mourning

i learned something new today: the difference between mourning and melancholia. i got it from Ricoeur, citing Freud's essay "Mourning and Melancholia". mourning is about reconciling with a loss of an object of love. melancholia is reconciling with the lost object of love. melancholia therefore is an attempt at what is impossible, since it attempts to reunite with what is forever lost, like a loved one who passed away. mourning is reconciling with the loss, not with the object. it is therefore a reality check, an activity to keep us able to move on and deal with life.