Pick your poison friends!

I make no bones about telling folks that I am actively involved in paranormal research, i.e., a "ghost hunter," for lack of a better term. It's interesting that nowadays, the response to this is 8 times out of 10 a resounding positive! Gone are the days when people with interests like mine were looked upon as creeps and weirdos, "ghouls" merely skulking about at night in abandoned buildings and cemeteries trying to get our rocks off. It's mainstream today, and in a huge way, and it's downright pop culture.

So now what people? It's okay to hunt the shadows and try to figure out paranormal phenomena, in fact, it's nearly a national pastime it seems. But where do we go from here? How many times is merely capturing an evp, or perceived spirit voice, or having the lights on your K-2 Meter go from green to red in a blink of an eye going to be the trick? Now what?

The field of paranormal research is at a pivotal crossroads, or so it would seem. Just peek around the corner. It's almost a dangerous sub-culture, where you either believe or you are labeled a dissenter, criticize (even constructively) and you are at war with others who are doing the exact same thing you're doing! Frightening stuff.

So who is to blame? We are. There is no formal education or training on the subject, and how could there be? What's the parameters for paranormal phenomena anyhow? Science barely acknowledges us, and skeptics think we're idiots who are ignorant or just afraid to die someday. Were is the organization, where is the structure, where is the unity? Pseudo-science, heck, and then some people.

I am a believer in paranormal phenomena, period, end quote. But I am rational and steadfast in the belief that many unexplained things can also be naturally explained by looking deep enough. Ask the tough question, do some homework, experiment, and poke around. And don't be scared to do so, after all, it's going to help this field in the long run.If everyone I knew in the paranormal considered common dust orbs to be evidence for the existence of ghosts, we'd be back in the 1980's looking like rejects to society, regardless of what dribble is showcased on our televisions! In fact, those shows wouldn't get a second look. It's about moving forward, and NOW is the time paranormalists!

Believe, but try not to convert others, and merely showcase the best evidence you can gather. Don't be afraid to criticize your own work, you need to be hardest on yourself, for the sake of the field and those around you. And if you get nothing, then so be it, move on to the next and retain your honesty and integrity. Your credibility and reputation is all you have anyway at the end of the day. Remain somewhat skeptical, but keep an open mind, and push forward.

Skeptics, we need them as well. They keep many of us honest and they ALWAYS ask the tough questions whether we like it or not! Checks and balances, and the best do so without an agenda or ax to grind. True skeptics are critical of "evidence" and supposed findings of paranormal phenomena, but rarely lash out unjustifiably and are not viscous. I mean after all, what good does that do? It's like telling a five year old child that there's no Santa Claus or stating that you don't believe in God because "You can't see Him." Hmmm, seems like malcontent or "naysayer" personality traits.

Regardless of your feelings on the existence of paranormal phenomena, we all need to do our part for the betterment and furthering of the field. Believe, don't believe, stay undecided for eternity, the main point is that we should keep pushing ourselves and other researchers and we should never be scared of what others say or think about us. Consider why you got into this field in the first place, because other people will. If it's the right reasons, then who cares about which side of the popular opinion you fall on. See you in June.