《茁壯生長》：阿里安娜·赫芬頓的成功人生學

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。這不是什么古怪、新潮的加州做派。這些是，你知道的，有實際用處的。知道嗎？這真的能讓你有更高的效率，更加健康，令公司的凈收入增長。但是，相反地，男人以忙到沒時間睡覺為榮，認為這是男子氣概的象征。告訴你，我最近跟一位男士出去吃飯，他炫耀前一晚只睡了四個小時，我心想，當然我并沒說出口，只是心里說道：“你知道嗎？哪怕你多睡一小時，這頓飯都會吃得開心得多。”

采訪者：你還講到了“不插電”的生活的好處，因為我們被牢牢“捆住”了，你知道的，我們太依賴……

阿里安娜：各種電子設備……

采訪者：對，這些個人電子設備。

阿里安娜：……還有各種科技。我們沉迷于智能手機，我是說，很多人睡覺都離不開他們的智能手機。

采訪者：確實是。

阿里安娜：你是不是？

采訪者：我不算，這么說吧，我用的是黑莓手機，你知道的，它沒那么智能。

阿里安娜：所以說睡覺時你的黑莓手機還是放在床邊的？

采訪者：是的，沒錯。

阿里安娜：那么，我真得和你妻子談談。

采訪者：好吧。

阿里安娜：那樣真的很不好，因為……

采訪者：她其實并不知道我帶著手機睡，所以你該讓……當你和她說時……

阿里安娜：我希望她沒在看今晚的節目。關鍵是，如果你半夜醒來去衛生間或干點別的什么，你很有可能會忍不住去查看你的信息、數據之類的……

采訪者：確實是。

阿里安娜：結果就是，像我在書里說的，你的睡眠就會很淺，疲勞得不到緩解。所以第二天根本達不到那種生龍活虎，感覺能掌控世界，做任何自己想做的事情的狀態。白天能處于這種狀態不是比你坐在辦公桌前頭腦發蒙，你知道，恨不能鉆到桌子底下去打個小盹這個樣子要好得多嗎？

采訪者：是的，好吧。但那也有它的好處。

阿里安娜：有嗎？

采訪者：采訪結束后你可以看看我的桌子底下，真的挺舒服的。

同時，這本書里還提到要開心地接受自己本來的樣子。這我以前可不知道，你好像一直以來都不太滿意你的口音，當然，我認為這是世上最好聽的口音。

阿里安娜：是的，我以前挺討厭自己的口音。我……事實上，直到我遇到亨利·基辛格之后才對我的口音沒那么介懷。當時我，我從倫敦搬到紐約，他和我說：“別擔心你的口音，在美國的公眾生活中，讓人完全聽不懂的口音能給你帶來意想不到的好處。”

采訪者：說得太對了。但是你……某人試過要糾正你的口音。

阿里安娜：噢，是的。那個“某人”正是我的前夫，而他居然……在他給我過的最后一個生日，他送了一份冷漠且帶有挑釁性的禮物。他……他給我請了個口音教練，還不是隨便找一個，是著名的好萊塢口音教練杰西卡·德雷克。她在《阿甘正傳》中給湯姆·漢克斯糾正過發音。

采訪者：所以實際上你的前夫是覺得：“我認為你有像阿甘一樣的口音會更有魅力，我不是不愛你的口音，只是如果我們聽起來更‘阿甘一點……”

阿里安娜：如果我們能“阿甘”一點，那就太棒了！