《茁壮生长》：阿里安娜·赫芬顿的成功人生学

Interviewer： This book is…youre basically talking about well-being and our own personal responsibility to our own well-being， in this book. What made you write this？

Arianna Huffington： Well， what made me write this is that， in April， 2007， I collapsed from exhaustion and burn-out. I hit my head on my desk， broke my cheek bone， got four stitches in my right eye， and I came to in a pool of blood on the floor of my office， wondering“Is this success？” Because， you know， we all define success as money and power， and by conventional definitions of success， when by any sane definition of the word， I was clearly not successful. And thats what got me thinking about how burn-out and exhaustion and sleep deprivation are really fueling our whole workplace， and you guys are responsible for it.

Interviewer： We are.

Arianna： Not you personally， …

Interviewer： Right.

Arianna： …but， “you”—man， …

Interviewer： Oh， gotcha.

Arianna： …because you…you understand.

Interviewer： Right.

Arianna： Because you kind of…you designed the world the way it is， …

Interviewer： Yes.

Arianna： …and were trying to sort of compete and participate and get to the top， and Im saying “Hell not！”. You know， we dont want to get to the top of the world the way it is. We want to change the world， right girls？

Interviewer： I think thats the first time anyone has said“you guys” to me and meant， like， any masculine thing.

Arianna： Yes.

Interviewer： Thats why I was so…I was， like， …

Arianna： Surprise！

Interviewer： …talk show host？ Joke guys？ You have two things you talk about that I think are very interesting and very true. One is the value of sleep， …

Arianna： Yes.

Interviewer： …just a good nights sleep， because， do you…I mean， it seems like not enough people do that.

Arianna： I know， and you know I have 55 pages of， and notes， about the science behind sleep and slowing down and meditation. These are not flaky， new-agey California things. These are， you know， these are real. You know， they really make a difference to how productive you are， how healthy you are. They make a difference to the bottom line of companies， and， but， again， men have worn sleep deprivation like some kind of badge of honour. Its like a virility symbol. You know， I had dinner with a guy recently， and he bragged that he had only gotten four hours sleep the night before， and I thought to myself—I didnt say it， but I thought to myself—“You know what， if you had gotten five， this dinner would have been a lot more interesting.”

Interviewer： And then the other， you talk about the value of just， like， “unplugging”， and， sort of， our reliance， how were sort of tethered to our…our， you know， …

Arianna： Devices， …

Interviewer： …personal devices， yeah.

Arianna： …our technology. And…and weve become addicted to our smartphones. I mean， many people sleep with their smartphones.

Interviewer： Um hm.

Arianna： Do you？

Interviewer： I dont. Well， I have a Blackberry， so its not， you know， that smart.

Arianna： But you actually sleep with your Black…Blackberry by your bed？

Interviewer： Yes， I do.

Arianna： Really， I have to talk to your wife.

Interviewer： OK.

Arianna： Thats， thats not good， because…

Interviewer： She doesnt know about us， so you should let…when you…when you talk to her…

Arianna： I hope shes not watching tonight. But the point is that， if you wake up in the middle of the night， to go to the bathroom or whatever， youre going to be tempted to look at your data， …

Interviewer： Yes.

Arianna： …and then the science， we prove to you that your sleep is not going to be as recharging and deep so that you can wake up vital and fantas…and in a fantastic spirits and be able to take on the world and do anything you want. Isnt that a better way to be during the day than， like， in a haze， you know， kind of wanting to crawl under your desk to have a little rest？

Interviewer： Yeah well， that has its upsides too.

Arianna： It does？

Interviewer： You got to check this out before you go. Its pretty nice under the desk.

Now， and now also this book sorta talks about just being happy with who you are. I did not know this， but you havent always been in love with your accent， which is， I think， the greatest accent on Gods green earth.

Arianna： No， I…I absolutely hated my accent. I…in fact I didnt really relax about my accent until I met Henry Kissinger， when I was， when I moved from London to New York， and he said to me， “Dont worry about your accent.” He said， “In American public life you can never overestimate the advantages of complete and total incomprehensibility.”

Interviewer： Its true. And now， but…you…somebody tried to change your accent.

Arianna： Oh， yes. That somebody is my ex-husband， and actually what…it was a bit of a passive-aggressive present that he gave me on our last birthday together. He…he gave me a dialect coach， and not just any dialect coach， but Jessica Drake， whos a famous Hollywood dialect coach. She coached Tom Hanks in Forrest Gump， for example.

