《茁壯生長》：阿里安娜·赫芬頓的成功人生學

Interviewer： This book is…you’re 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 1）burn-out. I hit my head on my desk， broke my cheek bone， got four 2）stitches in my right eye， and I 3）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 that’s what got me thinking about how burn-out and exhaustion and sleep 4）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 we’re trying to sort of compete and participate and get to the top， and I’m saying “Hell not！”. You know， we don’t want to get to the top of the world the way it is. We want to change the world， right girls？

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

Arianna： Yes.

Interviewer： That’s 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 night’s 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 5）bottom line of companies， and， but， again， men have worn sleep deprivation like some kind of badge of honour. It’s like a 6）virility symbol. You know， I had dinner with a guy recently， and he 7）bragged that he had only gotten four hours’ sleep the night before， and I thought to myself—I didn’t 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 we’re sort of 8）tethered to our…our， you know， …

Arianna： Devices， …

Interviewer： …personal devices， yeah.

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

Interviewer： Um hm.

Arianna： Do you？

Interviewer： I don’t. Well， I have a Blackberry， so it’s 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： That’s， that’s not good， because…

Interviewer： She doesn’t know about us， so you should let…when you…when you talk to her…

Arianna： I hope she’s 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， you’re 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. Isn’t 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. It’s 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 haven’t always been in love with your accent， which is， I think， the greatest accent on God’s green earth.

Arianna： No， I…I absolutely hated my accent. I…in fact I didn’t 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， “Don’t worry about your accent.” He said， “In American public life you can never 9）overestimate the advantages of complete and total incomprehensibility.”

Interviewer： It’s 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， who’s a famous Hollywood dialect coach. She coached Tom Hanks in Forrest Gump， for example.

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

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

采訪者：這本書是……在這本書里你主要談到的是人的狀態，以及我們如何對自己的安康負責任。是什么促使你寫這本書的呢？

阿里安娜·赫芬頓：嗯，是這樣的，2007年4月的一天，我因為過度勞累，精疲力竭而突然昏倒了，腦袋撞上了辦公桌，顴骨骨折，右眼處縫了四針。當時我躺在辦公室的地板上，從一灘血中醒來，想著“這就是成功者的生活？”因為，你看，我們都認為成功就是有錢和權勢，而從世人對成功的一貫定義或者任何對這個詞正常的解釋來說，我一點都不成功。由此我開始思考，耗盡精力、過度勞累和睡眠不足是怎樣充斥著整個工作環境的，你們這些人就是始作俑者。

采訪者：我們？

阿里安娜：不是指你個人……采訪者：好吧。

阿里安娜：……你們男人……采訪者：噢，我懂了。

阿里安娜：……因為你們……你懂的。

采訪者：是的。

阿里安娜：因為從某種意義上是你們……定義了世界的樣子……

采訪者：是的。阿里安娜：……而我們女人試圖和你們競爭，參與進來并打敗你們，但我認為“當然不是！”我們不想贏得世界，我們想改變世界，女士們，你們說對嗎？

采訪者：我想這應該是頭一遭有人對我說“你們這些人”，并且特指的是男人。

阿里安娜：是的。

采訪者：所以我才會……我有點像是……阿里安娜：覺得驚喜！

采訪者：……覺得是脫口秀主持？諧星？你的書里提到的兩件事讓我覺得非常有趣也非常對。一是睡眠的價值……

阿里安娜：是的。

采訪者：……就是晚上要有好的睡眠，因為，你能……看起來沒多少人能做得到。

阿里安娜：是的，你知道，我用了55頁的篇幅，包括注解，來講關于睡眠、慢活、冥想背后的意義。