A Tangled Mess of Atoms

 What do you think?

It’s a question we’ve probably been asked thousands of times in our lives and answered without any great difficulty. But, have you ever stopped to consider the meaning behind it?

What do YOU think?

Garden at Moat Brae

Recently, I was fortunate to spend the afternoon learning from the amazing Oliver Emmanuel in the beautiful grounds of Moat Brae, a place so enchanted and creative, that you can’t help but feel inspired. Sat on a fold up chair, in a room of floating birds and shiny walls I was totally in awe of the creativity oozing from those around me. And then came that question, awful and dreaded, – What do you think?

I was stumped.

I had no idea what to answer because I didn’t want to say the wrong thing. I was completely overwhelmed by the brilliance of this place and its people that I simply didn’t know what to say.

And that’s when I saw it.

there but not there

Out of the corner of my eye was a swinging object that appeared at first to not exist. It was there and yet at the same time it was not, flowing effortlessly through the wind and the trees – a person.

At first, I thought I was imagining things. I knew I was overwhelmed, but I didn’t think it had reached the level where I was hallucinating. I looked again and it was still there.

It wasn’t until the sunlight dimmed that I finally managed to see that it was in-fact a hanging statue, made out of chicken wire and invisible string.

Now convinced it was in fact real, I returned to the question. And that’s when it struck me. They want to know what my brain is telling me. They want to know what this tangled mess of atoms and neurons is saying. They want to hear my opinion.

there but not there

People have asked for my opinion before, but I had never been so struck by the fact that what is real and stands out to me might not for others. Seeing that statue swinging in the wind, I realised that my perception of this immersive experience, might be totally different to the people sitting next to me. The thoughts whirring through my head, might not be the same thoughts whirring through that of my peers and I suddenly understood like never before the reason for the question ‘what do you think.’

there but not there

It is asked because what I think is different. It is based on my unique perception of information and situations. It is because I understand the world like no one else does.

And, I guess, that is why I, alongside 95% of the world, are curiously fascinated by plays, books, television, film, music and theatre. Because for a short or long period of time, you are given an insight into someone else’s mind, where you are temporarily transported into their world and are given a front row seat into their brain.

Since the workshop, reading plays and books has been that little bit more magical because it’s no longer a story, it’s a person and a snippet of what makes them, them.

I think I like that my reality and perception of the world is different to yours.

What do you think?

Lauren Asher

Lauren is part of the Bunbury Banter Young Playwrights Programme 2019-2020