Normal People Don't Deal with Ghosts - Do They?

So, one of the things that I'm always challenged by is the fact that "normal people" aren't supposed to have to deal with ghosts. Right? I mean, seriously, like how crazy do I sound when I talk about all this stuff. Even my family says, "Oh Melissa, are you sure you weren't just imagining things?" My sister - gotta love her - only believes me because she and her husband have been at my house and experienced things. 

There are skeptics. I get that. I don't blame them. I've always been interested in the paranormal - and this isn't my first haunted rodeo, haha - but you have to admit, it does sound a little weird. Then, when I tell friends or family that I haven't talked to in a while that we had to have our house cleansed because we had a demon in it? Hahaha - you can imagine some of the really strange looks I get. But you know, we're just normal people. 

My normal self - loving my dog

Okay, so maybe we have strange interests, and some of my friends have called me a witch (I'm figuring they don't like me but aren't into swearing... Kidding, but remember I do live in TN), but still. I mean, I don't wear all black all the time. I don't perform rituals, or attend some strange church. We don't sacrifice dogs or babies, either.

We're just your run of the mill, normal people. We're spiritual, but not religious. But you know, the thing is that we all are bogged down with the mindset that normal people don't deal with ghosts. We all seem to think that if you are possessed, you wound up dabbling in the black arts or something.

I assure you - I do not have anything to do with any kind of magic. I'm not into unicorns and wouldn't want to have to clean up the nastiness that a demon leaves behind, so why would I even think of calling one? This is the thing that lots of people don't realize: You can be totally normal - just going about your business and the next thing you know - BAM! You've got some creepy ghost lady following you around and trying to seduce your husband. It's really just like that. 

So, no I'm not into those things - but maybe I'm not so normal

Okay, now you know that I'm just a lot like almost every other American woman in her late 30's. We're trying to make our way and see what the world brings us. We've got dreams and goals and we're making it happen. We're normal people, right? Maybe - or maybe not so normal. 

My "normal" Henry

I think what makes us different is that this is just such a real part of life for us. We don't pretend we don't see or hear things. We don't act like nothing is there when we know that it is, and we don't spend our lives running. 

Here's the thing: There are people just like us all over the world. You might never realize that your best friend struggles with this stuff. Your brother might be having issues - maybe it's your boss or your grown children. Even if you're a skeptic, you can't deny that the brain has an incredible amount of power. And studies have proven that there is a soul - remember the one where the scientist weighed people at the moment of death and then shortly after and the body weighed less proving that there was a soul that leaves the body? Whole other topic, but the point is that even if you're a skeptic you can't deny the power of the mind.

My "normal" daughters

Isn't it even the slightest bit possible that energy, that our brains create, is left behind with no place to go?

Most people don't talk about it - Afterall, it is kind of strange

Here's the thing - it's super fun to watch ghost movies and ghost shows, right? So why is it not so much fun when someone says they really struggle with a haunting? Why is it even worse when you tell people that you have a demon haunting your home? Why do we all look at people that tell us that like they are strange?

Because of this reaction, most people just don't talk about it. And this is some pretty serious stuff. Like kids lose sleep over this. For many of them, the bogeyman is very, painfully real. For families that struggle with a supernatural haunting; the negativity, the fear, the stress that they endure is often beyond anything they can explain so they simply say nothing is wrong.

Here's an example for you - in our case, the activity picked up significantly after we had been here for about six months. We finally just realized we had it and have been working to control it this past summer. So, since we've been here for six years, that's like five and a half years that we've been coping with this negative haunting.

Now, it hasn't all been bad. In fact, we've had some really good times, but the whole time, we felt - um... down. Or smothered maybe? Not all the time, but sometimes like you're being smothered by a stinky blanket. Like for a long time it felt like we just couldn't catch a break. 

Thankfully, that's all changed now - and I say this right here at this point in this post for a couple of reasons: 1) I worry about letting something back in. All the research I have done and the talking to any expert I have found has taught me that it's okay to talk about in the past tense. However, you have to always make it clear that you are not "inviting" anything in.  2) I need to remind myself that we're out of that dark place in our lives. Very simply, it was bad, it was isolating, angry and just plain sad. I don't want to get back there, so I have to remind myself I'm out of it.

And the youngest - very "normal" granddaughter

Anyway, back to what I was saying - my example. We didn't know what we were dealing with for a long time. I didn't know that the pressure and difficulty breathing I occasionally had was anything other than a lack of iron. The strange bruises could also be explained away by the iron deficiency. I don't think a lack of iron causes scratches, but I just pretended they were nothing because they weren't serious.

See, demons never entered into our thoughts. Why would they? It's not like we had done anything to call them. And we knew all of our ghosts were friendly, right? Mmm-hmm. Right. If I can be accused of anything, it's believing that there is good at the core of all things - even supernatural things. I am naive, and I cannot help it. I love just about everyone - it's almost sickening - and have to be proven wrong. So the idea that something was actually bad just floored me.

This is how it happens with most normal people, I think, and this is why they don't talk much about what's going on. Because they really don't realize. Now, sure if you're doing dark rituals you're going to keep things quiet because that's against the norm, but for the vast majority of us who have experienced this type of thing, there is no ritual. There is no black book, no incantations. No evil intent. There is just a normal family trying to live.

I had a friend ask me why I would subject myself to the looks and keep telling people about our experiences. She wanted to know what I could possibly gain in life by telling people that "I know you'll think I'm crazy, but..."

For us, it's not about gaining anything. I know that lots of people think I'm straight crazy - until they would come over. I'm not a ghost hunter, and I don't try to go to people's homes and search for the paranormal. I do want people to know that these things are out there, though. I want people to understand that you can't keep moving from homes because they are "haunted." A lot of the time, what haunts has nothing to do with the home - and it will follow you. Not great if you're wearing down.

I want people to understand that you don't have to be into black magic or the occult. I want people to know that this can happen to families just like theirs. You don't have to be psychic, or sensitive to experience stuff. You're probably not going to be thinking that every bit of bad luck is the work of evil, but sometimes it doesn't hurt to do a cleansing of your home and perform a blessing, either.

Anyway, for all those that believe that normal people don't deal with ghosts, you might want to think again. 

As always, thank you for reading. Thank you for coming back even after my long absences - I'll try harder to write more regularly. In the meantime, take care and enjoy life!