The experience of longing

The purpose of this study was to describe the human experience of longing. The dialogical method of existential phenomenology was utilized to arrive at a description of the experience. Eleven participants were interviewed about their experience of longing. The interviews were transcribed and the resulting transcriptions were interpreted using a hermeneutic approach.

Longing was characterized as a dynamic state of consciousness punctuated by fluctuations in what was figurally noticed. Participants described their awareness as shifting among four interrelated themes: Reaching For, Desired Object, Barrier, and Bittersweet Feelings. The thematic structure of longing emerged against a ground described as a state of consciousness: “As Is/ As If.” Fluctuations in thematic experiences corresponded with alternations in "As Is" and "As If” modes of consciousness. The "As Is" mode concerns phenomena experienced as existing in the world; the "As If” mode concerns objects and experiences regarded as products of fantasy or imagination.

These findings suggest that longing is a complex phenomena characterized by paradoxical relationships among aspects of its own state. Such interrelationships express and instantiate transformational aims: In longing, individuals experience a desire to change ontological states - to become other than who or what they were at that moment. Present findings were considered in relation to a select number of philosophical and psychological theories. The theoretical descriptions of longing provided by Hegel, Sartre and Hillman closely accorded with the descriptions provided by participants in this study.