I have been feeling a bit ‘lost’ in my process lately, as the research process is triggering many of my own wounds, sth that makes my vision blur due to the pain that overtakes my territory…I know that this is common in heuristic, qualitative studies. My dear friend Lola (a slovac artist) send me a quote that cherishes the importance of the ‘gap’, the nothing between things: … Read more »

During the last PhD group supervision meeting (12 Jan 07), when I was trying to describe my researh topic and my confusions around it to a couple of new group members, Christa came up with an image that she described so vividly, as she usually does when expressing herself. I asked her to send it to me in writing as she is so demonstrative with images and i received an email from her today, titled “fairytale basket” where she describes that image of me going for a research interview with participants holding this colourful basket with an egg in it (representing the ’spiritual’ thread of the toipc explored). Here is how Christa describes it: … Read more »

As Moustakas (1994:11) states: “From the beginning and throughout an investigation, heuristic research involves self-search, self-dialogue and self-discovery“. This process has been very intense during a period of months now and it often brings out either the hopeful or inspirational sides of the self or other, darker or more negative ones. As I engage in this self-dialogue and since I am a self-reflexive practitioner, seeing myself and all of us in that ‘journey of becoming’, it is often that more than one roles operate inside me, including that of the client, the counsellor, the researcher. Demonstrations of such a process come out either in a shift within relationships or through writing text or even in more creative ways (important part of the heuristic process) like in a form of a poem, dream, drawing etc. In addition to that, there is a hope for self-healing or coming closer to a more integrated whole, as a result of being on the research field. There was a momnet during a rainy evening in autumn that I wrote the following poem: … Read more »