Zen and the Art of Ghost Hunting

“Now don’t take this the wrong way,” my coworker said, emptying her lunch tray. “But you’re so intelligent. I don’t understand how you believe in that stuff. No offense.”None taken.I did what any other project-manager-who-moonlights-as-a-paranormal-investigator would do: I smiled and saw an opportunity to inspire a new way of thinking. “It has nothing to do with intelligence,” I said. “There’s an invisible matrix of energy systems that surround us day in and day out.  I just want to understand them.”Point taken.A handful of my coworkers know I’m into “spooky stuff” and have confided in me some of the unexplained or uncomfortable things that have occurred in their lives (e.g. seeing an apparition, seeing a UFO, seeing a therapist). I am happy to be a sounding board for their memories (or their confessions).I am a project manager in the healthcare quality assurance field. It is my job to learn what goes on behind the scenes of a busy healthcare system, analyze every detail of a situation or a process, capture evidence to support a certain goings-on, and obtain buy-in from those involved in and affected by said process before suggesting any changes. I pride myself in being able to identify patterns in operations and motivate my interdisciplinary team to achieve results.One could say I tap into the spirit of an organization - its aesthetic as well as its engine.  All those goings-on behind the scenes are the fundamental building blocks of any successful operation, be it in the normal or the paranormal world.It’s not spooky; it’s science. It doesn’t require your belief in it to happen.  It requires patience, radical curiosity, a no-fear approach to analyzing situations from multiple points of view, the ability to ask “why” without being ridiculed, and the ability to share an interpretation of multiple realities via scientific data.Being part of a paranormal investigation is more than just sitting in a dark basement with some nervous strangers and a couple of dowsing rods waiting to “see what happens.”  For me, it is permission to challenge my belief system, consciously put myself into a situation where I am outside my comfort zone, and acknowledge the presence of a new comfort zone: my own headspace.And what could be scarier than that?Besides, few things force you to confront your own thoughts better than putting yourself in an environment where nothing around you is alive anymore.When investigating the decaying hallways of an abandoned and allegedly haunted space, there is no hum of electricity nor pulse of plumbing. There are no voices or footsteps to accompany the dusty memorabilia scattered throughout the emptiness. I may be the only spark of light in this place.I am in awe of my present moment resonating with someone else’s previous (or even final) moment.  There’s an old energy mixed with mine.  It’s not spooky; it’s empowering.For me, inspiration does not happen on a yoga mat or my therapist’s couch. It occurs in a space where someone left their unfinished thoughts behind, only for me to embrace them and write about them later.  There, the epiphanies I have are not mine to begin with. They are a residual message left behind, unconsciously, a moment in time replayed when the conditions are right within a sacred space.I can be momentarily spooked but simultaneously thankful. I am not ambivalent; I am appreciative.I have discovered so many things about myself when I’m in the deadest of places surrounded by quiet, creating my own little zen moment in a place where others before me have been spooked, but where, in this moment, the only thing I can hear are my eyelashes blinking.Here, in this dark little zen bubble, I can change the narrative of this place.Whether investigating solo or with a team, I enter that “spooky” space with an open mind and an appreciation for the beauty of whatever moments I will experience. I won’t tell myself that I’ll see a ghost, but that I’ll focus my attention on the energy of the environment.Not “I’ll see something move on its own” but “I’ll identify subtle changes in my environment and then question my interpretation.”Not “I’m going to confront and provoke these spirits” but “I am going to pause and identify my emotions as they arise.”Not “Something scary is going to happen” but “I am stronger than anything that frightens me.”I think if we could be open to changing the way we look at and interpret the worlds around us, we would be better able to understand the invisible systems and quiet dynamics behind our otherwise routine day-to-day, nine-to-five lives. The words we choose to say to ourselves truly leave a residual imprint on our minds.  Perhaps believing in “the spooky stuff” sets the framework for a quality mindset which not only can find the right answers, but identify the wrong questions.As a paranormal investigator and researcher, it is my job to learn what goes on behind the scenes of the forgotten details, analyze them, capture evidence to support strange occurrences, and tap into the stories from those previously affected by the location. I pride myself in being able to identify beauty in silence and motivate others to look at life (and death) from a different angle.Perhaps I should make a mental note to add these traits to my resume.In the meantime, enjoy your own headspace for a while, wherever you choose to find it.  I promise it’s not as spooky as you may think.