From a Haunted House to a Life Calling
For a few weeks each year, we decorate our homes with ghosts and spirits, watch paranormal shows, tell stories of haunted houses, and allow ourselves to wonder about what might exist beyond what we can see.
As the Halloween season kicked off, I was inspired to reminisce about the fun I used to have while growing up: sharing ghost stories, playing with the Ouija board and having seances.
I’ve had a few experiences that belong on an episode of Ghostly Encounters.
Over the years, I’ve come to see this as something more than entertaining anecdotes. Some of them have been fascinating and some downright strange. They all have profoundly changed the way I understand life, death, and the continuity of consciousness.
We’re shaped by our life experiences. Influencing interactions can create enough meaning to mold our beliefs and world view which guide us to make life choices that land us in a particular career or life purpose.
One influential ghostly encounter took place in a Victorian house in my hometown where my parents lived while I was in college.
The house had its share of unexplained activity.
There were echoes of doors closing on their own and pots and pans banging together in the kitchen. Footsteps could be heard traveling back and forth in the upstairs hallway during the night.
My brother eventually refused to be in the house alone when he came home to visit, because he and his wife (girlfriend at the time) got the brunt of the activity.
A psychic family friend who read tarot cards, offered an interesting explanation. According to her, the spirit of the madam of the house was not particularly pleased with their courtship happening outside of the parlor and without a chaperone.
Whether you believe that explanation or not, it certainly made for a great story!
The funny thing was, I was never scared to be alone in the house and didn’t feel haunted by the spirit, although I’ve always believed she was present in our home.
There were other things that eventually became integrated into my belief system.
Years later, after my brother passed away, there was a period in which objects would disappear from my view, only to reappear later in places where I knew I had already looked.
Other family members had related occurrences after my brother’s death.
One night, while sleeping on the couch, I suddenly awakened to an incredibly intense energy surrounding my body.
The sensation was so powerful that I felt as though I were being lifted from the couch. At the same time, the blanket I was holding seemed to be pulled toward the doorway. As if I was being strongly encouraged to go to bed.
It was one of those situations that’s difficult to adequately describe because it wasn’t simply something I saw. I felt it.
There was a physicality to the experience that made it impossible for me to simply dismiss it as my imagination.
Looking back, I can see that these happenings were not isolated moments. They were part of a gradual unfolding.
What I had once thought of as unusual incidents that made for good storytelling began to feel much more profound. My curiosity of an afterlife blossomed from these occurrences.
Eventually, spirituality and the journey of the soul, became more than a personal interest. It became part of my life’s work.
While Halloween can be an exciting season to enjoy the thrill of what may be lurking around the corner, life itself is also full of these uncertainties. But when we trust that everything that’s happening is an opportunity to shape who we are and what we choose to do, the future is not so scary.
Whether it’s a person that you look up to or a summer job that felt purposeful, any scenario, no matter how mundane or supernatural, can shape our aspirations and direct us to create a meaningful life, work or service.
These developments happen through our experiences, even the ones we think would not be understood or believed by others. And in my case, especially those.
“Every relationship, every situation is a part of a divinely created and highly specific curriculum for your soul growth.” ~Marianne Williamson