I have just read an article entitled The Wellbeing Report. It notes: In a brave attempt to ... identify the so-called 'building blocks of adult contentment,' Boots recently conducted a major piece of research [...] a national first, in terms of both its scope and its size, involving 2,000 people aged from 16 to 80-plus. (Hutton, 2002, p. 37). Regardless of age, gender, race, occupation, social class, level of education, or income of participants, the following emerged as major contributors to their sense of wellbeing: * in control of one's life. * A sense of optimism. * Self-acceptance. * Having an altruistic outlook or some form of * Feeling well in oneself. (Hutton, pp. 38-41; and http//www.wellbeing.com /survey2002) Building block number 4 caught my attention: Spirituality! The word seems to be everywhere although, in the UK, where I work as an adult and community educator/researcher, contemporary research has paid little attention to spirituality as a factor in adults' learning. I have begun to explore spirituality in my own learning through practice. Reflective Practice There are many approaches to, and interpretations of reflective (Hunt, 1999). For me, it involves: * Trying to identify, articulate, take ownership of, and begin to understand that which constitutes the mind-baggage I carry with me: the often-unconscious ideas, assumptions, preferences, habits, etc. that might otherwise control my thoughts and actions. * Applying this understanding to my professional practice so that it can be simultaneously informed by, and freed from, the thoughts and experiences of my past. On a monthly basis, I work with a critical friend, focusing on, say, a particular interaction in which I have been involved, or a decision I have made. Often these have left me feeling uncomfortable, but I am not sure why. In dialogue, we try to unpack the various elements of the event by looking at its immediate circumstances, previous similar situations, and associated thoughts and feelings. We may also consider how texts we have read, for example, on power or gender might shed further light on what happened. Identifying and taking a wider view of the interlocking elements of an event in this way helps me to make better sense of it, to recognize what I had/have the power to change, and to be alert to the influence of such elements at other times. Sometimes I work alone, trying to capture these things in writing. I use four headings: * Description of the event (including immediate thoughts and feelings) * Connections (with previous experiences and ideas) * Literature (are there any relevant texts offering wider perspectives?) * So what? (key points I need to remember; specific action I should take) Ironically, though I was not then aware of it, I now recognize how a similar sense-making process shaped my Ph.D. thesis and informs my present understanding of spirituality. Connections The original focus of my thesis was on the implementation of an adult/community education policy. I finished the empirical work but, in exploring the concept of community, I found myself in territory that I could only describe as spiritual. This felt scary: the territory seemed vast and I had no map. Even more significantly, powerful academic gatekeepers indicated that this territory lay beyond the confines of a thesis on adult education. I subsequently abandoned it for nearly two years (Hunt, 2001). Meanwhile, I had found nearly 100 definitions of community. While these were interesting academically, none seemed to encapsulate properly the feeling of belonging that I had often experienced as a participant in community activities. Peck's (1990, p. …