PARANORMAL IS THE NEW NORMAL

So here we are again. Today I wanted to talk to you about--

Shh! Did you hear that?
I think it was just the wind. *listens* Yeah, definitely just the wind.
So why is your heart rate still elevated? And why can't you shake the feeling of being watched?

I don't know about you, but I have been unquestionably stricken with the heebie-jeebies. More times than not, sure, it was probably just the wind. Or a spirit. Or the house is just settling. Or my grandmother is trying to tell me she is okay in the afterlife. Or my mind is completely refusing to acknowledge there is a ghost in my house. Sure, there are footsteps on the 2nd floor of the house I'm in alone...maybe animals got in...and, uh, put on shoes...and are stomping around up there? Screw it. I'll admit - that freakin' house is haunted as hell.

I'm referring to one particular place I know to be haunted. I don't live in that place anymore, but the decade we spent there provided me with all the evidence I'll ever need that the living are definitely not alone here on Earth.

For example, I once had an extremely realistic dream of my deceased Grammy. I woke up as she was telling me not to worry, and when I sat up in bed, I was hit with a strong whiff of her signature perfume, only to have the smell vanish in seconds. The perfume in question is one I myself do not own.

Another example: I've watched my dog growl into an empty space, while she backed away from something I could not see.

Also: In the same house pictured above, a friend left in a panic, after someone crawled under the covers with him. Someone who simply was not there when he rolled over. He was 110% certain someone had lifted the blankets, laid down beside him, and pulled the blankets back up.

In this age of cameras on every phone and tablet and computer, you'd think more paranormal evidence would be caught on video, right? Let me tell you, in that fleeting moment of terror, there is no time to think "I have to get this on film." If I have one coherent thought when I'm scared half to death, it's going to be something along the lines of "Don't pee your pants, Helena."

And when someone does capture evidence on film? Many will brush it off with a mundane excuse, or "debunk" it without merit, or will chalk the person up as nothing more than an attention-seeker or a loon.

I respect people's right to disbelieve in the paranormal. But I also ask that people keep an open mind and not be so quick to brush off the possibilities. This is a huge world we live in. New discoveries are made every day, proving that creepy beings are nothing to fear as some dangerous abnormality. Keep your peepers open, guys and gals. You may just be surprised to find that Paranormal is the new normal.