Tag: supernatural

Ghosts

Why Do We Still Struggle to Believe in Ghosts?

maymargaret

The Internet is chocker with ghosts. Forums disclosing experiences, videos on YouTube and TikTok supposedly capturing real time activity, and historical photographs apparently showing evidence of grey ladies, white ladies, black cloaked monks or disembodied limbs moving around midair as though attached to a larger body. And yet, despite all this so called evidence, can many of us resolutely say we believe in ghosts, or have had a truly unquestionable experience of paranormal activity?

If you’re anything like me, the idea of ghosts is both fascinating, terrifying, and comforting. Fascinating because, why and how would a person’s spirit still roam the living world, causing malevolent or benevolent mischief around those they may or may not have known in a previous life? Terrifying because, well, do we really want our darkest fears manifesting at 3am at night in the kitchen while we’re tucked in our beds… alone? Comforting… that’s a strange one. But I quite like the idea of sticking around (and if ghosts do exist, are we ever alone?)

So like many others who are interested in this kind of thing, I spend quite a bit of my spare time watching YouTube videos (I don’t have TikTok despite my fiancĂ©’s ardent attempts to convince me there’s some educational material on there). Mainly Slapped Ham and Nuke’s Top 5. And… increasingly, I’m finding that I’m watching them simply to pick holes. “… or is it all just an elaborate hoax?” is very often receiving an affirmative nod.

Now, I confess that there are some compelling videos out there, and, if they still can be explained, then they’re good for scares. Some masks can be genuinely creepy afterall. But I think the main issue with the growing mass of content for ghost or paranormal sightings/ activity is the why. Every day, more and more people decide to make YouTube, TikTok or social media channels dedicated to ghost hunting or the activity in their homes or workplace. In my mind, the creators who go out and do this (and this is just from my mind) have the interest of the growth of their audience in mind. It’s in their interest to make sure something happens. Whether it be a slamming door, a face in the window or a flickering light in the next room that also has a conveniently placed wall to hide behind, I’m finding that each photograph or video has an explanation. Even photoshop or CGI.

Now, don’t get me wrong. I regard myself as an openminded believer. There’s still room for doubt, and I’m not going to declare any piece of apparent evidence 100% real. But I do believe, because to me it makes sense. There’s no evidence to say they don’t exist, right? The odd case has been debunked, such as the Amityville House or various modern videos on YouTube that are not only very clearly acted, but also cuts and splits in the video itself are clear to see. But for every false video or staged voice in an abandoned bunker exploration video, there’s the classic photos that have confounded experts.

I think whether you believe in ghosts or not is certainly a very personal experience. Anyone can tell someone else a story about their very real encounter. For example, I love ghost hunts. Spending several hours in a haunted location with a bunch of strangers might not sound like everyone’s idea of fun, and they are absolutely not for everyone. My first one was in Dudley Castle, West Midlands. And this was my most active. In one particular room, the Zodiac Room, I was volunteered by my ever loving mum to stand in a dead end alley in the corner of the room in pitch darkness, and stay there for a few minutes. It was cold, everyone was quiet save for the few nervous giggles, and there was a metal cone on the floor a few feet away we were waiting for to move. It was tense to say the least. Now, before this joyous little experiment, we were given no information about the ghosts that haunted this area. So after a few minutes when I felt something, or someone, grab my hand very gently, something like a child’s hand, I knew that no one had been hiding behind me, because I looked down the alley with a torch moments before. No children were aloud because of the nature of the tour.

After I’d returned to the safety of the masses and the metal cone had wobbled a bit, a couple of people said they saw the shape of a small child between the alleyway in which I was standing and the cone. I can’t remember the exact moment or feeling, but oddly enough, it wasn’t scary at all. Unnerving? Yes. But also validating.

In hindsight, however, I look upon such events with skepticism. Did I really experience something paranormal? Or was it just a nothing of my imagination that was already overactive, responding to a scenario that fed into it? If you take yourself on one of these ghost tours, more often that not they will not outwardly say something is paranormal. They will acknowledge and move on, and maybe even start the evening with a kind of brief concerning what you might encounter. Suggestion, environmental factors and human error may also serve as a likely reason as to why you heard that whistle in the next room. Human error is another way of saying a couple of drunk assholes are sniggering while making owl noises down the hall during free time. I encountered some of these during a tour of the Darner in Shrewsbury, and heavens it was satisfying when one of them got the crap scared out of him when a bit of cobweb tickled his ear.

The thing is, not everyone is going to buy your completely authentic 100% REAL ghost sighting. Not everyone will be able to look past the many plausible ways that very old picture of a child with glowing eyes could have been faked. There’s always going to be another way it could have been done.

So what is it that draws us in? Is it something as silly and shallow as cheap scares? Or is it something deeper, like hoping there is something else for us afterwards? It’s all very personal, and I think it’ll stay that way as long as we rely on others to provide us with evidence. If you really want answers, I recommend a ghost tour, with a real insured team and a bunch of others to get terrified and giggly with. They’re great fun, and very informative, even if nothing happens. And, as one guide promised us before our drive home at 3am, “Don’t be scared of looking in the rear view mirror and finding another face staring back at you.”

