Recently, I had a twinge of that fear again, feeling like I was back in my hot pink Reebok sneakers when I had the opportunity to speak with Shirley Min for an interview for WHYY-TV about The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning.

Years ago, when I first stepped onto a stage as a fitness instructor, I was teaching a class that was well above my physical skill set. Fear of humiliation didn’t inspire me to suddenly become more fit or more polished. Ironically, my brain went straight to: “This isn’t about me — it’s about them.”

Instinctively, I stepped off the stage and into the crowd. I joked with people. I called them by name. I pointed out what they were doing well and recognized how hard they were working. It stopped feeling like a performance and started feeling like a conversation, which is still how I think about most things. There’s no real beginning or ending. There’s simply the time we spend together. Hopefully, we make the most of it and come out feeling a little better on the other side. Any by default, my personal fitness level increased dramatically:)

I was never the instructor screaming “No pain, no gain!” I also wasn’t the soft instructor telling everyone to simply slow down, I was the person that made the class memorable and made you feel a part of the story. Recently, I felt a little of that same nervous energy again when the WHYY cameras arrived at my house.

The first question Shirley asked me was: “What’s the difference between Swedish Death Cleaning and decluttering?” Here’s my take: Decluttering is about making space. Downsizing is about moving into a smaller space that is often with less room to store things.

Swedish Death Cleaning is about curating your life along the way. Surrounding yourself with the things you love and need in this season of your life-right now Living with intention now instead of later. And in modern terms? It feels a little like wearing your favorite jeans every day, and not burdening someone else with deciding what to do with all the other jeans you didn’t wear when you pass away.