There seems to be an increase in the number of people making this statement, and asking this question. “I want to see a cryptid!” and “What should I do to be able to see one?” It is my belief that a person pondering this should seriously examine what they are getting in to when they actually embark on this journey. I can say from my perspective that I never really asked myself this question, and that is because the cryptids seemed to find me. If I could change things I would say that I would rather know what is out there, than to be oblivious and possibly courting danger. The first thing you should do is attempt to mentally prepare yourself for a possible encounter. It is a wise thing to formulate a plan, or list of things that you will do after the encounter. Experience tells me that there is nothing you can do to prepare for the actual encounter, and there is also little you can do to prepare for how an encounter is going to go. The best advice I have is to relate the importance of being able to cope with the after effect of an encounter.
Some things I would recommend are:
Don’t lie to yourself about what you experienced.
Allow yourself some time to absorb the experience, and see it for what it is.
Talk with someone about your experience.
Don’t let the experience control your life after the encounter.
Don’t lie to yourself about what you experienced. This is an important thing to try to do because there is nothing worse than lying to yourself. The human mind has a tendency to categorize unknown things that we encounter based off of known things that we have encountered. For example; if you were to encounter a Goat man who happened to be down on all fours in a quadruped fashion; you might see his horns, and face, and say to yourself that it’s head looked just like a goats’. Your mind might take that characteristic about the creature and convince you that what you saw was actually a very large goat. At the stage that you become convinced that a goat is what you saw, and your perception becomes skewed and believing the classification lie that your mind propagated takes precedence. Your mind does this because we have built in coping mechanisms that help us deal with traumatic, and strange experiences. You aren’t knowingly lying to yourself, but your mind takes control subconsciously in an effort to help you deal with the experience.
(I am not a Psychologist, Psychiatrist, or Medical Professional in any way. This post is purely opinion and not intended to be medical advice. If you feel you need medical attention; or advice, I encourage you to seek assistance from a medical professional.)
Allow yourself some time to absorb the experience, and see it for what it is. Seeing a cryptid for the first time is a traumatic experience. This is because a rift in your experienced life is interrupted by an encounter with something that is not supposed to be real. Take some time to reflect on the experience. Reflection can help you deal with accepting that the way you previously understood life, is not the way that it actually is. Your life is never going to be the same after an encounter. It is a big undertaking to accept the changes that an experience like this can bring to the table.
Talk with someone about your experience. This is the tricky one. I would say that it is a good thing to talk with someone about your experiences. The down side to doing so is that you will more than likely be met with disbelief, and possibly ridicule. It’s sad that we humans can be so brutal to our own kind. The fact is that with each passing day we see more evidence of the ease with which man is able to do so. In saying that; just be prepared for those possibilities, but know that there are people out there who will talk with you about your experiences without judgment, or criticism. The trick is finding the right one that works for you. Trust me; I know what it’s like to try to talk to people about experiences and be met with criticism. I’ve been doing this for a long time, and I still run into people who want to be negative toward me about the things that they have an inability to understand. Don’t let that discourage you. There is someone out there who will listen to what you have to say, be supportive, and provide their feedback on the subject if that is what you want them to do.
Don’t let the experience control your life after the encounter. We have all heard of the random person, or hunter who has an encounter and later states that they will never go into the wilds again, or do what ever they were doing during the encounter. This is a bad thing! Sure; take some time to deal with your experience, but don’t let the fear of anything take control over your life. I know this is something that is easier to say, than to do. I have been there myself. Pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and get back out there and do the things that you enjoy doing in life. No one wants to be a victim of any bad situation, but letting the fear of being in a bad situation control what you do is much worse than having a bad experience.