Interviewer： So basically your ex-husband was saying，“I think youd be sexier if you sounded more like Forrest Gump. Im not saying I dont love your accent， but if we could ‘Gump it up a little…”

Arianna： If we could “Gump” it up， would be great！

采访者：这本书是……在这本书里你主要谈到的是人的状态，以及我们如何对自己的安康负责任。是什么促使你写这本书的呢？

阿里安娜·赫芬顿：嗯，是这样的，2007年4月的一天，我因为过度劳累，精疲力竭而突然昏倒了，脑袋撞上了办公桌，颧骨骨折，右眼处缝了四针。当时我躺在办公室的地板上，从一滩血中醒来，想着“这就是成功者的生活？”因为，你看，我们都认为成功就是有钱和权势，而从世人对成功的一贯定义或者任何对这个词正常的解释来说，我一点都不成功。由此我开始思考，耗尽精力、过度劳累和睡眠不足是怎样充斥着整个工作环境的，你们这些人就是始作俑者。

采访者：我们？

阿里安娜：不是指你个人……采访者：好吧。

阿里安娜：……你们男人……采访者：噢，我懂了。

阿里安娜：……因为你们……你懂的。

采访者：是的。

阿里安娜：因为从某种意义上是你们……定义了世界的样子……

采访者：是的。

阿里安娜：……而我们女人试图和你们竞争，参与进来并打败你们，但我认为“当然不是！”我们不想赢得世界，我们想改变世界，女士们，你们说对吗？

采访者：我想这应该是头一遭有人对我说“你们这些人”，并且特指的是男人。

阿里安娜：是的。

采访者：所以我才会……我有点像是……

阿里安娜：觉得惊喜！

采访者：……觉得是脱口秀主持？谐星？你的书里提到的两件事让我觉得非常有趣也非常对。一是睡眠的价值……

阿里安娜：是的。

采访者：……就是晚上要有好的睡眠，因为，你能……看起来没多少人能做得到。

阿里安娜：是的，你知道，我用了55页的篇幅，包括注解，来讲关于睡眠、慢活、冥想背后的意义。这不是什么古怪、新潮的加州做派。这些是，你知道的，有实际用处的。知道吗？这真的能让你有更高的效率，更加健康，令公司的净收入增长。但是，相反地，男人以忙到没时间睡觉为荣，认为这是男子气概的象征。告诉你，我最近跟一位男士出去吃饭，他炫耀前一晚只睡了四个小时，我心想，当然我并没说出口，只是心里说道：“你知道吗？哪怕你多睡一小时，这顿饭都会吃得开心得多。”

采访者：你还讲到了“不插电”的生活的好处，因为我们被牢牢“捆住”了，你知道的，我们太依赖……

阿里安娜：各種电子设备……

采访者：对，这些个人电子设备。

阿里安娜：……还有各种科技。我们沉迷于智能手机，我是说，很多人睡觉都离不开他们的智能手机。

采访者：确实是。

阿里安娜：你是不是？

采访者：我不算，这么说吧，我用的是黑莓手机，你知道的，它没那么智能。

阿里安娜：所以说睡觉时你的黑莓手机还是放在床边的？

采访者：是的，没错。

阿里安娜：那么，我真得和你妻子谈谈。

采访者：好吧。

阿里安娜：那样真的很不好，因为……

采访者：她其实并不知道我带着手机睡，所以你该让……当你和她说时……

阿里安娜：我希望她没在看今晚的节目。关键是，如果你半夜醒来去卫生间或干点别的什么，你很有可能会忍不住去查看你的信息、数据之类的……

采访者：确实是。

阿里安娜：结果就是，像我在书里说的，你的睡眠就会很浅，疲劳得不到缓解。所以第二天根本达不到那种生龙活虎，感觉能掌控世界，做任何自己想做的事情的状态。白天能处于这种状态不是比你坐在办公桌前头脑发蒙，你知道，恨不能钻到桌子底下去打个小盹这个样子要好得多吗？

采访者：是的，好吧。但那也有它的好处。

阿里安娜：有吗？

采访者：采访结束后你可以看看我的桌子底下，真的挺舒服的。

同时，这本书里还提到要开心地接受自己本来的样子。这我以前可不知道，你好像一直以来都不太满意你的口音，当然，我认为这是世上最好听的口音。

阿里安娜：是的，我以前挺讨厌自己的口音。我……事实上，直到我遇到亨利·基辛格之后才对我的口音没那么介怀。当时我，我从伦敦搬到纽约，他和我说：“别担心你的口音，在美国的公众生活中，让人完全听不懂的口音能给你带来意想不到的好处。”

采访者：说得太对了。但是你……某人试过要纠正你的口音。

阿里安娜：噢，是的。那个“某人”正是我的前夫，而他居然……在他给我过的最后一个生日，他送了一份冷漠且带有挑衅性的礼物。他……他给我请了个口音教练，还不是随便找一个，是著名的好莱坞口音教练杰西卡·德雷克。她在《阿甘正传》中给汤姆·汉克斯纠正过发音。

采访者：所以实际上你的前夫是觉得：“我认为你有像阿甘一样的口音会更有魅力，我不是不爱你的口音，只是如果我们听起来更‘阿甘一点……”

阿里安娜：如果我们能“阿甘”一点，那就太棒了！