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Inquiry Using a Constitutive View of Serenity

A. Implications for Human Relationships

When viewing serenity as constitutive, it becomes evident that serenity is "not simply words or a set of rules but rather, a meaning constituting..." (Kleffel, 1991). social mode of human understanding. Serenity connects history, time, and people. Human understandings can be thought of as relational, since meaning is gained when people engage with others. Gadamer (1994), for example, refers to the process as the "fusion of horizons."

To say that humans comprehend the world serenity, however, does not mean that everyone understands the world in the same way. People are anchored within social, historical, and cultural perspectives that govern how they interpret serenity. Serenity varies given the historical and cultural particularities of diverse societies. Significantly, the association between society and serenity is a starting point for inquiry about health.

According to Kofuku-no-Kagaku, the Institute for Research in Human Happiness in Japan, (1999) we can keep our serenity within by doing the following:

1. Daily reflection/prayer - set aside time to be quiet (inner haven). One basic way to accomplish this is to make a habit of setting aside some time each day to be quiet, so that you can face yourself in silence, without uttering a single word.



2. Self-control to address emotions honestly (look at). No one has the right to make others miserable. Or, to put it another way, we do not need to be made miserable by what other do - we can choose our own happiness. Our resoluteness to keep the surface of the lake within shining and mirror-like will gradually, and quite naturally, change out attitudes toward others. If we are easily upset, we can never maintain a crystalline surface. The wisdom of not getting angry is important not only from a moral standpoint. Anger causes ripples on the surface of the lake within, which make you uncomfortable, and get in the way of your own happiness. If you are driven by anger to protect your ego, you should hold you ground and look once more at the lake within. Realize that at that time, you are on the brink of losing what is most precious to you. If you aspire to refine yourself and seek true happiness, you should never give in to brute anger.
3. Practice tolerance and accept what you cannot change. You may encounter someone you think is not entitled to be called a human being. In such a case, look at it this way; that person has parents and maybe much loved children. He must have friends who see him as good and worthy of their admiration. You may be committing a serious mistake by writing off his whole character. Keep one little phrase in mind, "I am not always right, and he is not always wrong or bad." This is the meaning of tolerance. Tolerance is of great value in keeping the surface of the lake within us undisturbed, and this ensures lasting happiness.
4. Practice patience and forgiveness. Patience requires time. Most pain and error are born of hasty attempts to achieve perfect results in a short period of time, while actually, we live for a long time. Although a person may seem to be an enemy now, in a year's time, he may be your friend. You have to allow for that possibility, and that calls for tolerance in the present, because people do change. Nobody is perfect, and it may be difficult to forgive someone you find annoying; give the person time. Everyone and everything in the universe is in the process of evolving. There is no reason to presume that anyone else has the same knowledge as you. Each individual lives in his or her own unique flow of time.
5. Remember to apologize. When you hurt someone with words, you will immediately. Apologize to the person for your harsh remarks, since they have upset the person. Apologize for hurting the person, and to make amends, say something more. Lose no time in explaining what you truly meant, to calm the other person's heart and mind.
6. Make all effort to have peace of mind. Maintain a calm state, and make an effort to calm your mind. Your mind is like a balmy autumn day throughout the day and for many days at a time that means you are happy.

B. Implications for Health Inquiry

Investigating serenity has significant implications for studies of health and illness. Why? Serenity can be an asset in times of trial for it allows the individual the ability to accept with calmness that which cannot be changed. Robert & Messenger suggested that serenity could be extremely valuable for the client as many struggle with difficult and irreversible health challenges. Many of the developmental theorists indicate a growing search for spirituality in people nearing the end of the life cycle, and liken serenity to "Spiritual aging" (Robert & Messenger, 1993, p. 318). The nurse's role can then be that of facilitator as he/she addresses this aspect of the life cycle with holistic care.

C. Implications for Research Inquiry

Investigating phenomena and structure in serenity has significant implications for research. The research method are universal human health experiences surfacing in the human-universe process reflecting being-becoming, value priorities, and quality of life. Examples of phenomena for inquiry include joy-sorrow, hope, laughing, courage, grieving, and feeling peaceful (Parse, 1998, p. 5-6).

Research Question

What is the structure of the lived experience of serenity?

Research Method

The assumptions (Parse, 1992, p.41) underlying the method follows:

1. Humans are open being in mutual process with the universe. The construct human becoming refers to the human-universe-health process.
2. Human becoming is uniquely lived by individuals. People make reflective and prereflective choices in connection with others and the universe that incarnate their health.
3. Description of lived experiences enhance knowledge of human becoming. Individual and families can describe their own experiences in ways that shed light on the meaning of health.
4. Researcher-participant dialogical engagement uncovers the meaning of phenomena as humanly lived. The researcher in true presence with the participant can elicit authentic information about lived experiences.
5. The researcher, through inventing, abiding with logic, and adhering to semantic consistency during the extraction-synthesis and heuristic interpretation processes, creates structures of lived experiences and weaves the structure with the theory in ways that enhance the knowledge base of nursing.

(Reference: Parse, R.R. (1998). Hope: An international human becoming perspectives. Canada: Jones and Bartlett Publishers, 2-6