Death doesn’t need our respect. Let’s celebrate life at funerals | Erica Buist

A celebratory funeral does not mean trivialising someone’s loss. Death rituals around the world help take away its power

Laughter, joy and celebration aren’t words that are traditionally associated with funerals, but in the past few years we’ve seen the rise of the happy funeral, with “celebration” becoming a well-established funeral trend. In fact, when the Sky News journalist Colin Brazier wrote in the Spectator that he had politely asked friends to “leave their Hawaiian shirts and pink helium balloons at home” and wear black to his wife’s funeral this month, it made the news.

“Wearing black gives people licence to be lachrymose,” he says, “If you see someone blubbing outside a pub wearing a black suit and tie, you have a clue as to why.” Even I (someone who once made a loved one a video eulogy that reduced the congregation to giggles) understand the longing for the rigidity of a Victorian mourning ritual. It communicates that you’re in pain.

Related: Are we finally learning to talk more openly about death? | Rebecca Nicholson

Related: The changing face of funerals: why we did it our own way…

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from Children | The Guardian https://ift.tt/2JPLfe8