Back to Life...

Image via WikipediaFor those who expressed their support and concern during my recent battles over transplant medications, I extend my sincerest thanks.

Luckily, all is well for awhile at least. My medications have all arrived now and I am back to normal as far as that goes. It may take a bit more time for the stress to resolve completely, but hopefully that will occur naturally.

In the meantime, I feel enough clarity to once more begin working on my other projects. Several weeks ago, I had begun outlining a work on paranormal investigation that, with luck, will eventually work its way into a new book on the subject.

Unfortunately, during the recent upheaval, I set that aside, along with other things in order to concentrate on the red tape nightmare that is insurance and prescription drug coverage. Now, I'm back at it again and picking up where I left off.

Tonight I am off to Bisbee, AZ for an investigation with Sonoran Paranormal and hope that the outing will further help me clear my head and slip back into a more normal mode.

This will be a reinvestigation of a site where we caught some interesting activity a few months ago. I was quite pleased with the last investigation as far as activity and am looking forward to a return in order to check out some ideas I have that may explain a few bits we caught as simply natural or man-made occurrences.

After that, I'll be in Phoenix for an investigation in a few weeks at an historic property. This particular location rarely allows paranormal investigators due to problems with ghost hunters and tourists in the past. We're lucky to be allowed access and almost a full run of the building. I'm very excited by this opportunity, not just from a paranormal viewpoint but an historical one as well.

Most of us had hoped to take December off to enjoy the holidays and family, but at least the first part of the month may prove a bit busy thanks to this investigation and a couple more in the pipeline.

I am also enjoying my hiatus from Paranormal TV shows as I have completely eschewed "Ghost Hunters" and other programs in favor of working on my own projects. While the respite is nice, I do find that I sometimes miss the impetus of their silliness in spurring the creative process for blog postings.

I do find, though, that my passion for the field is diminished as more and more amateur groups spring up. I've had a tough time with posting on my group's forums due to the fact that so many people leave their critical thinking skills at the door when they enter the paranormal field.

Recently, people have been discussing ghost hunting guidebooks and I am consistently at a loss because the statements in those books are taken at face value without the readers bothering to check sources or draw their own conclusions from studies. In many cases, these books don't even bother with scientific sources but prefer to quote each other as though the footnote or endnote itself is enough.

In many ways it is enough. I've found that most who are entering this field and many already in it are impressed by a footnote or bibliography but rarely take the time to read that source themself and determine if the conclusion drawn is accurate.

The reason for a bibliography or footnote is to allow the reader to check out the sources and thereby determine if the author's conclusion is valid. So few people actually bother with this step.

That is disheartening in a field prone to fraud and mistatement for personal gain. I would think that most paranormal investigators would be highly critical and skeptical. It would stand to reason that those using the term "scientific" or "skeptical approach" would wish to check out statements in books to verify their veracity. Yet, most are more than willing not just to take an author's word at face value but to also assume that anyone with a television show must have all the answers as well.

That's a truly sad commentary on the state of this field as it stands currently.

I'm finding that the longer I am in this field the more I feel myself apart from it. Perhaps that is a strange statement, but I cannot help feel that there is much more to be done than what is being done.

Most groups grasp for media attention. They get a spurious EVP or some pixelation on a digital video camera in low light and suddenly are issuing press releases and calling up the local television station rather than studying the phenomenon itself.

For so many people, an EMF spike or an unintelligible murmur on a recording is "evidence" or "proof". The TV show style "reveals" and the merchandising are enough to make my head spin anymore.

I'm very interested in the paranormal. Yet, I don't even know what it is we study. That alone separates me from 98% of the people in this field. Most believe they have the answers and are looking for the "A Ha!" moment that will prove their beliefs right.

I, on the other hand, don't know. Do I believe in ghosts? I don't know. What is a ghost? I'm asked all the time if I think this or that place is "haunted". I don't know. What is "haunted"? If I can't define or prove the existence of ghosts how am I supposed to say a place is haunted by something I can't prove exists? That's especially true when I can't even prove it to myself.

Yes, back to life and pondering all the questions. Perhaps, at this point, I have come to wonder if it might be just as interesting to understand the people who hunt ghosts as it will be to understand "ghosts" themselves. After all, many combine it with religious overtones and many grasp the subject as though it were a religion.

But, that's for another time. Thanks for sticking with me during the down time and lots more on the way!