posted on Feb, 26 2007 @ 09:35 PM
Mirage:
No, no. No attempt to unearth traumas etc.
When I said the answers are right there in your mind, I simply meant the responses were already known to you really, and therefore easily accessible
to you.
For example, some houses do possess a depressing, unwelcoming air. Those visiting it for the first time can usually feel it straight away. If
they're unable to articulate it, they might make a spontaneous remark, such as: ' Wow, creepy place!', or ' Gee, I wouldn't like to be around
here on my own at night .... how do you stand it ? '
When we live in a place for considerable time however, we often automatically adjust to an atmosphere, in the same way we adjust to our parents' or
pets' or friends' (or even our own) ageing. We don't notice the ageing process in those close to us and quite often it's because we don't want
to: we don't want to confront the fact we may lose them. Because of this, we often deny what's before our eyes. Someone meeting our pet for the
first time might say: ' Gee, he's an old fellow, isn't he? How old is he? ' And we often experience an immediate prickling of anxiety or even
resentment towards that person, because they've brought to our attention something that we'd rather ignore.
It can be the same with dwellings. Many people live in dwellings that cause them low or even medium to high-level anxiety. They tolerate it and
repress it, because their options may be limited: it may be all they can afford, or convenient to transport. They might have initially told
themselves that they'd move soon/next year/when money was less tight. But for whatever reason, they remain. And each time they approach their home
(house, flat, apartment, etc.) they feel a momentary depression and/or anxiety. They grow so accustomed to this that it ceases to impact as it once
did. (They push it aside for the sake of their own sanity and because they have to spend a certain amount of time there. So they 'ignore'
what they feel until they almost cease to feel it. But it's still there.)
Now, this moment of suppressed anxiety may afflict them long before they reach home: quite often they become depressed in late afternoon, prior to
departing their workplace. Or it could strike them on the way from work towards whatever transport they use. You see what I mean?
Often, people suffering this reluctance to return to a disturbing premises will attempt to delay their return. They might work late when it's
actually unnecessary. They might develop the habit of going for drinks or coffee or a hamburger. They might begin window-shopping or phoning friends
to say: " Hi. Wondered if you felt like a bit of company tonight. I can be there in 15 minutes." Or they may loiter on the way home. Often they
invite people to their place. They don't acknowledge to themselves their real motive, which is to avoid 'being alone' in their own home. Quite
often, they would prefer to be alone. But they tolerate having others around them, because when they are alone in their own home quite
often, they can't stand it. And by this I mean, they do not LIKE the way their home feels and/or they do not like they way THEY feel when in their
own home.
Whatever their delaying tactic, sooner or later they have to make the solitary approach to their front door. The 'feeling' may afflict them then,
or it may occur when they cross the threshold or when they enter a particular room or even a specific 'spot' within a room. In some dwellings there
is no specific focus for the 'feeling'. It may simply be a non-specific atmosphere of unease or menace or sadness. Some people experience a
fleeting sensation of fear or of being 'shadowed' within a staircase or bathroom. They learn to nip up and down the stairs or they develop
coping-mechanisms such as whistling or nattering to themselves as they (for example) dash up the dreaded stairs.
Some people spend as little time as possible in their home. Others can only stand it if they have the tv or stereo playing: they believe that were
the place to be utterly silent, they might hear someone/something speak or breathe, etc. For them, silence within their home is as excruciating to
their nervous systems as the scratching of nails down a blackboard is for others. Yet when away from their home, they LIKE peace and quiet.
There are those who can only relax and sleep if they leave lights burning. They don't like the expense or waste of electicity. They often castigate
themselves for what they consider to be their own 'stupidity' or 'cowardice' or 'infantile behaviour'. They may rationalise their behaviour and
say it's because there was always a light burning at home when they were growing up and so they became 'habituated' to sleeping in partial light.
They sometimes discover to their surprise and pride that when staying the night at a friend's house or in an hotel, they slept peacefully in total
darkness. They may determine to do the same when they return to their own home. They may try. But feelings of menace or of 'not being alone' may
soon drive them once again to leaving lights on during the night or as soon as the sun begins to sink.
So these are all anxieties confronted each and every day by a sizeable proportion of society. Most often the sufferers don't discuss it other than
in forums such as this.
I was simply trying to gauge how deeply you were affected by the situation you've described in your OP. And far more importantly, I drafted the
little check-list so that you might see for yourself the degree to which you're disturbed (or not) by the phenomena you've mentioned.
Because, as explained above, many people live in a state of denial and by suppressing the extent of their anxiety or fear re: their home situation,
they can decline, mentally and physically. And their relationships, career, personality, resistance to disease etc. can deteriorate: become
compromised.
Often it's only when people conduct a check-list that they realise/admit how badly a dwelling (or its non-invited occupant/s) are affecting their
lives.
And the reverse can occur. Taken in perspective, it might emerge that an isolated incident or two (magnified by tiredness, etc) does not a haunted
house make.
Based on your responses, it seems you and your house are well and healthy, with just the occasional minor mystery (as per your OP) to spice things up
!
Which is great news !