Fear of the Dark and experiencing the Paranormal (by Rahul Roy)

Like every other kid, when I was small, I was afraid of the dark. Though I still am, but nowadays I try not to show it, in fear of embarrassment and I think there is no harm in admitting the truth because everyone does the same. And you can be assured of the fact that being afraid of the dark does not make you a less of a man. So there must be something about darkness that makes us all shiver and feel insecure. The same room of yours that appear so cozy and warm during the day suddenly turns into a spooky place when there is a power cut at night. Even when you repeatedly try to assure yourself that, it is the same place and it is just only dark. But much to your avail you still feel frightened and helpless. It is not the darkness that we are afraid of, it is the unknown fear and danger that we sense is lingering in the darkness surrounding us, even though it is just our imagination most of the time. We fear the unknown but it is the same unknown that draws us to it. We are all fascinated by ghost stories but we all fear the idea of encountering one someday. We remain glued to the edge of our television sets when there is a horror show on the channel. Unlike any other fear or phobia, the fear of darkness and ghosts draw our interest. This is quite unusual about something which terrifies us but is a common thing in all of us. In the blanket of darkness our imagination starts to run wild. All ghostly incidents and stories start to come to our mind. It is a natural human instinct and behavior. I am not writing this piece of article to explain the human psychology behind feeling afraid of the dark, but to draw the deep conjunction that exists between darkness and the paranormal. Yes you heard it right, the Paranormal. There is a deep union between the two. In my later articles ill try to explain the various aspects related to the paranormal. Most paranormal activities and sightings occur at night. Though these happenings have also been observed at daytime (research conducted by the Wisconsin based Heartland Paranormal Investigations) but it becomes much easier to observe, record and analyze them in the dark. There is less noise disturbance at night. You can hear even the slightest of creek of the door or the faint knock on the walls. We become hyper sensitive to our surroundings. Our senses become alert and it helps us to concentrate better in the dark with little or no distractions from the surrounding environment. This is the reason most paranormal investigations are carried out at night. It is also much easier for the paranormal entities to make their presence felt at night and in dark places. I write this piece with a simple objective to create some kind of awareness about the paranormal. I am not a paranormal expert but I do take deep interest in understanding such phenomenon. This was just an introductory write up and in my subsequent articles I will try to explain various aspects of the paranormal. So the next time u encounter or experience something weird do not fear or run away from it, but instead try to analyze it because all weird happenings are not paranormal activities.