All in the "Spirit" of the Season

A couple years or so ago, I wrote a post for Halloween about ghosts, spirits and poltergeists.  Rather than rehash that post here, I'll share the link to it, and continue with the content of this current post.

http://kuplramblings.blogspot.com/2011/10/ghosts-spirits-poltergeists.html

One area I didn't discuss in the previous post is the role psychics have in dealing with these various entities. Since it's Halloween season again, I've decided to tackle the subject now.

Some believe that all psychics are fake; while others believe the opposite.  Then there are those, like me, that feel both beliefs are true.  Since I can't speak for others on the subject, this post will be about what I think and how I feel about it.

First, I should state that I feel everyone has psychic abilities.  Whether it's very little, or very strong, each of us most likely has had at least one experience when we just "knew" what was going to happen in a situation. I know with me, it's been mostly minor things,  like something as simple as a song.

I can't count how many times I've been listening to the radio, heard a song, and thought, "wow, it's been a long time since I've heard that song", only to discover, "oh wait it's NOT the song I thought it was". Then three or four songs later, the song I thought I'd heard actually DOES come on the radio!

I realize most people brush these things off as coincidence.  When it happens often enough though, I feel it has to be more than just a random happening..

There are other instances I've had, some bigger than just music on the radio; for now though, back to the main subject of this post.

It may seem contradictory for me to say I believe everyone has psychic abilities, yet also believe some are fake; so I'll try to explain.

I'll be the first to admit I'm not a trusting person; never have been.  I guess my skepticism of some psychics is because there have been some that have been proven as fakes.  By "fake", I mean that they present themselves as being more intuitive than they really are.  These "psychics" rely more on what's known as "cold reading", than actual spiritual connections.

A "cold read" is when someone picks up on the body language of others, and directs their questions to the person accordingly.  The questions usually start out fairly generic, then become more specific, as the read continues.  From the body language, and the responses of the person being read, these "psychics" tell the person what they're hearing from the spirits around them.

Sometimes there aren't any spirits involved at all.  These are the times when a "psychic" will focus on a person, ask the same questions, and answer accordingly.  To me, these people are fakes, because they're charging others to basically tell them things they've learned from talking to the person.  I've also experienced this first hand. Long story short on that, a friend of mine, (who gave more information to the "psychic" than necessary), had a great reading, and came away having heard everything she'd hoped to hear.  Her sister wasn't so forthcoming with answers, but did give a few here and there.  Her body language was also a bit tense and defensive.  This person's reading wasn't quite as detailed as her sister's, and wasn't nearly as positive.

My skepticism got the better of me at that point, so I caved and let the "psychic" read me.  Unlike my friends, I was very vague with my answers, and didn't volunteer any information beyond that.  My reading took less than 5 minutes, and I was told I wasn't "readable"; that I had to believe to be read.  To me, there's the proof this person was a fake.  Just my opinion though.

Even well known psychics have been scrutinized, and accused of being fakes. One name that comes to mind is John Edward.

Edward is a psychic who became best known through his TV show, "Crossing Over".

I watched this show often, and loved hearing the positive messages John gave to those in the studio audience, and at other readings.

At the same time, I kept thinking that something was just "off" about how the readings happened. It wasn't that I disliked Edward, but for some reason I didn't have a good vibe about him.  No matter how nice he seemed on the show, I just kept feeling like he might be a bit arrogant and insincere.  I continued to watch "Crossing Over" though, because of the general positiveness of the show.

Whether my feeling about John Edward was true or not, I don't know.  I do know that he was eventually called out publicly and accused of being fake; that he relied on cold reading to do his job.  Again, whether it's true or not, I can't say; it did seem to hurt his reputation though.  While he's still around, his popularity took a major dip after the accusations were made.

Another psychic who's gained celebrity status in the past few years is Kim Russo.

Russo is currently on the TV show, "The Haunting Of...", on the LMN Network.  The show features Russo meeting up with celebrities who first appeared on "Celebrity Ghost Stories", telling of their personal encounters with ghosts.

Russo's job on "The Haunting Of...", is to meet up with one of these celebrities, at the site of the person's experience.  From there, Russo and that week's celebrity go back through what happened to the person, with Russo picking up on, and feeling the energy of the place.  Sometimes the energy is good, and sometimes it's not.

