Building a renewed sense of purpose and agency after trauma

Finding purpose, human or institutional, after a traumatic experience within a conflicted context is extremely challenging. Yet this is a must in times of growing global unrest. This paper explores the human consciousness of... [ view full abstract ]

Finding purpose, human or institutional, after a traumatic experience within a conflicted context is extremely challenging. Yet this is a must in times of growing global unrest. This paper explores the human consciousness of those seeking new meanings in their participation after experiencing trauma. According to a recent study from 162 countries only 11 are not involved in conflict. By using dynamic scenarios on the mobility of violence, this paper will provide a panoramic perspective of the problem area and propose new methods to approach healing with a renewed sense of purpose. In particular, the paper provides a phenomenological exploration of both concepts trauma and creativity in rural communities.
Institutions are also broken and loosing their most valuable resource, the human capital and agency of their people. I describe human agency as the capability for human beings to make choices with freedom. The flourishing of human agency is obstructed when agency enters into survival mode (Rodriguez Carreon, 2015). As Ul Haq cleary stated on the first Human Security Report “when people travel, they bring much dynamisms and creativity with them. But when only their poverty travels, they bring nothing but human misery” (1995, 39), so how do survivors re-encounter again with the dynamism and creativity overshadowed by traumatic memories?
This paper is the continuation of my former research in human agency and empowerment. This paper aims to explore the existing methods of healing used in communities. What is the existing dynamic between the concepts of both trauma and creativity? The main argument is that trauma is the antithesis of creativity, and the capacity for imagination to renew the sense of purpose is crucial for the people in mobility. This paper will explore the literature of contemplative studies and ask the question: how forgotten contemplative practices can regenerate wellbeing after trauma -used in other cultures to redefine their sense of agency?