Living in the heart of helicy: an inquiry into the meaning of compassion and unpredictability within Rogers' nursing science

Rogers used the term "compassion" throughout her writings, however, there has been no inquiry into the meaning of compassion within a unitary perspective. In addition, while unpredictability is a core feature of helicy, there have been no inquiries specifically into what it means to participate knowingly in a human-environmental mutual process characterized by unfolding patterns of unpredictability. The heart is both a symbol of compassion and a vortex of energy characterized by turbulence and unpredictability. The purpose of this paper is to explore the meaning of the metaphor "living in the heart of helicy" as a method to illuminate the meaning of compassion and unpredictability within Rogers' Science of Unitary Human Beings. To live in the heart of helicy is to participate compassionately and knowingly in unfolding patterns of unpredictability by: 1) cultivating creativity; 2) using butterfly power; 3) flowing with turbulence; 4) exploring integrality; 5) seeing the art and beauty of nursing; 6) living in pandimensionality; and 7) participating with the whole.