Tome, J. (2023). “When love beckons”: An intuitive inquiry on the experience of surrender in living out a calling among Filipino millennials [Unpublished Master’s thesis]. Alef Trust & Liverpool John Moores University.

The present study explored the experience of surrender in living out a calling among Filipino Millennials. Using intuitive inquiry (ii) as the research method, it flowed through the five hermeneutical cycles that made use of imaginal dialogues, enabled an iterative unfolding of meaning units, and allowed the transformation of the lenses of the researcher. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with six Filipino Millennials who were living out a calling. Nine themes emerged after conducting a thematic content analysis: understanding my calling; wholehearted commitment; continuous discernment; how calling is shaped; the call changes; faith and trust in God; happier and fulfilled; it takes a lot from you; and control led to my burnout. These themes transformed the preliminary lenses and added new ones. Surrender emerged as an inevitable part of living out a calling as it promotes alignment of the true self with a higher power and other-oriented purpose. The willingness to relinquish control and be part of the grander flow of life runs counter in a society predisposed to independence and self-sufficiency. Since calling was found to evolve through time, the practice of surrender requires continuous discernment. The strengths, limitations, and directions for future research were also discussed.