Well, yeah I suck at keeping up journals... sue me. But I have the time now, haven't been able to sleep much today for some reason so I'm doing a new journal.

Since October, I've had something in mind, and have been paying close attention to a few things and have this week decided to start a new community/group/chatroom on dA. I've not seen it done before, and I think it's something that could get pretty big. Since more than half the population believes in them, and since I've had my own experiences, and with the recent success of the SciFi program Ghost Hunters, I've gotten together with some people and we've set up a new group called =DAParanormalSociety with its chatroom #DAParanormal.

I know, I know... I've made it no secret I'm an Atheist, but I can't deny and ignore what I have physically seen. Just because one is a non-believer in god(s), heaven, the devil and hell, doesn't mean you can't accept the fact there are spirits. The way I see it, the world we know and live in is just one of many plains of existence. And sometimes those that have died don't leave this world.

Now, what makes me believe, what is it that I've seen...

Well, it all started when I was 9. I had no clue, idea, or any interest in the supernatural back then. In fact when this happened, it was Christmas Eve/morning and the only thing on my mind was getting at the presents. Typical of any 9 year old kid. So much so that I got practically no sleep that night and it's when I learned the chymes a grandfather clock makes.

My family was at our grandma's house, and when we went to bed that night, I was on the couch in the living room, my brother was on the love seat sleeping, and later that night my uncle came in and crashed on the recliner. Granny was in her room, an aunt was in another room and my parents in the last bedroom.

Anyway, like I said, I couldn't sleep, maybe dozed off for a few minutes here and there, but for the most part, I was awake. As the night slowly started to give way to day, I could just start making shapes out in that dark living room as the first beams of sunlight began to rise. I was able to make out the Xmas tree, my brother, uncle, furniture... gifts from "Santa" that weren't there before. So my excitement started to build and I for sure wasn't getting back to sleep.

As I looked around, I also saw something that didn't belong. I raised my head off the pillow and slowly looked around the gifts piled on the coffee table in front of the couch and on the opposite side of the table stood a figure. As I looked more details came out and the very first thing was its color. It was solid white. Hair, skin, clothing, everything white. The figure was short, and female, like a 4 or 5 year old girl. I could see her head moving which also made her hair move. She was looking at my brother and uncle yet didn't see me looking at her. At this time in our lives, my brother and I were the only kids on this side of the family and were the only two kids in the house. So whoever she was, she didn't belong there.

That's when she turned her head and looked straight at me. We made eye contact and I damn near lost it. But what I did was bury my face in my pillow and never looked up again. But it didn't stop there. I HEARD this ... thing ... hurry over to me. I heard her footsteps, heard her white nightgown looking thing shuffle as she moved and I could FEEL her standing right beside me, staring as I had my face in the pillow.

The next thing I know, mom was waking me up to open gifts and I kept that to myself, although later Christmas day I did tell my uncle about it and he said it could have been grandpa who died earlier that year. I said no, it was a little girl and he said well spirits can take on any form they want. I've never heard that since, so I don't know if thats the case or not. However, one thing I do know, it was no dream I had.

I only recall dreams for the first hour or two after I wake up, then its like they never happened for me. But this... I remember every single detail about an event that happened all those years ago. Back then, I didn't really understand it and I put it aside and never really thought about it again till 3 or 4 years later when we started experiencing things in our own house. Even then I didn't believe any of it till our dogs started growling at empty staircases and watching unseen things move about my bedroom. By the time we moved out of that house, everyone, even dad believed there was something there. Not to mention some of our extended family having their own experiences.

All I can say to you nonbelievers... you can't even grasp what its like to go though these things and sadly most people never will. The supreme irony of it is that most of these very same people are all too happy to believe in god, angels, the devil, heaven and hell. That to me makes no sense what so ever.

But yes, with the new group we have under construction, we hope to have people share what they've been through or are going through. We also plan on having something set up to where people can post any audio, video, or still shots they catch with possible paranormal activity. Basically our goal is to be an outlet, a sounding board, evidence gatherers, and information center for you crazies out there in dA land.

Take care everyone!