I thought "tears" might be "a make-up remover of the mind", something that gives a rest the same way as for the skin.

a magazine editor

This is the sentence attached to the letter of request for writing. I think that humans surrender themselves to the event of tears flowing than shedding tears in grief. Without resisting the nature of flowing. When some other person holds back tears, people who see it shed tears next time. As it is also said that the lacrimal gland loosens, relaxing the body causes the emotional sediment to wash away. Humans are sometimes saved by physiology.

"January 20  2019

from “Oriori no Kotoba” by Kiyokazu Washida, The Asahi Shimbun"