“Spirituality is the aspect of humanity that refers to the way individuals seek and express meaning and purpose and the way they experience their connectedness to the moment, to self, to others, to nature, and to the significant or scared.”*
I was approached recently to comment on spirituality at the end of life. I love a good chat, especially a good deep ‘n’ meaningful, and I have spent many hours with dying people listening to their reflections on their lives, values and spirituality – including those who stated “I’m not into spiritual stuff” – so I felt equipped enough to consider the questions and was looking forward to the kōrero. However the more I thought about the questions, the less clear I became! And here’s the conundrum: our spirituality and worldview – what we believe, value, align with, and connect to, in our lives to understand its meaning – are not static but ever evolving, changing, waxing and waning, growing and constricting, loosening and deepening as they, and we, are tested and challenged.
*Puchalski, C., Ferrell, B., Virani, R., Otis-Green, S., Baird, P., Bull, J., Sulmasy, D. Improving the quality of Spiritual care as a dimension of Palliative care, The report of the Consensus Conference. Journal of Palliative Medicine 12 (10) 2009 885-904
