I decided to start a blog about the paranormal because I've had a lot of theories and personal viewpoints swimming in my head and I needed an outlet to write them down. I know that my thoughts are not necessarily unique but, in my mind, they are still worth hearing to gain support and - hopefully - start some debate about the field. Like religion, I've put together my own ideas from various viewpoints of others to create my own set of beliefs regarding the spirit world (and how it is documented), UFO/alien life, and crypto-zoology. This blog will be my chance to catalog those ideas in my own unique way and, quite frankly, I'm really looking forward to it! I hope to gain some readers from various fields of expertise and fellow novice explorers and to start some quality conversation. I would love to do this in person in some coffee shop but reality is, the web is the way to go to really gain some insight from as many people as possible in a real-time setting.
I suppose before I start an actual blog, I should introduce myself and share a little about my history and why this is my area of interest. Probably the most interesting thing about me is that I have moved a LOT. I've lived in 9 states, 6 in the past 10 years. This includes where I was born (UT), my "hometown" (in NH), my undergraduate college (in RI), my graduate school (in IL), where my parents currently live (aka home between homes) (WI), and various moves with my husband for jobs (VA, CO, and MI). We also lived in CA for 5 years in between UT and NH. Needless to say, I've been around. I've lived on both coasts and a few states in between and I've also traveled a decent amount within the states and abroad. My unique lifestyle as helped form me into an educated and outgoing person. I've heard a lot of different views on many aspects of life and beyond. I've been rooted and un-rooted in various churches and belief systems and I am just now starting to create my own faith/belief system, which I'm actually quite proud of.
My history of the paranormal starts from a young age, although I couldn't tell you when or how it started. I traveled with my parents quite a bit and I was curious about the history of each place, particularly the ghost stories that surrounded each place. The tourist spots that stick out are Gettysburg and Williamsburg for obvious reasons. When we entered a gift shop, my parents went straight to the apparel section for their sweatshirt memento...I went straight to the book section for my research on local hauntings.
Growing up in NH, my neighbor and best friend had experienced quite a bit of paranormal activity in her house. At the time, I was curious but also very skeptical about her experiences. A large regret in my life is that I did not keep my friendship with her, because she was a great friend, and that I did not take her more seriously. I wish I had known more about scientific paranormal research at the time because I know we both would have been conducting investigations any chance we had. If the Syfy channel had been around back then, we would have glued ourselves to the shows available. We would have grown together by this common interest instead of growing apart by my petty insecurities as a teenager.
One reveal of my geekness as an adolescent: I was a member of the Civil War Club in junior high. One of the main reasons I joined this club and kept my membership (besides my fascination with that era and Abraham Lincoln's leadership) was the annual trip to Gettysburg. No end of paranormal activity here. We also visited George's Island, host to Fort Warren, a POW camp among the islands of Boston Harbor. Here lies the story of the "Lady in Black." A friend of mine in the club was also a "ghost enthusiast" and our first mission was to experience the phenomena...and we did. I will blog about this story later but my point is that this experience sealed my interest in the spirit world. I now had my "proof."
It is now later in life that I value the scientific research done by so many groups. I started watching a ghost-hunting show on the Travel Channel, which, in my opinion is just awful. But I then discovered Ghost Hunters on Syfy and was hooked! My first thought was, "Cool! A show about a group from Rhode Island!" but the more I watched, I realized that this was legit and I truly believed in what they were doing (and still do). I love that more and more shows are coming out about paranormal experiences including Destination Truth and Fact or Faked. I enjoy DT because of their international travels, their experiences in trying to figure out what is really happening, and the mix of various paranormal activity (crypto-zoology and the spiritual world mainly). Josh Gates has also inspired me to take some anthropology classes! But I have to say, my favorite is Fact or Faked. I love that they take real, and current, experiences and make it their own to try and figure out what’s going on and if its really happening. Their skepticism matches what I'm thinking and their application of real-life expertise astounds me: photography tricks, special effects, and thinking outside the box, as an example. They throw in so many different types of investigations that the possibilities seem endless. Because of FoF, I've also re-surfaced my curiosity about UFOs and alien visitations (thank you, Ben). Again, I will re-visit my thoughts on this in future posts.
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