For the most part I think Russo does her job well, though, again, my skepticism has me questioning some things.

For instance, Russo claims to not know anymore than basic details about each guest, yet some of these people, (though maybe not as popular now as in the past), are well known enough, one would have to be living under a rock not to know the details of their lives.

Also, during the shows, Russo will caution the celebrity to not give too many details on a situation.  Yet at the same time, she'll ask questions, and let the person give a detailed explanation.

Of course, I'm not even close to being a professional in the field of psychics, so maybe there's something I'm not aware of that would explain this.  Also, it is television, so some of the perception could be in the editing of the show.

Currently the most popular psychic on TV is Theresa Caputo, "The Long Island Medium", who's show airs on TLC.

While I still cling defiantly to a shred of skepticism about psychics, if I had to say real or fake, I would say Theresa Caputo is the real deal.

Caputo just seems to be herself, regardless of the situation she may be in. She can be loud, funny, apprehensive, adamant, you name it, that's Theresa. She's not just a person on TV doing her job as a psychic; she lets viewers see into her personal life, which includes her family, friends, pets, etc. Or as Caputo herself once said, (to paraphrase), there's more to her than just her nails and hair.

"Long Island Medium" is different also in how episodes are done.  While most shows, especially in this genre, are taped, produced and aired, Caputo's show has, a couple times, been aired live; has gone behind the scenes; and has aired special episodes showing reads that didn't make original airings of the show. Combined, it makes for a fun, entertaining program.

For some, I suppose, this would be a reason to think "Long Island Medium" isn't real.  That's okay, because, to paraphrase Caputo again, she doesn't try to make believers out of anyone.  She's there simply to relay messages from our loved ones that have passed on.

Like Kim Russo's "The Haunting Of...",  the vibe of Caputo's show may be in the editing.  Even if that is the case though, "Long Island Medium" still seems more believable over all.  And like John Edward's "Crossing Over", Caputo always has positive messages for those she reads; messages that viewers can relate to and embrace as well.

So, there you have my take on the psychic world.  I'm no expert, though I've had my own experiences over the years. And I have my doubts about some who profess to being true psychics.  Over all though, I'm entertained by what I've seen so far, and I often find comfort in the messages that are given.

The Littlest Things Can Bring Happiness

(Today's word will be in ALL CAPS, BOLD, ITALIC, and STRIKETHROUGH.)


I've come to the conclusion that it really doesn't take a lot to make me happy.

Like hearing my favorite artist on the radio. No matter what kind of day it's been, I hear David Lee Murphy, and I can't help but smile.

One of life's little moments presented itself Monday at work. As a rule, employees where I work can wear any color of jeans, except blue.

Usually, to be able to wear blue jeans, an employee must have purchased a "jeans sticker". This allows the person to wear blue jeans every Friday.

Then there's "Civil War" day, where employees can wear blue jeans and also sport their favorite team colors.

There's also Halloween when employees can dress up. I always manage to have a "costume" that incorporates blue jeans.

It's not that I don't like other jeans colors; as a rule I wear black ones to work, so I'm comfortable. Black jeans just aren't the same though. They don't have the same "feel" to them that blue DENIM does. Doesn't matter if it's dark blue,

or light blue,

blue jeans just have the best feel to them of any color jeans.

Back to Monday's happy moment though. Monday, our company announced that not only can we wear blue jeans on Wednesday, for the "Civil War" game; we can also wear them today, because of the blustery weather, and Thanksgiving.

Doesn't sound like much, I know, for me though, it was heaven! I could live in blue jeans day in and day out; so to be able to wear them to work two days in a row is a big deal to me.

And thus the reason I've decided it doesn't take a lot to make me happy. Two days of wearing blue jeans to work, and suddenly this short week looks even better than before!

Ghosts, Spirits & Poltergeists

Halloween, the time of year where witches, ghosts and goblins have their moment in the spotlight.

Most people acknowledge that both good and bad witches exist in this world.

When it comes to ghosts, spirits or poltergeists however, you have believers, skeptics, and those who ride the fence on the subject.

For those who are unsure of the difference in these three entities, here's a quick explanation:

1. Ghosts are the dead who haven't crossed over to the other side yet.
2. Spirits are the souls of those who have crossed over.
3. Poltergeists are ghosts who move things and are noisy.

