Fear of the dark
- Thread starter taws6
- Start date
Just came across this on the Bushcraft USA forum. Top one Seems strangely similar to a couple of the stories on here:
http://bushcraftusa.com/forum/showthread.php?t=16583
http://bushcraftusa.com/forum/showthread.php?t=16583
Stayed in this bothy once. It was supposed to be haunted by the ghost of some girl murdered there. It was a helluva creepy place in the pitch black. There was always this sense of "something" there that made your hairs stand up. I took this picture as we were leaving. The others didnt even want to look back at the place. I swear i could see something in the window. Even the picture creeps me out...
I am not looking at the windows in your photograph.
I had a similar night in the old Border Bothies Brothershiels Bothy, now long since demolished.
Stayed in this bothy once. It was supposed to be haunted by the ghost of some girl murdered there. It was a helluva creepy place in the pitch black. There was always this sense of "something" there that made your hairs stand up. I took this picture as we were leaving. The others didnt even want to look back at the place. I swear i could see something in the window. Even the picture creeps me out...
The picture is an animated GIF consisting of 26 frames plus the background. Same underlying technology as animated smilies. With some seconds interval you will see a picture of a young lady appearing in the window. Quite cleverly made...
//Kim Horsevad
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I made another, but the effect is almost too subtle to notice....
http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i273/Martyn_s30v/bothy3.gif
http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i273/Martyn_s30v/bothy3.gif
I admit I didn't realise it was animated until the secret was ruined - perils of an iPhone small screen!
My 5 cents on the subject as it was a big problem for me.
There are two options with the fear of anything.
1. Fear of unknown. Just keep doing it until you get used to it.
2. Phobia. You walk 2 steps in to the dark and your heart is pounding, your imagination goes wild, you have to fight your legs to stay where they are. You can't think straight and you start to sweat...
In the second case problem is much deeper and more complicated. When I discovered I have the second option I decided to see a head doctor
Turns out my problem with darkness was only a manifestation of deeper issue. I was bullied a lot in my school days and as a shy kid I took it very hard. Long story short martial arts was the answer for me. Few months of TaeKwonDo and All I need is one head torch and only to read the map. I actually enjoy walking in the night...
Food for thought
There are two options with the fear of anything.
1. Fear of unknown. Just keep doing it until you get used to it.
2. Phobia. You walk 2 steps in to the dark and your heart is pounding, your imagination goes wild, you have to fight your legs to stay where they are. You can't think straight and you start to sweat...
In the second case problem is much deeper and more complicated. When I discovered I have the second option I decided to see a head doctor
Turns out my problem with darkness was only a manifestation of deeper issue. I was bullied a lot in my school days and as a shy kid I took it very hard. Long story short martial arts was the answer for me. Few months of TaeKwonDo and All I need is one head torch and only to read the map. I actually enjoy walking in the night...
Food for thought
Fear of the dark is instinctive. It's a natural protective mechanism for any animal whose senses are optimised for daylight. We are not at the top of the food chain because of our physical prowess, but because of our brains. When we are stripped of our daylight optimised senses, most of the advantage our big brains give us, is removed as well. Under those conditions, we are replaced at the top of the food chain by predators who have superior physical attributes and who are night optimised. It is our natural instinct to fear these conditions. That we live somewhere that most of those predators no longer inhabit, is irrelevant, because our instincts are genetically programmed. We can overcome them, take control and master the impulses, but it takes regular exposure to those conditions to desensitise. Equally, a lack of exposure to those conditions can make you hyper-sensitive. It's all natural, good and the way things should be. You just have to train your brain by rationalising your situation and not let it get trained in the wrong direction by succumbing to irrational thoughts and paranoia.
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Way to go BigMonster!
You are already a survivor and a role model for adressing those dark issues you had / have!
Not very many can do that!
Without knowing more about your story I'd still like to call you a Hero for going through a lot
of hardship, and eventually emersing yourself in Martial Arts to the extent that you changed
as a person.
I'd be honored to buy you a Cold One some day, or sepend a few days in the wild with you!
You are already a survivor and a role model for adressing those dark issues you had / have!
Not very many can do that!
Without knowing more about your story I'd still like to call you a Hero for going through a lot
of hardship, and eventually emersing yourself in Martial Arts to the extent that you changed
as a person.
I'd be honored to buy you a Cold One some day, or sepend a few days in the wild with you!
Build me a monument
Naaa. Just got ****** off that I can't do what I like for some reason and decide to find out what was wrong with me
I'm still surprised to that day with the correlation. I went back to my country (I'm Polish) for few months and the whole issue really started to come back to me as I stopped my training.
It will take many more years to understand a human brain....
Naaa. Just got ****** off that I can't do what I like for some reason and decide to find out what was wrong with me
I'm still surprised to that day with the correlation. I went back to my country (I'm Polish) for few months and the whole issue really started to come back to me as I stopped my training.
It will take many more years to understand a human brain....
Any news on the pistachio muncher yet? Been on the edge of my seat since august!
It was that thread that made me join the forum...
... that made me buy a bivi bag...
... and a hammock...
... and a stove...
... and a few knives...
... tarp...
... Dyneema...
... carabiners...
It was also JonathanD's "advice" that means I've got a huge burn blister on my leg instead of an insect bite.
He owes me
... that made me buy a bivi bag...
... and a hammock...
... and a stove...
... and a few knives...
... tarp...
... Dyneema...
... carabiners...
It was also JonathanD's "advice" that means I've got a huge burn blister on my leg instead of an insect bite.
He owes me
It was that thread that made me join the forum...
... that made me buy a bivi bag...
... and a hammock...
... and a stove...
... and a few knives...
... tarp...
... Dyneema...
... carabiners...
It was also JonathanD's "advice" that means I've got a huge burn blister on my leg instead of an insect bite.
He owes me
Ooops.
No news. Been too busy with the DNA collecting this year.
Try camping in Canada, with the knowledge of knowing that there's Bears about! the only carnivorous mammal that actively hunts man. Now that's scary!
Oh I wouldn't say "the only" one. When I was a corrections deputy at the county jail we had a couple of cannibalistic murderers in custody.
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