Yeah, thanks fella.

lists, Uncategorized

Are To Do Lists the Death of Productivity?

maymargaret

If you have read any of my earlier blogs, you would know that I love a good list. Or, at least, loved. They’re organised, neat, and just creating one can give you a sense of productivity and control. A list represents order, allotted time for certain tasks.

But there’s another side to them, too. Lists can show you how much you have to get done, how much you think you have to do, just to complete the list. If you’re the way I was, an incomplete list is like having an altogether unproductive day. For me, having just one item left, forgotten about or pushed back until the end of the day, was both frustrating and daunting. If i’m honest, it was usually my 10 minute session on Duolingo, learning some French I probably wouldn’t remember afterwards. If I did it, it was the bare minimum, but it counted, didn’t it?

Not necessarily.

I can’t remember the last list I made. I haven’t abandoned them altogether mind, and that’s not what I’m suggesting. But really, what does a to do list contribute towards getting all that necessary, and unnecessary, stuff done? Because I’ve found that not tying myself to a task not only makes me more productive, but it also leaves me much more free time.

So this year I made a dreaded, apparently doomed to fail new years resolution. Doomed to fail because, beyond the first couple of weeks of January, aren’t resolutions doomed to fail by simple self fulfilling prophesy? I think people make them sometimes just to fail them, and then they can laugh about it later about how naive they were, how hopeful they began the shit storm of a year behind them (for some people, no matter what happened in that year, it’s inevitably going to be branded a shit storm.). There’s almost a culture being created around choosing drinking wine in place of a workout and moaning about the shape of the globe on Facebook. But anyway, I digress. Where was I?

Oh yeah, lists.

So I made a resolution to start learning guitar. Properly, this time. A few of my friends have done it, I started back when I was 14. Despite owning three guitars, one of which I made myself, I never could remember a single chord. I tried to stick to this resolution last year, too, but alas, apparently a pandemic gives you copious amounts of time, but its not always paired with motivation. Usually, I would look at the item on my list marked ‘guitar practice’ and pass it off as unimportant. I’ll do more tomorrow.

Now that I don’t make lists, I not only get to practising every day, but I remember more too. And this hasn’t just been the case for guitar. I decided to start learning Spanish on Duo, and I’m on my 31 day streak. I draw more, I read more, I’m more organised in my yoga and running (every Monday, Wednesday and Friday) and still manage to keep the apartment tidy, my bearded dragon alive and set aside more hours than I’m happy to admit on the internet to binge watching Supernatural. I’m not humble bragging (okay maybe just a bit, but now that I meditate I think the smug bug has got me just a tinsy bit) but I think this just shows how unessential lists are. A list can organise your time, but they can also create chores out of things you ought to enjoy. Hobbies are there for exactly that. Enjoyment. And as for cleaning, am I wrong for enjoying this too? It’s a part of life, we might as well make the best of it.

My point is, there comes a point where you’re doing things not because you want to, but because you feel like to have to. It’s exhausting, and its not as productive as you think. If you want to do it, do it. But you don’t have to. And don’t be scared to have a nothing day. Brains get tired, you know.

books

Are There Really 100 Books You HAVE to Read Before You Die?

maymargaret

I love a good list. And a good book. So when I see a list of books I should apparently read before I die, I have to take a glance. Often just to count of how many I’ve read, and feel a sense of achievement. When I’ve read one on my bucket list poster, I love scratching off of the little square, for that same buzz of productivity.

And yet, often people read these books despite actually hating the experience. Presently, I’m reading Les Miserables, and while I don’t hate it, I’m not personally enjoying the experience. The overly descriptive scenes of settings typical of Hugo’s style, pages and pages spent describing a character of little relevance to the grand scheme of things. At this moment, I’m reading it because I’m in too deep. But I’m not enjoying it.

I didn’t get into my love of reading by the classics route. Instead, it began when I was around 14, with teen fiction. A few vampires, werewolves and a tremendously unrealistic romance, and I was happy. Books such as Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater and Nightworld by L G Smith. None of these turn up on the 100 Books You have to Read Before You Die. And yet, I loved them. Most importantly, I’ve probably had more enjoyment out of them, too, than a number of the books on these lists.

I know why so many books are considered with this level of importance. Books such as To Kill a Mockingbird for social issues, War and Peace for there literary influence and educational quality. They’re regular contenders, and for good reason. But I’m a sucker for sappy romances and the cold yet handsome anti hero.

So, read what you like. If you’re like me, and like to tick off the next book you must read, then by all means, its good to have that guide. Sometimes, they even help introduce some new blood into your typical reading trends. But make sure to deviate from that every once in a while with what made you love reading in the first place. If that’s classics then great, but sometimes a melodramatic drama between a gutsy heroine and a troubled supernatural young fellow is what you need. With ice cream, for extra indulgence.