Among the many memorable contributions to American popular culture made by the late and much lamented TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer was the immortal phrase: "Bored now."
In two words, the show managed to sum up the anomie and ennui of teenagers the world over – or at least teenagers in prosperous developed countries, who can afford the luxury of self-reflection.
Lately I've been feeling the same way. To be honest, reading and writing about the paranormal and life after death doesn't rev my motor the way it once did.
That's not because I've had second thoughts. On the contrary, I'm losing interest in this subject precisely because I've largely reached conclusions about it. The more convinced I am that psi and life after death are real phenomena, the less interested I am in searching for additional evidence or debating the question.
Besides, I have many other interests besides parapsychology: Shakespeare, movies, fiction, politics, ancient history, animation, and so on.
And there are only so many posts you can write before you start to repeat yourself. Recently, every time I've finished a post, I've had to ask myself if I didn't already write something very much like it a couple of years ago. Worryingly, I'm never sure of the answer.
When you consider that I've put down my opinions in (semi-)permanent form as a novella, Chasing Omega, you can probably understand that I'm not sure if it serves much purpose to keep blogging about the paranormal. After all, I've taken a public position on these things. And the book is out there for anyone who wants to read it.
So I'm thinking – in fact, I've been thinking for some time – of calling it quits. I'll certainly leave this blog on the Internet indefinitely for anyone who wants to search the archives, and there's a chat room available for those who wish to discuss things among themselves.
I haven't made a firm decision yet, but I wanted to give you a heads-up that I may be writing a finish to this experiment in blogging, which has gone on for something like eight years, in the not-too-distant future.
Considering my usually short attention span, I'm a little amazed that I've kept it going this long. I think most of the credit goes to the provocative, civil, and often fascinating comments I've received from my readers. Over the years I've encountered truly original and thought-provoking opinions from a variety of people I'll never meet in real life, and I'm deeply grateful for the inspiration and education they — you — have provided.
Anyway, I won't be not hanging up my holster right now, but I wanted to let you know that things are probably moving in that direction. Now might be the time to check out some other paranormal blogs, like Paranormalia and Michael Tymn's blog and Dean Radin's blog.
After all, if the study of the afterlife teaches us anything, it's that nothing lasts forever. There are always new doors opening … and old doors closing.