doesn’t encourage you to buy more stuff to be happy, and The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning doesn’t force you to get rid of the stuff that makes you happy. It’s not an either/or situation.

I see both series as a set of bookends or cars on parallel track. They’re offering suggestions on how to focus our time and effort so we can live happier right now. And that’s a good thing to learn over and over again.