While I'm skeptical of some things I've seen, or been told, for the most part, I'm one of the believers.

This is due in part to the things I've experienced over the years of my life. Looking back, I now recognize things I didn't as a child, like footsteps in the hallway, when no one was there; things like that.

The first time I actually realized I'd seen a ghost was when I was in my late teens, early twenties. My dad worked nights, my brother was in college, so it was just my mom, me and the two toy poodles we had at home in the evenings.

The younger dog, Skippy, was the son of the other poodle, Tinkerbell. The two were inseparable, and would play all the time. Even when Tinker developed a heart condition, she'd still play, until she'd cough and wheeze. Then one day Tinker died. Skip was upset and depressed, naturally.

That night, my mom and I were sitting on the couch watching television, with Skip sleeping between us. All of a sudden I heard familiar wheezing and coughing, looked from where I was sitting down the dark hallway, and saw a bright light the same size a Tinker, which is where the sound was also coming from. I didn't say anything to my mom, and eventually it stopped.

Next night, same thing. By the third night, I told my mom what I was seeing and hearing. To my surprise she said, "you too"? She'd been seeing the same thing as me, but hadn't said anything, so as not to scare me.

When my dad was home in the evening we wouldn't see or hear anything; only when it was just my mom and me home at night. During this time, Skip, (who had been perfectly healthy), started coughing and wheezing. We knew it wasn't him though, as when we heard the sound, and saw the light, it was always at the end of the hallway, and Skip was always asleep between us.

A month, to the day that Tinkerbell died, Skippy died. Since that time we've never seen the light at the end of the hall, or heard any coughing or wheezing.

There are other experiences I could share here, like when I go looking for something I need. I can know exactly where I left it, yet, it won't be there. Usually when this happens, something else I'd been looking for previously will be what I find instead. It's like things are getting moved, then brought back in place of the current item I'm looking for. It doesn't happen all the time, but it is more than a rare occurence at my house.

At least twice I've had bad experiences also. Like lying in bed, awake, one night and all of a sudden feeling like someone was in the room with me. No one was, though suddenly it felt like someone was sitting on my chest, so I couldn't breathe or move. I couldn't talk, or move, or breathe. In my head, I yelled, "get off of me, now, leave me alone"! As soon as I did, the weight was gone and I could breathe again.

I could go on, however I'm pretty sure there are already some skeptics out there not believing what I've written; I'm okay with that. I tend to try to find the loopholes and missing pieces in stories I hear also. I think it's because there have been those who have scammed others before; it makes people naturally wary of things they don't understand.

I do have friends who are also believers though, like my friend Patty. More than once since her mom has died, she's had incidences where she knows her mom was there for her. Not just a feeling of her mom's presence, but little things that have been moved, or whatnot, when no one else was in the house to do it. It gives Patty a comforting feeling to know her mom is still there for her.

Another friend, Sandy, who's also lost her mom, has had several experiences where she knew her mom was with her. I was there one of those times as well.

We were at a casino, and Sandy was playing a slot machine that had been one of her mom's favorites. Someone came up and began talking to Sandy about the machine and other random things, just out of the blue. Sandy said something to the person about the machine having been her mom's favorite, though she thought her mom probably wasn't with her at the moment, because she'd been losing money. Right, EXACTLY as she finished that sentence, the machine she was playing went crazy. Turned out Sandy had won $90 from the machine, and had actually come out ahead after all. She and I were both positive her mom had something to do with it.

When telling a co-worker, Doug, about writing this post, he told me of an experience he had at his current home. Seems he had a radio in his garage, and though no alarm was set, the radio would come on blaring at midnight. Not every night, usually about once every two months, just randomly; always at midnight.

As I stated earlier, I don't expect the skeptics to believe any of what I've posted; it's not a matter of trying to convince anyone. I've simply shared my experiences, and those of friends, for others to consider. What better time of year to do that than Halloween?

My Birthday Boy-(Young Man)

At 8:23 am on August 13, 1986, the world added one more person to its population count.  That’s the day 7 lb. 15-½oz, Joshua Davis Falan was born.

As you can imagine, things were different than they are now.  Weather wise, Oregon and Washington were experiencing a heat wave; unlike the weather we’ve been having this summer. 

