The ways we use the word habit in English are related; it originally meant dress, attire, and later came to denote an acquired behavior pattern. We still refer to a nun’s costume as a habit. Etymologically, a habit is what one has. Mourners may not wear fancy head coverings when someone dies anymore, but we carry our own markings around on public transportation, at work, at our desks at home. I am in mourning when I overreact to harsh words. I am in mourning when I learn a new song on the guitar. Mourning has become so hopelessly intertwined with my daily activities that I can’t separate one
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