I\n think we\u2019ve lost something with the decline of formalized grieving \nrituals - sitting shiva, wearing mourning clothes or black armbands, \netc.
\u2018cause it\u2019s like, okay if you\u2019re dead set on forming \npermanent attachments to impermanent mortals and then being sad when \nyour error\u2019s shown up, at least the rituals enchanted the feeling and \nbinded individual experiences to a collective narrative.
But\n more than serving the mourning, the rituals served the rest of society \nby quarantining it - mourners would stay housebound for an initial \nperiod, and then step down to going out in clothing that distinguished \ntheir status - to be treated delicately maybe, but also not to be taken seriously.
And then, possibly the most important thing, the rituals would specify a point at which to stop,\n after which those who persisted were considered to be the ones \nviolating propriety.
Bringing that back would certainly do something to \nforeclose the possibility of \u201cmourner\u201d as a permanent identity or even \ncareer - MADD types, school shooting parents barnstorming around making a\n show of bawwwwing over decade-old corpsemeat and then expecting society\n to break important shit so as to indulge them, that sort of thing.
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