Healing the spirit:

Survival through transmutation

Keywords: Transmutation; storytelling; personal intelligence; healing; biophilia; resilience; trauma.

Abstract

Liberation is the act of setting free from internal and social oppression (Afuape, 2011), in 2019 it was the Liberation Trail fire that raged through our place, turning the living essence of our livelihood, and belongings to dust. The dust had barely settled when the torrential rains drenched the remains, weeping over the ashes. These ashes were not just of things, houses, and furniture, but also of trees, ferns, and animals of all sizes. Next, it was isolation and fear that arose from the ashes in the form of Coronavirus (COVID-19 virus). Isolating people from the natural environment and from each other. Through these transmutations, we relied upon the resilient nature of the human spirit to survive. This autoethnographic story explores human resilience in the face of personal and global loss. The power of storytelling is an ancient tradition, stemming from a human need to make meaning of the lived experience. Each person who tells a story speaks from their ‘biographical position’ and is unique as the storyteller (Denzin, 2014). Stories, or narratives, assisted in the survival of cultures by retelling warnings of potential threats. They are intrinsic to all cultures, whether they are written or verbal. The act of storytelling can impart a metaphysical presence that can provide a sense of spirituality in the communication process (Snyder & Lindquist, 2006; Uys, 2014). Storytelling has been described as an expression of human consciousness and as such, can guide the person towards healing the spirit, and liberating from trauma (Carter,2019).

Author Biography

Dr Melissa Carey , School of Nursing & Midwifery UniSQ

Dr Melissa Carey (Ngāti Raukawa Iwi).  Melissa has worked as a registered nurse for over 20 years practising within the acute clinical setting in regional and rural Australia. Since 2006 Melissa has been employed within the tertiary education sector where she has developed and delivered various nursing education programmes for undergraduate and post-graduate students. Completing a PhD in 2016 at Queensland University of Technology, Melissa is an emerging health researcher with experience in Ethnographic, Auto ethnographic and Kaupapa Māori research methodologies. Her research areas include Indigenous knowledge and research, creativity and health education, cultural recovery and healing, cultural safety, cultural needs at end of life and healthy ageing for Māori. Melissa co-leads the Australia and New Zealand Aged, Palliative and End of Life Care research team within the Institute for Resilient Regions, Centre for Health Research and the School of Nursing and Midwifery at the University of Southern Queensland.  In 2020 Melissa commenced a Postdoctoral Māori Career Development Fellowship funded by the Health Research Council New Zealand and the University of Auckland. The focus of this research is to develop and pilot a compassionate community toolkit for healthy ageing and end-of-life care for Māori people in South Auckland.

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Published
2023-03-01
How to Cite
Carter, J. M., & Carey, M. (2023). Healing the spirit: : Survival through transmutation. Ethnographic Edge, 6(1), 63-72. https://doi.org/10.24135/ee.v5i1.236