Perhaps pickle it and put it in a jar?

I am and have always been fascinated with energy and energy exchanges. I listened to Denise Gough on the radio over the weekend, (Radio 2 Graham Norton), talking about her Olivier Award-winning performance in People, Places and Things  in the West End, and she made an almost passing comment about a ritual that she exercises at the end of her performance during the curtain call (show applauded to high acclaim with standing ovations), to ‘close off’ the energy she receives because it is too much for her, making the winding down post-performance challenging- as it is for a lot of performers. This comment had me fascinated. Partly, because I was curious to know what it is that she actually does; she said that she looks rather strange doing it, but suggested the benefits outweighed the peculiarity of it, but also, I thought, how very grounded she sounded, with a level-headed approach, casually pushing a strong clear message that she, in fact, receives something on stage from the audience that is far too much for her to take home. 

Energy.

We give and take energy from each other throughout our entire existence yet never really give this act the credence or attention it really deserves. Probably because we dress it up and call it something else. We can laugh or poo-poo new age people for their experiences on feeling the ‘vibe’, and scientists generally turn their noses up at empirical evidence, but I feel certain that most people can tick a box from a huge list that could be described as a process dealing with energy transference. For example, how do we feel when someone gives us praise or indeed, is critical of us, or what about when we enter into an atmospheric room or building, or areas of scenic beauty, or sites where heinous crimes and acts of atrocities have occurred, where you can find people expressing tangible feelings of something dark and evil in the air? This is something we can all easily connect with surely? How different is this to what mediums do? We can be compelled towards Ley- lines, churches, holy and spiritual spots such as Stonehenge, concentration camps, re-enactment battlegrounds, and memorial sites. How about when we touch significant objects or loved ones? And huge waves of grief (again, energy), now move so fast, it can make or break people in positions of power.

I remember sitting around a campfire roughly ten years ago and meeting someone who felt they had the ability to take in other people’s negative energy; any illnesses or troubles and transform that very same energy, into something positive and cure them of their ailment. He said he stumbled upon this gift/curse/ability without any prior interest (he was a biker). It left him extremely exhausted and drained for days, he said, but he felt good helping people, particularly because at the end of it, he was left with amazing amounts of pure, powerful energy . I was blown over. Was this possible? It was the ultimate in renewable energy! It took me down the path of Reiki and energy healing in my quest to understand what was going on. I also practiced yoga, which was like hooking up to the most sublime submarine battery going. Ever. But what if we could, beyond energy exchanges via human interaction, harness this human energy? Our ecological system naturally exchanges energy all the time; the elements interact to create life on earth. And man has exploited the generation and storage of energy, natural or otherwise, leaping away from the obvious, i.e, wind, solar, hydro first, up until relatively recently. Can lightening be harnessed, by the way?

What if we could store our excess energy? In the past, I found that post performance, my mind felt like a huge wheel with a hamster let loose on it. And the buzz felt afterwards; that ‘wired up’ sensation that I’m guessing coffee couldn’t match? Of course, this is not an experience limited to actors or artists.

It’s the same for anyone doing a talk e.g. writers, sharing their work and receiving feedback (energy). Imagine being a politician, or a mega musician and playing to thousands at concerts or festivals? And Footballers? That’s half the world’s population, must be, Surely? Channelling their positive energy into Carlos Kickaball. Its a lot to handle and to take home. Perhaps that’s why many in the public eye go off the rails? It could be that the energy imbalances knock them off centre or the stress of having to live up to ‘expectations’, or even believing they are, indeed God and the answer.

Mediums say that they have to ‘switch off’ so that they can go home and lead normal lives. Maybe this actress has got it right.

But wouldn’t it be nice if we could bottle it?  After all, children get party bags.