Hey there, strangers!

Before I begin this post, I’d just like to quickly say that I’ve been on a bit of a hiatus for a few months. I’ve been trying to work on finding more balance in my life and also, having blogged almost everyday from November to April kinda boggled my brain and wore my creativity thin. But I’m back now and while I may not have daily posts like before, I do have some upcoming content, so get excited!

Today I decided to write about something that’s been on my mind for a few years but didn’t really feel as if it was worth a post. As you can tell by the title, this is to do with my “paranormal experiences”, but don’t get excited because it’s not like some horror/thriller film, it’s not that exciting but I find it pretty interesting and it’s happened pretty consistently for some time now.

I’ve had a few deaths in my immediate family – my Grandpa Griff passed away when I was just five and then my uncle and dad both passed away within a space of less than three years apart. I noticed weird stuff happening since my Uncle’s passing but I was trying to put it all down to coincidence, but looking at the timeline it’s definitely making me question whether or not it is a coincidence. A few different things have happened, so I’ll write them down in chronological order so you can see for yourselves if you believe there’s a pattern forming or something. Also, I don’t joke about this stuff. I wouldn’t make it up because I try not to believe in all these things because I don’t want to get my hopes up.

The first time something happened was in 2012, literally the day my uncle died. It was bed time and I was already lying in bed, trying to come to terms with the heartbreaking events when suddenly the landing light turned on. I assumed it was my mother or stepdad waking up and going downstairs to go to the bathroom or whatever. It was on for a good five minutes before I heard my mother call “Jazz! Turn the bloody light off!” To which I grumbled “I didn’t turn it on!” I ended up getting out of bed and switching it back off. This occurred every night for weeks. We were really weirded out by it. My mother was so sure it was me and I was so sure it was her. My mother believes in angels and the afterlife and because she doesn’t often believe in the “make believe”, so it was pretty interesting to know it’s something she believes in. I just took it as a coincidence, but the light thing happened every night up until September 13th – the day my dad passed away. That night, the light didn’t do anything. In fact, it hasn’t done since. I pointed out how weird that was, to which my mother responded saying “Uncle Gareth was tormenting us and now daddy’s up there, he’s got someone to play with.” I brushed it off, but how freaky are the timings of the event?

Other things happened within that timeline such as my uncle’s picture – which my gran placed on her cupboard quite firmly – fell  from the shelf. My gran is sharp as a tack for her age and she wouldn’t make this up or be imagining things. Another thing that happened was while my mother went into some shop (probably Asda) and my gran and I were sat in the car. We were talking about my uncle when suddenly the car locked on its own. We joked that it was him, but I didn’t believe it really. I unlocked it, to which moments later it locked again.

Moving onto when my dad passed away – that night, my phone automatically turned the sound down. Like you know the symbol that pops up when you’re changing the volume on an iPhone? That popped up except I didn’t touch it. It was at 3am. You know what happened at 3am on a regular basis before that? My dad would be up in the middle of the night for whatever reason and see that I was still awake. He’d Facebook me telling me to go to sleep. He even did it in the hospital before he took a turn for the worst. It would always be around 3am. Then 3am, the morning after he passed away, my phone turned down. I was awake, still coping with everything that had just happened. I had music on and that happened. I assumed it was a fault in my phone but it did it for a few nights. Since then I’ve had a new iPhone and this one does it, too. Like two completely different iPhones and they both did it. I even went to have my new phone checked and it passed the health check.

The thought stuck in my mind for some time and again, more incidents happened. Around the time of my dad’s funeral, I was sat in the living room – my mother was in the bathroom and I had turned the TV off as we were about to go to bed. I was sat on the sofa with my two dogs and both TV remotes were up on a shelf out of the way when the TV randomly decided to turn itself on. My heart almost stopped.

Today is the reason I decided that I don’t really think it’s a coincidence anymore. We had a family gathering at my house and talking about paranormal stuff when I was telling friends and family about the phone thing. Thirty minutes after that conversation, my phone turned the sound down again. How can this be a coincidence? It hasn’t done it for a little while and of all the times it could have done it, it did it then.

One thing I’d also like to note is that my dad and I spoke about him dying when he was diagnosed as terminal. He was an atheist and I’m agnostic. I always “what if?” and so I said to him “Dad, I know you don’t believe but if there’s some sort of afterlife, if you are wrong and mammy is right – again – please give me a sign?” He didn’t answer, just looked at me with tears in his eyes, which I took as a “yes” but without admitting to the possibility. Are these the signs he’s trying to give? My phone is something that’s with me all the time, so if you want to get my attention, that’s a pretty good device to use.

Other little mishaps have happened over time but not really ones I can remember in detail. I just find the whole thing so bizzare and interesting. I’ve heard a lot of stories – some from my dear friend, Lily –  seen YouTube videos and the like and it’s even known that spirits allegedly like to play with electrics. I haven’t done hard research on this and I’ve not seen anyone like a medium, even though I think one day I’d really like to. I’d like to ask questions that only my dad would know the answer to so I can see if it’s a load of shambles or not.

Other family members and friends have shared other stories and their experiences which I’ve found fascinating. I’ll save those for another day, especially as I don’t know if I feel comfortable sharing some due to the fact they’re so personal.

Overall, I’m totally unsure on what I believe, but I do think there’s a good possibility afterlife could exist. Like Science is so incredible and complex, why would there just be nothingness when we’re done living?

Have you ever had any paranormal experiences? Do you believe in the afterlife?

Jazz

Jazz is a Disney, tea and pop culture enthusiast with a passion for blogging. Also a proud introvert.