Every time I bring up to someone that I am in a paranormal research group, I always get asked "Why?". It's usually not meant in a sarcastic or mean way (although there ARE a couple like that...I am sure most of you have run into those types of people before), but rather just someone asking why I do it.

  I never know what to say. Because I don't even know why I do it myself.

  I've been utterly fascinated with the paranormal since I was a young child. Mostly due to the bizarre things that I saw and experienced in the house I grew up in. I've always read any book about the paranormal that I could get my grubby little hands on, and shows like "Unsolved Mysteries" and "Sightings" used to be my idea of Must-See TV.

  Then, "Ghost Hunters" came along, and I saw that someone could work in this field in a scientific and research-driven way, while still being able to help people and have fun while doing it.

  I knew then that this was what I wanted to do.

  So now the big question is...what do I want to get out of it?

  Again, I don't know. 

  I *do* know, however, that anyone who does this for any kind of "fame" is seriously heading down the wrong path. While I agree that there can be a place for media exposure, our group tends to do our best to avoid it. Media exposure is a double-edged sword, and it can hurt you as much as it can help you. I think that quite a few people who are in this field have dreams to land a television show and achieve some sort of "fame".

  But like with anything else, one successful show ("Ghost Hunters", which I do think started with it's heart in the right place) causes a deluge of inferior, sensationalist, cringe-worthy shows attempting to duplicate it's success. And yet, there are people striving for this.

  Plus, at this point, I don't even think that there is a "Holy Grail" anymore in paranormal research that will prove once and for all that there IS life after death. With technology as advanced as it is today, someone could get a crystal-clear video of a ghost telling it's life story, and 99.999% of the people who saw it would say that it was faked using advanced editing software. Any evidence CAN be faked, so there will always be accusations that it *is* faked. It's ironic that this field which can be so dependent on technology can also have technology used against it to dispute it's evidence.

  So, in the end, I think that I do it because I enjoy helping people who need verification that they are not insane for thinking their homes are haunted. And I think that I do it because I would like to know that there's "something" out there after I die. And I think that I do this because it's something I was meant to do, like some people are meant to be writers or architects. And I think that I do this because I love the people in my group, and I love spending time with them. And I think I do this because of the wonderful people we get to meet and work with, like Vicky. :)

  But mostly, I think the answer to why I do this is "just because".

  Sometimes, that's the best possible answer.