Who is afraid of the Dark?

Do you ever get that feeling like you are being watched? You look around and you don't really see anyone or hear anyone. You still feel like something is there. Is it a ghost? There is a weird feeling building up inside and your imagination is playing tricks on.

You are not crazy something is there and you know it, but you can't explain it. Oh that sweet paranoia kicking in. Isn’t this how every Friday the 13th movie starts? Is Michael Myers going to pop out any minute and your sprinting is going to be put to the test?

Why are we so afraid of the dark? Do the freaks really come out at night? I would say yes, because have you ever seen an opossum at night? Those things are scary at any given hour but especially at night. Keep your distance. Sorry for so many questions but mystery and darkness go hand in hand.

As kids we were told stories of Boogeyman or in my case Baba Yaga. Those guys were scary. I still fear those monsters under my bed at 35 years old because darkness terrifies me. It's a know fact freaks really do come out at night; bed bugs, nocturnal creatures, Chuky the Killer Doll.

There were real monsters however, maybe not boogey man nor baba yaga but there were other monsters. For our ancestors there was such a thing as being simply afraid of the dark. Can you imagine going outside at night to chop more wood to keep your cabin warm only for a giant hungry wolf to attack you.

Picture yourself walking through an untouched wooded area on your tippy toes during the Paleolithic period several thousand years ago. Now picture a saber tooth tiger trying maule you down or your buddy. Back in the day living in fear, knowing that a face off with death could happen at any minute was the norm. Be afraid of the dark or get eaten.

A lot of the scary stories told back in the day were inspired by real creatures. Real blood thirsty animals that roamed the woods and picked us off like late night cheese stick snacks. Living in fear protected us and gave us our 6th sense. The freaks came out at night so it was never safe to go roaming in the dark. But times have changed, gotten a little safer. Being in the woods even became a luxury.

We all love camping, well most us at least love camping. The smell of the woods, the silence of the forest, the beauty of the trees. Even setting up the tent brings a certain level of comfort and peace that you don’t find in the city. That was a joke because only a real psychopaths like setting up the tent. Ofcourse the campfire at night makes you forget your stress and worries. Camping is perfect get away.

All is wonderful when camping until….You have to wake up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom and everything is pitch black. Those beautiful trees no longer look so majestic in the dark. Oh no they look like giant scary monsters casting massive shadows.

Then you look up and you see the stars and suddenly the world is alright with you. You feel beautiful. All of a sudden something moves in the branches and your heart jumps .You don’t know if a Saber tooth tiger is about to jump out at you. Your heart is racing. Luckily logic kicks in and you remember that those things thankfully went extinct 10,000 years ago.

Something is still out there however and you don’t know what it is. The fear raises your blood pressure and you start going into a fight or flight zone. Its so dark out, there is no way you can run and hide. Is this how it's going to end, is this how life flashes before your eyes?

Something is watching you and you turn to face it. When you look you see two giant eyes looking back at you. A wave of relief washes over you once you realize it’s just a bird. You proceed to scramble for your phone to take a picture right as the beautiful Owl does it’s signature sound, “Whooo, Whoooo, Whoooo” then it flies away. "Oh well", you might say to yourself

Feeling one with nature, you feel grateful that you needed to pee in the middle of the night and proceed to go back to your tent. But then the owl reemerges, this time with a mouse in his beak. Oh you are camera ready now. Look at you, all of a sudden nothing scares you. If you stick around maybe you will see a shooting star and make a wish.

The night is not so hair raising after all. And maybe the freaks that come out at night aren’t really freaks, besides for the opossums of course. For so long we have been conditioned to fear the night, been scared of the unknown that comes from the dark. Fear of the night is in our DNA.

Maybe we have nothing to fear and darkness is a place we can go to and defeat our fears. If we are lucky an owl will appear and reveal to us what we are made of “Who” we are inside.