posted on Aug, 3 2009 @ 08:26 PM
Hello ATS - I'm happy to finally be a member after devouring info from these boards for the last few months.
A bit of background about myself and the experiences that have led me here:
I'm 27 and grew up in small town Ontario (Canada). Three years ago I moved to the West Coast and have really come a long way in terms of personal
and spiritual development.
As a kid, we didn't go to church and I wasn't encouraged by my parents in one direction or the other - religion and spirituality were generally not
discussed. Early in high school, I got involved with an older girl (score!) who was from a devoutly Christian Mennonite family. I started attending
church with her over a period of 2.5 years - so a good chunk of my formative high school experience. We parted ways when she left for university and
I stopped going to church, having really only been going to satisfy her anyway.
Shortly after, the first of my grandparents passed away - my grandmother on my dad's side. The night after coming back from her funeral out of town,
I woke up in the middle of the night. I remember the time distinctly - it was 3:04am. As I lay in bed, I had what I guess could be called a vision
of my grandmother's ghost walking up the steps to our living room and looking at family photos on the china cabinet. I don't know if I would have
been able to actually see her ghost had I gone out to look - but the fear in my gut told me yes. I didn't talk to anyone about my experience and
eventually forgot about it.
A year or so later, I was visiting a friend at a school out of town. We were going out to a bar and there were a number of people at the house
drinking before we headed out. At one point, I was left alone on the back porch of the small student house. The place had a small fenced in backyard
with a shed in the back right corner. As I stood there a cat came running up from the alley. I love cats, so I proceeded to pet him and was probably
happily ensconced for 5-10 minutes. Suddenly, the cat jumped up and bolted off the deck and around the side of the house toward the street. I felt
the hairs on my neck rise as I stood and looked over the backyard. There was nothing apparently there - but in the back left corner of the (dark)
yard I could sense something significant. I squinted my eyes and could make out nothing but inky blackness. You know in the summer when you can see
heat shimmering and rising? It was the same effect only pure black - yet somehow solid. I don't have the vocabulary to describe what I saw. As I
stood there, I began to feel more and more terrified, as if whatever it was was sizing me up. It took all the courage I had to turn my back on it and
go inside the house. Again, I didn't speak to anyone about this.
Now here I am, 4 years after that event and in a whole new mental place of acceptance of the unknown rather than fear and denial. My girlfriend of
five years and other important relationships have really helped me along the way. Recently, I've been experiencing other strange things that lead me
to believe I am opening up to more possibilities and in turn, they are being revealed to me.
I hope to find others who can help me gain further knowledge about the unknown and better understand my own experiences, while offering a fresh
perspective and an open mind to the community.
All the best,
regrowth
[edit on 8/3/2009 by regrowth]