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Paper short abstract:

This is the story of my numerous attempts at researching the “unexpected” in relation to shocking, surprising and unprecedented life situations in mine and other people's lives. The study runs parallel to the author’s cancer diagnosis and its subsequent treatments from 2017 to 2022.

Paper long abstract:

This article tells the story of my numerous attempts at researching the role and meanings associated with the notion of the “unexpected” in relation to shocking, surprising and unprecedented life situations. The study runs parallel to the author’s cancer diagnosis and its subsequent treatments from 2017 to 2022, and it is roughly divided in three phases: the first one, an exploratory qualitative study, based on biographical interviews and informal conversations with a sample of twenty people from all walks of life. This initial phase of the research focused on the role of religion and spirituality in making sense of the unexpected. The second phase focuses on the study of resilience through the exploratory use of counselling techniques including drawings. The third and concluding phase looks at the author’s emotional and personal responses during the research process through auto-ethnographic account of what happened during these attempts and the writing process that followed.

The narrative proposed shows the creative, therapeutic and intellectual potential of intersecting qualitative methodologies, restating the importance of subjectivity and positionality while accounting for research failures and successes, shifting motivations and emotions.