in the 1950's, british psychiatrist john bowlby began publishing his ideas about grief as a universal instinct, an emotional response to separation that evolved through natural selection. bowlby reasoned that the grieving mind swaddled images and memories of that which was absent; as the individual measured the outside world against these treasured and guarded memories and found the object of their desire still lacking, a maelstrom of feelings arose. these sensations were generally gainful because they helped preserve an emotional and mental tie to someone or something of prior importance with which reunion remained possible.


melanie challenger
on extinction
ghosts