DIY Paranormal Investigating with James Paradie: Patience is a Virtue

You know that old saying, "patience is a virtue," well it definitely is in paranormal investigating. The one mistake you don't want to make is that investigating any residence is going to be quick. Like tonight (9/20/14 - I'm only putting the date, because I know I will most likely not post this tonight) Anthony and I were joking about rookie investigators. One of the things I said was, "Yeah, investigating only takes an hour like the TV shows." In reality it should have been, it takes 45 minutes, because of commercials. It struck me that I hope people actually don't think that investigating is quick. It's not. Sorry to break it to you.

I'm going to unveil a magic trick, though I'm sure by now it's common knowledge. What you see on TV of one investigation is actually a week's worth of material. The production company tells them to wear the same clothes every day (I'm sure they actually shower and own multiple pairs of the same clothes, or at least I hope) to give the illusion that it's the same investigation. In my five years of doing investigating we have not gotten that much evidence in one place. Well, there is the ...

By the way, the fog was not added in post-production. That is what it was like that night. 

The Sugar Hill Inn, if I can take a moment to talk about it, IS Spook Central. I'm not sure if my NEPI cohorts are sick of me referring to it as such, but it is definitely THE most haunted place I've been to in my life. I've been on two investigations there and I don't care if I'm in a wheelchair, I will still go. The place has a certain ambiance that echoes throughout the entire Inn. It's funny, both times I've been we've had guests - Ron Kolek (an author of various paranormal books) and Chris Loveday (host of Shadows of the Night) and Greg Dumont (owner of KillerReviews.com) never experienced what we have. It's like the spirits like us, because they know us. With Ron, he felt that the place was haunted, but barely anything happened. Same with Chris and Greg. They felt there was something there, but nothing extravagant happened. It was after they left that something happened. Something so concrete. With Ron it was the crazy Glass Swirling session we did and with Chris and Greg it was Michelle being possessed. If there is one place that you can get a weeks worth of evidence in one investigation it is the Sugar Hill Inn. But you can't go! That's NEPI's yard! (Tries to look intimidating. Looks constipated.)

But if you're not the patient type, investigating is not for you. You will sit in a room, with an audio recorder, K-2, whatever for either 45 minutes to an hour and a half and you will get nothing. Maybe one thing will happen to keep you in that place for so long, but most of the time, nope. You're just waiting. 

If you think the waiting game is fishing, then you have never been paranormal investigating. It's the ultimate test of patience in a scary setting. I used to not be patient, but I had to become patient fast in order to do this. But don't be fooled that it isn't fun. It's still fun. Actually some of my funnest experiences during paranormal investigating has been when we were waiting! Just us being the lovable, dysfunctional investigators we are! 

I know it's boring to say sit and wait it out, but that's how you get something. You will not get anything if you just walk around everywhere without stopping. I learned that in my first investigation in West Danville, Vermont when Anthony and Nicole told me to stop moving around so damn much and sit the frig down. Ugh. I mean, I'm not the best investigator, in fact I make the joke that I'm the Chumlee of NEPI, but that night was just BAD. 

Point I'm trying to make is don't let TV fool you. You will go to investigations where you will get absolutely nothing. Be patient. Wait it out.