The Newberg Hospital in Newberg, Oregon, hadn’t been expanded.  It was still a small hospital with a nursery for the babies that had been born there.  It was small enough that the nurses had a rocking chair in the nursery, and would rock all the babies throughout the day.   That summer the hospital experienced a baby boom the second week of August.  They had nine babies that were born, which was more than they were used to.  Josh was one of those babies.

From the time he was born, we all knew Josh was going to take after his dad as far as his size.  As my mom put it, if Josh had been a puppy, he’d be a Great Dane based on the size of his hands and feet. 

When he was about 2 months old, we found the cutest little one-piece  "tuxedo" sleeper, (well, *I* thought it was cute); it was Josh’s first Halloween “costume”. 

 I’m thinking this may have set the tone for some of the things Josh decided to wear sometimes.  For instance, the following photo shows Josh wearing his new “hat”.  Thankfully his potty training seat was brand new when he did this!

  I’ll fully admit, Josh had his work cut out for him being born to the parents he has.  The kid got a double dose of stubbornness for sure. His sense of humor also came from both his dad and me; though I’ll admit, the more warped part would be my fault. 

We’re talking about a kid who asked lots of questions about everything.   Like when he was 4 years old; it was January, 30 degrees outside, and there was snow on the ground.  It was sun shining though, so Josh wanted to know why he couldn't go swimming in his kiddy pool.  We finally convinced him he could use our “indoor pool”.  He got his swim trunks on and was a happy little camper playing in the “pool”. 

Funny thing was, if he was in his “pool” he HAD to wear his swim trunks, big boys didn’t swim naked according to Josh.  However, when it was time for his bath, he could NOT wear his swim trunks, that would just be silly, that’s what he told us; you don’t wear clothes during your bath, that’s what the washing machine is for. 

We had him convinced for almost a year that we had an “indoor pool”.  Then he realized everyone had one, and his grandparents’  “pool” was much cooler, because it had water jets in it. 

Not Josh's grandparents' actual tub.

 There were a few times when we’d get busted on answering Josh’s questions; like how ice cream is made.  We told him that ice cream comes from white cows that live at the North Pole and eat frozen vanilla beans.  If someone wants a flavor other than vanilla, the cows are fed whatever other things needed to make the ice cream into a different flavor.  For instance, want strawberry ice cream?  Just feed the cows a few strawberries with their vanilla beans.  Mint chocolate chip…add mint leaves and chocolate with the vanilla beans.  We were pretty proud of that one, until we were busted. 

After hearing the explanation, Josh told us we were wrong, and proceeded to tell us how ice cream was made, according to what he saw on Sesame Street.

The learning has gone both ways over the years.  When he was 5, Josh came home from school and told us he'd been learning about "oviparous" creatures.  I had no idea what that was; Josh had to tell me "oviparous" means anything that lays eggs.  I'm not sure I could have even SAID that word when I was 5, let alone know what it meant!

And then there are sunrises; at least that's what the rest of the world calls it when the sun comes up.  For me, a sunrise will forever be "magicking".  That's what Josh told me a sunrise is, because it's easy to make things dark, but it takes magic to make things light.

There are so many other things I could go on about when it comes to Josh, and his childhood, but I won’t.  I’ll just let everyone know that over the years, Josh has turned out to be a fine young man, with good morals, a kind heart, and a wonderful sense of humor.  His random twitching is only occasional now.

As he got older, Josh developed his own personality, likes and tastes, as one should.  He definitely has his opinions on things, and can be very “deep” when it comes to things like politics.  At the same time, he can still be like a little kid.  Over all, it’s a great balance.

One of Josh’s real talents is his natural ability to take photos.  He can just point and shoot a camera, and get some of the most beautiful shots.  A couple of blogs ago I posted one he took of a dragonfly.  I’ve put a few more of my favorites here. I'd put more, however there are just so many they'd take up this whole blog! 

 

 

As I said, these are just a small sample of my favorite photos Josh has taken.  Since this blog is about him today, and it's his birthday, I'll also post one of *his* favorite photos he's taken.  A true combination of two of his passions, rally cars and photography.

  Over all, the past 25 years have been a great adventure watching my “baby” boy grow up into a young man.  There’s been rough spots, like there are in any family; though over all, I wouldn’t change a thing that’s happened, because I sure am proud of  the person who came into the world, and started my life as a mom 25 years ago today. 

Happy 25th birthday Josh!!!