It seems that the fad at the moment is posting personal experiences. I usually don't like to discuss things about my personal life (unless about my animals ) but since none of you know who I really am, I feel a little more comfortable. I would like to start off by giving a few more details about myself to help you guys understand more about the situations. I'm 21 years old and I live with my parents, grandmother, younger brother (9) and older brother (23) and my cousin (15). I've lived in the same house all my life, but I moved to a townhouse for about five years, only to move back when my grandfather died. My home is surrounded my trees for about eleven acres with few neighbors. I have always been interested in myths and ghosts, and, as you can imagine, I had a very good imagination as a child, so I don't mind criticism at all, in fact I encourage it. I have already mentioned before that I have had dreams that have come true so I won't go into that. I'll mainly mention a couple of things that I have seen. One specific time, when I was very young and I was attempting to sleep in the living room (I say attempting because I've always had sleeping problems) I looked into the kitchen and saw three shadows moving around. They were different heights. I say shadows because, even though it was dark, they didn't seem quite solid. They were just moving around as if they were doing something. None of them bent over like they were pulling something out of the oven though, just counter top things. I don't remember being afraid. I just watched them until I fell asleep. Let me clarify that my grandfather built the house. No one had died there yet and no one had lived there previously. I understand that I could have been partially dreaming, I just thought I would try to mention everything. Another time, around the same age and while at school, I watched a similar shadow, but the height of a child, walk around a corner. It wasn't fleeting or out of the corner of my eye, and it wasn't on the wall like a normal shadow, it was separate. No one else around me saw it. There have been other times that I have seen these 'shadows' but those two stand out the most to me. I'll leave it at that for now, partly because I don't want to bore anyone (even though random shadows are kinda' boring ) and partly because I have to get back to work. I hope nobody minds me starting a topic, and I feel kinda awkward doing so since I still feel new to this site . I can't wait to hear what you guys have to say.

I personally have not seen what I would think of as shadows, but your account seems honest and clear. Have most of your shadow sightings been in the daytime or at night? Where else have you seen them?

You said, "Yes, even though I loved and was fascinated by 'scary' things I still became afraid of the dark sometimes."

I think this is normal, and I think it is healthy. For a person NOT to be afraid of the dark is kinda silly, since that is probably the time of day we, as cavepeople or tree-dwellers, got eaten most of the time.

You said,  "I remember feeling a hand touch mine and it made me feel better. "

Now, this could have been psychological or paranormal. We can't know which. Maybe its both? I have allways been a fan of the idea that the paranormal and the activities of the psyche could be one and the same thing. Even in the cases of many poltregists, there is a connection to a young adult's psyche and raging hormones, and from what I understood in my Abnormal Psyhcology class in the University is that things DO move on thier own in these houses, but only when the young adult is present. So maybe there was a hand, or maybe it was all in your mind. Either way, it could be paranormal, even if it was a projection of the psyche, in my opinion.

You said," Okay, now for something more recent. At my work (that I have been at for four years) I've seen a couple 'shadows' but they're always fleeting and it's all been fairly recent, like in the past six months. One time it was a shadow low to the ground and my immediate thought was that it was a cat. My second thought was 'Why is there a cat in here?' but there was nothing there."

Depak Chopra writes about "synchonicity". His ideas are very intriguing. He says that if you think you see something, or something pops into your mind for whatever reason, that it is like a message, and shouldn't be ignored. Now, does this come from inside you or outside you? I am not sure it matters. Buddhists say this whole world is a projection from within, and western mystics say 'As above, so below'  meaning  that the inner and the outer reflect eachother. So if your mind/ghost/whatever shows you a cat, maybe there's a reason for it, and  you should look into cat related things in your life at that time. Just an idea.

You said, "Another time, while I was sitting and writing out some things, I glanced up and thought I saw a shorter man that was balding and wearing glasses, but there was nothing. It was similar to the hand. The best way to describe it was like the idea of the man. I saw him, but at the same time I didn't.  I know it sounds so strange, but that's the only way I can describe it. And, no, it was not 'This Man'. "

I actually know what you are talking about here. Its like an invisible man that is definately there. I have seen these "people". Again, no way to know if its paranormal or if its all from your head, but either way I wouldn't just blow it off. I don't know what this "man" might mean to you, or what message he may have had for you, but I am sure you could always go back and ask him in a lucid dream. I don't think these kinds of weird events are meaningless.

You said, " Then, he realised that he couldn't have seen my grandfather because he was dead. He looked back and there was no one there. My father thinks that he was there to remind him to take care of my mother."

Now this is really awesome. To be perfectly honest, and open to criticism here, I think these events are perfectly real. Has your dad seen him since?