In her book, 100 Essays I Don't Have Time To Write On Umbrellas and Sword Fights, Parades and Dogs, Fire Alarms, Children and Theatre, playwright Sarah Ruhl notes "We are now supposed to have opinions before we have experiences".
I think her view is right. (You see, I am doing it too.)
Texters, vloggers, bloggers, pundits, columnists, journalists, editors, reviewers - anybody with access to a platform can publish an opinion.
These opinions, commentary, come in all shapes and sizes.
Reviews, comments, ratings, stars, thumbs up, thumbs down, share, don't share, recommend, don't recommend, green, red. What is driving this madness?
Technology or the demand from advertisers? More and more places to advertise this, that or the other please! "We want more bang for our bucks." Is this a race to the bottom ?
Seth Godin writes in his blog entitled In Pursuit of Cheap.
"...The alternative is to choose to be worth it, remarkable, reliable, a good neighbor, a worthy citizen, leading edge, comfortable, trusted, funny, easy, cutting edge or just about anything except, the cheapest at any cost."
This is why I like acting, film and theatre.
Phones off. Lights down. Curtain Up.
These are perhaps the last places in which you can have true experiences, opposed to being drowned and overwhelmed by opinion, hot air, commentary and the race to the bottom.
Last week I had a Cerebral Angiogram.
A surgeon fed a small plastic tube into my Femoral artery, via my groin, and then using x-ray equipment guided it up through the network of arteries in my body to the base of my brain.
He then injected contrast dye into the tube which when released flooded into the network of veins and arteries in my brain allowing images to be captured.
When he released the dye the experience was intense.
It was as though the world was shifting off it's axis accompanied by flashing lights, my mind and it's utter vastness, was there, lit up, in front of me.
Had I found myself inside Yayoi Kusama's light installation, an infinity mirrored room, Filled With The Brilliance of Life 2011?
My legs, my arms, felt crushed. A huge weight bearing down on them.
I wonder if this is how astronauts feel when they leave the earth's atmosphere behind making their way into the vastness and infiniteness that is the universe.
It made me realise too how immense and limitless our minds really are.
And, how little of it we use.
And, how small our lives really are.
If you are looking for answers they will be there somewhere in your mind.
The Stoics knew this.
Happiness, freedom are just in front of you, in the mind.
They lie in the choices we make.
The same for the job we want, the home we want or the holiday we want.
We are quick to write opinions, emails, send texts via our mobile phones and other platforms - commentary. But we don't make the choices that will make our lives and the lives of other better.
It's been 10 or so days since having this procedure done and I still feel knocked out by it.
I am waiting for the results to see where I go next with the management of the AVM I find myself with.
While I am waiting to see the neurosurgeons I put any worries and questions I have far out there in my mind.
They are so so small and insignificant against the infiniteness of my mind.
They are specks.
On a lighter note, I had an audition a few days ago for a short film.
The central character in the script was a mannequin.
I wonder, how can a playwright write truthfully for a plastic doll?
Playwrights are human and should write for humans. Shakespeare knew that, so did Chekov, but then again, that's only my opinion - my hot air - my commentary..
David will be appearing in Sweeties #3 Camden Fringe Special at The Camden Peoples Theatre 03 August 2017. Tickets via The Camden Fringe Website.
You can reach David via his agent Sam at Brown and Mills.