I am a firm believer that humans are here for the sole purpose of creating art. Art can take many forms from a finger painting at three years old to the architecture of a grand building. Art, quite literally, has no bounds. Neither does our spiritual connection and where we find it.

         Music has a huge role to play throughout human existence. Song was one of the original ways to tell a story. There's a reason churches have choirs and hymns. Music brings us closer to the divine through melody and lyricism. Whether it's music for your deity of choice or to soothe yourself on your drive home, music is inescapable as one of the most popular art forms for human connection. Radio stations blaring our chosen jam can teleport us to a time of our youth. Music in a soundtrack of a show or movie can make or break a scene. Musicals! I think enough said.

       From an early age I sought solace in many art forms - drawing, painting, and story telling. It wasn't until I was in my pre-teen/teen years that I found a deep connection to music. I'm not musically talented by any means, but that doesn't stop me from a deep appreciation for it. Going to concerts has always  been a magical experience for me. Bumping in a crowd with loud rock music slamming your ears while people slam your back jumping  and moshing. Hot, sticky summers at Warped Tour walking around meeting new artists and listening to nonstop music blaring from every corner. It was all such a great experience as a kid. I think this when I first felt true connection to others. Listening and deciphering lyrics of people who felt the same ways as I did was just what my angsty heart needed.

        If you have ever been to a live show of your favorite artist, you may be able to relate to what I'm about to tell you. If you haven't - what are you waiting for? I think everyone should experience their favorite songs sang to them at one point in their lives. It is beyond magical.

    Now, for the experience that inspired this post (and perhaps, series). This past August I had the privilege of seeing my favorite artist, Hozier. If you noticed in my music recommendations, he is on every playlist. I have been in love with his music since his first album and finally got the chance to see him live this year. If you look at any video posted of his shows you will see that every fan agrees - it is an absolutely ethereal experience. Every person was dressed like a fae being and probably not a dry eye in that house. Hozier's lyrics speak to his fans on such a deep, poetic level that seeing him live was absolutely transcending. A lot of people joke that he is a deity or a forest king (The Bogfather so lovingly coined). For good reason, too. Listening to him sing his art, his words, to a crowd of people who just understand the assignment, was absolutely magical. The friend I had gone with, and myself, were in such a deep state of euphoria that we couldn't listen to his music without crying after that day. ​

     Happy September everyone! Let's kick of this spooky season with some ghosties!  As promised, I am going to tell you all THREE of the most prominent ghost stories that stick out to me. One of them I have evidence for! Ok let's get into it!

     Story #1:  Growing up, I lived in the Mass Mills in Lowell, Massachusetts. If you aren't familiar, the mills were some of the first to bring the industrial revolution to America, producing textiles, shoes, etc. As the buildings stopped producing they became housing. On the lot there were three buildings, two were used for apartments and the third was basically unusable. It was very dilapidated and not suitable for people to be in let alone live in. As kids, we would dare each other to go up to the broken open windows to look inside. We never really thought about actual people being inside, we were always only looking for ghosts. We were always looking for something exciting or weird to entertain us. Another little detail, the late 90's/early 00's everyone was using an OUIJA as if it were a household game. We were no different. My friends and I would love to play this at my place because I lived in such a historic building. 
   One night, my friends and I had decided to play during a late night hang out. We got little activity, but some. I will be honest and say I don't remember the details of the questions and answers, just that we did have some responses. We said "Goodbye" (as you always should do!) and we kinda left it there. Later that night, when I was asleep in my room, alone, I was woken up by something on the end of my bed. I slept facing the door of the bedroom and I always noticed when it opened because the hall light would wake me. That didn't happen so I was confused when I felt something. I did share my room with my oldest sister, but she wasn't home this night, so again... CONFUSED! When you're a kid and want to be protected from seeing something scary you cover your head and pretend it doesn't exist. Yea well I didn't get the memo this night. I looked. When I turned my head I saw a girl sitting at the end of my bed looking back at me. I froze in fear. And just as fast as she came, she went. Was it due to the OUIJA activity? Was it due to old buildings? Who knows really? I just know she WAS there and then she wasn't. From that day on I would constantly look for her everywhere, but I never saw her again.

     Story #2: This one is less physical ghost story, but more of an experience. Ever since I was little I would tell people my dreams would have meaning. I could tell when my dream was meant to be remembered and when it was just a dream. Often I would have premonitions in my dreams. When I was a kid I had a dream that the Spice Girls (my favorite band when I was a kid) would break up, two weeks later, they announced their separation. Do with this information what you will, but I will cling to that I saw it before it happened. Another one I had was when I was going to camp, two weeks before I had a dream I had lice. When I went through camp health inspection... you guessed it... I had lice! Weird dreams like this would happen so often that it wasn't new to me. What WAS new to me is when the first person I experienced a heavy loss with, my Papa, came to me in my dreams.
     Papa passed when I was in my early 20's and when he left us it left a hole in our family for sure. Of course he wasn't a perfect soul, but he loved his grandkids so fiercely. We all loved our Papa, so even though he passed from cancer it was still such a hard blow. I was there with the family when he passed and watched him get taken away. It was the very first time I had experienced death so closely. When I slept that night I had a dream. I was sitting on the back porch of my Papa's old house (not the one he died in). The yard was wide open until it met the tree line of a forest. I was sobbing in my hands wishing to talk to my Papa one last time. And there he was. Next to me. He rubbed my back and said that he felt much better now and it was time for him. I had this same dream three times. On the third time, it was a few months later and I hadn't had the dream in a while from this point. My grief was still there, but I was starting to accept he was in a better place. That last dream was the same except the end. This time Papa and I had hugged and he told me "Now it's time for me to go where you can't follow. Take care of yourself, I love you." And he got up from the porch and walked off to the edge of the tree line, disappearing into the woods.
    You can say this may not be him or maybe it was my grief letting go. I will say it took me a few years to finally not let the grief of his passing to swallow me anymore. To this day I will hold fast that it felt like him. It felt like him the whole time. Reassuring me he was ok until he felt that I was ok. Still miss the old goat, but I've never dreamed of him since.

    Story #3:  Here we are! The last story! This is the one I have evidence for. The last few years in retail I have some how ended up at haunted locations. The first store I worked at we would have things crashing to the floor and hear footsteps. Well when I left the company for another store entirely, I didn't think I'd be dealing with the same stuff. I often would open or close alone and was never scared. Being a witch, I've learned to keep these interactions to a minimum if I choose. But this one particular entity had the audacity to make itself known in broad daylight with multiple witnesses. My first month at this new job, my coworkers and I were all working in separate areas away from the door. Suddenly the door swung open and closed just as quickly. No one walked by, no one came in, and the door is a soft close door. So if it were a person, it should slowly close, not quickly close. Also, the doors are not automatic by any capacity, there was no handicap button or anything like that. I can't post the actual video because it's only 30 seconds.

Click through to this link.

    It's a recording of the actual video because it was on our store security camera. Along with this incident, multiple times we would hear someone running up and down the aisles and there'd be no one in the store. You could hear the actual squeaking of sneakers as if on a basketball court. This would happen when we would all be up front taking a break or busy doing displays so it wasn't any of us. Anyways, I never got super bad vibes from this place so it never scared me. However some of my coworkers were in religions that kept them weary of these types of things. Nothing spookier than retail, but then add a ghost? At least it made it entertaining for me!

      This post will be the beginning of a series. I have a few more I'd like to share, but these were the bigger ones that stuck out to me. What do you think? Have you had experiences you want to share? If you got to the end do let me know and tell me your thoughts!