I'll never be the same. I'm age seventy now so lotsa time has passed for me to learn stuff. My advice to others who may feel left out of the loop regarding the unexplainable is to keep an open mind and give yourself time. My journey in this respect didn't start till I was over forty.
Unlike you, Garry, I have had paranormal experiences all my life. I can to back to age 3 or 4. Of course nothing made any sense to me at all for decades. I think I was well into my 40s before genuine self-reflection kicked in. I put that down to being inherently stupid. I had a lot of information and knowledge - but none of it really clicked into place to deliver a really useful perspective until I was in my early 50s.
I think we get the experiences we need - and we are not in a position to say what that is. I was talking with a friend last night who said he wished he could see a UFO, because that would 'settle' things for him. But that was maybe precisely why he's not see one - because short cutting is not what its about.
That's the thing about an 'open mind'. We might imagine we have one, but maybe we don't. I have been accused of 'sticking my head in the sand' and not having an open mind over matters related to some conspiracy theory I think is completely preposterous. I am not prepared to move on this matter and to me, if what I have witnessed is indicative, an open mind is a dangerous thing. I am going to seem to be pedantic here for what I hope you will see as a good reason.
I know exactly what
you mean by an 'open mind'. It does not mean to cease to exercise active discrimination. In fact being 'open minded' actually demands a higher level of discrimination - in the sense of 'don't reject a new idea of out hand', but apply a (hopefully) accustomed rigour to evaluating it.
A friend took an open minded approach to a popular conspiracy theory and was flattered into believing what I thought was complete bollocks. She was presented with what she assessed were perfectly rational and reasonable arguments. I thought they were idiotic, misleading and manipulative. She said I was being closed minded and 'Mr Right' who bought conventional misinformation. I figured I was dealing with something I had pretty much grown up with in various ways, and nothing I had seen or heard had convinced me that it was nothing more than a crappy BS hoax. I am not open minded on this subject. I acknowledge I could be wrong, but I assess the odds of being so as very remote.
I was sufficiently 'open minded' to watch around 10 hours of recommended videos. I think that's what you mean. But after those 10 hours I thought the whole affair was ludicrous. I was skeptical from the outset. No, that's not right. I thought the proposition was BS from the outset - and said so. I thought it was BS because right away I saw things that I thought were wrong or incongruous. Ten hours later I had not changed my mind. Yeah, I know, maybe I had a personal motive for 'denying' the 'truth'. But, I suggested, maybe my friend had a personal motive for swallowing the BS? I know that she did not match my 10 hours of watching videos she recommended I watch with the few hours I suggested she watch - because they were 'obviously' misinformation. And who was being close minded? Remind me again?
So I want to respectfully suggest that what you mean to say is to be genuinely curious. Being curious does not imply any loss of rigorous assessment of the proposition. By being curious there is no need to be 'open minded', just intellectually honest. For me being 'open minded' is so imprecise an idea that it can leave some folk open to being taken for a sucker. Being curious actually means being rigorous and honest for the idea to have any real meaning.
After a lifetime of paranormal experiences I really have only vague idea what is going on. But being curious is also being active and inquiring and evaluating and that's what I know works in terms persistent stimulating experience. For me being 'open minded' can be misinterpreted as some kind of passive state in which wisdom and knowledge are going to take up residence as a reward for openness. I know some very smart open minded folk I reckon have been taken for suckers.
No passive state of mind is good here.