by Karen Frazier, Managing Editor
Paranormal Underground

Quite often, the pursuit of the paranormal is a pursuit of the past. We travel back in history to try and learn about haunted places and the people may be haunting them. We learn and share personal histories as we discuss our own formative experiences with the paranormal.

When I had two past life regression hypnotherapy sessions, I traveled a long way into the past, viewing snapshots from lives lived long ago by someone who may or may not have been some version of me.

In other cases, when we discuss the paranormal, we look forward into the future. When will we make first contact? Will there ever be proof of the paranormal?

And yet, to make a genuine connection to ghosts of the past, what we really need is the now. According to Marcus Leader (see our podcast with Marcus) and Lisa Abney of Haunted South Paranormal Research, the best tool you have in paranormal investigation is a present-moment focus where you declare your intention.

Seems to me that this may be a tool for more than just paranormal investigation. Present time focus and focused intention seem to be one of the most powerful tools we have in life.

In her book, Lessons of Many Lives (co-authored by a really kick-ass writer named Karen Frazier), past life regression hypnotherapist, Melissa Watts, puts it this way: “There is tremendous courage involved in being present in your life. The challenge is to be fully and wholly devoted to each moment and tuned in to your inner guidance and your soul purpose. Be here, now. Live this life to the best of your ability. After all, it is why you came.”

The past is good as it goes. We can learn from our pasts. We can learn from the pasts of others. It is fascinating to visit histories that seem so foreign and different from our present.

The future – well it is cool to contemplate. Where will we be? Where will we go?

And yet, according to author Eckhart Tolle, all of our pain comes from the past and the future. If we remain focused in the now, Tolle tells us, then we separate ourselves from the worries of what is to come or the pain of past hurts.

It makes a kind of sense. Unless you are being stung by a hive full of bees in the now – or some other painful calamity – living in the present moment without visiting past hurts or worrying about a future we can’t possibly predict seems like it would be a great way to go.

Easier said than done, I know. Even fully focused in the present, one can’t help but have the past or the future nudging at the edges of one’s consciousness.

And yet, imagine relationships free of history or fear of what is to come. Who could you be in a moment with a loved one if all of that just fell away? How about a moment distilled in the now where you can fully appreciate the stunning beauty in nature without your past or future invading?

Even if it is only for moments at a time, living in the now can infuse your life with unimaginable beauty.

Here is my immediate past: Two nearly teen-aged boys. A tent in the back yard. Walkie talkies. Water balloons. I think you see where I am going with this.

Here is my near future: The same two teen-aged boys. The same water balloons. The same walkie-talkies. Until 5 p.m.

And here is my present: The boys. Two saxophones. A duet book. The dogs singing with the saxophones.

My present moment

Fortunately, there are no bees at the moment. I guess all I can do is sit back and enjoy the music.