A personal milestone reminds me why researching the paranormal is so important to me

This post is a little different from the norm and gets a little personal and deep. It gives a little insight into why researching the paranormal has been such an important and large part of my life over the past few years.

July is always a bit of a strange month for me. It is a time when I am often reminded of one of the most important events of my life, which would later be a major part of why I am writing about the paranormal here today. I had always been interested in the paranormal, but unlike many of you, I never had an experience as a young child that set my path forward. I had my first experience when I was 21 years old after my grandfather passed away, but it wasn’t until July 2013 that it felt like the wheels were set in motion for my journey into paranormal investigation.

10 years ago, almost to the day, I had to undergo open surgery to remove a 9 cm cyst from the tail of my pancreas. It also meant I lost my spleen and 1/3 of my pancreas. It was originally supposed to be a simple keyhole surgery, but because I had a fracture early on, I had to have an emergency blood transfusion and they had to open me up from my belly button to my ribs. It left me with quite a large scar on my torso, an everlasting reminder of what was a very difficult time to follow. I was very sick after the operation and ended up with a collapsed lung, even though I had 1 and 2 year old boys at home who I didn’t want to visit for the first week because of the number of tubes and wires coming out of me. My 1 year old even learned to walk while I was in the hospital. The day the doctor came in and told me it was benign and not cancerous was one of the best days of my life! The thing is that it could all have been avoided because I knew six years earlier what was then a 2 cm cyst, but the doctor said not to worry about it and if I keep looking I will find all kinds of growths in find my body. That was also the same day I was diagnosed with PCOS (Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome) and he told me I couldn’t have children, printed a sheet from Google and sent me on my way. (Of course, after struggle, I was blessed with two boy wonders!). My surgical team couldn’t believe he wasn’t taking it seriously. Luckily for me I was finally in good hands and I am forever indebted to the people at Jesse Mac Private at Monash Hospital. Not long after the surgery, it turned out that all the iodine from the many CT scans I had to undergo in a short period of time may have awakened an autoimmune disease I had been hiding: Hashimoto’s thyroid disease. It would have happened at some point anyway, it was just bad timing. It was also around this time that I fell into depression. I suppose it’s not surprising, considering everything I’ve been through. My husband, who had been very patient with me, told me that one day I needed to get out of bed and just do something…anything, and he would support me. He just wanted to see me happy. I remember visiting the doctor and talking to him about how I was feeling. He told me that I had to find my passion. Maybe I can take pictures of landscapes he suggested.

Fast forward a few months, my brother asked if I wanted to attend a paranormal investigation. I had always wanted that, but I was a little afraid of it. I had seen a lot of shows like Ghost Hunters and Most Haunted, so I was intrigued that I could do this myself! Although 10 years doesn’t seem like that long ago, the paranormal field itself was very different back then and not as well known or as easily accessible as it is today. It was still quite taboo at the time and even when I mentioned it to people there were a lot of looks and comments like “What’s wrong with you?”. Long story short, I started researching and like many of you, I caught the bug. I was researching every week. I had unknowingly found my passion, or maybe I did. who found me? After about a year of adventures, I decided I wanted to start a blog and write about the paranormal field the only way I knew how. I’m a very down-to-earth, tell-it-like-it-is person kind of person, and that’s how I wanted to write my blog. I wanted to write a blog for years, but I had no idea what to write about. I had found the perfect idea! I wanted to give people an honest insight into what it was like to be a paranormal investigator. There weren’t many paranormal blogs back then (at least not at the level there are now). It also helped that it was a bit early in my paranormal journey so people could see my growth. In some ways I had feeling like I could connect with people as we explored the unknown together.

It was this blog that completely changed my life. For the first time in a long time I felt like I had found myself. I was happy and I got creative satisfaction. I have always wanted to be a journalist and work in the media. I even studied television journalism after leaving school, but I never liked the ethics and didn’t pursue it. My blog allowed me to write about the things I wanted to write about, in a way that I wanted to write about them. I don’t make any money from the blog so there’s no pressure, no outside influence, I just do my thing on my terms. I worked my tail off. I write almost every day, I’m always doing research, and there’s a lot of work going on behind the scenes to keep everything running. It’s honestly a real love job. As a result, I’ve been able to accomplish some really cool things. I’ve been nominated for awards, made top blog lists, and found an audience from all corners of the world. I even realized a lifelong dream of writing a book, which quickly grew to four and counting. I know my books will never make a bestseller list, but that was never their intention. They were more for me than for anyone else. If people read them and enjoy them, then that’s just a bonus!

So when July rolls around every year, I’m taken back to 10 years ago before I discovered the paranormal and my blog. I realize how far I have come and how important the blog is to me. It’s my escape. It’s my love. It is my passion. Of course I experience drama, setbacks, jealousy and people sometimes think I get things because I write for a few magazines. Some days I have little to no hits on my website and it feels like what’s the point of continuing if no one reads it? The truth is, I just work really hard. I work very hard because I enjoy it and it doesn’t feel like work. I will write whether there are 10 readers or 100. That’s it! It has become part of me.

After the ‘spleen incident’ I had a further three operations to remove endometriosis (something that took fifteen years to diagnose and not for lack of trying) and five years ago I had to have a hysterectomy to become a spleen. functioning person again. Some days are hard to even function and I often forget (or choose not to think about) everything I’ve been through, but if I can get through all that, I can do anything and I’m absolutely plan! So here I take a moment to say to you: if you want to do something, it’s never too late to start. We all deserve to be happy. An apology is just that… an apology! So it’s time we stop being our worst enemy and be a little selfish and do something for ourselves. Remember: self-care is not selfish! It turns out that the psychic field is responsible for helping many people I know achieve their own dreams. It’s just a bonus that it’s on a topic that’s something they enjoy doing! People have published books, filmed documentaries, been on radio and TV, started their own online stores or just taken the time to do something for themselves. This is the power of the psychic field.

So what is it about the paranormal that allows you to fulfill a dream?