ABOUT THE SPEAKER

Elizabeth Gilbert - Writer
The author of 'Eat, Pray, Love,' Elizabeth Gilbert has thought long and hard about some big topics. Her fascinations: genius, creativity and how we get in our own way when it comes to both.

Why you should listen

Elizabeth Gilbert faced down a premidlife crisis by doing what we all secretly dream of -- running off for a year. Her travels through Italy, India and Indonesia resulted in the megabestselling and deeply beloved memoir Eat, Pray, Love, about her process of finding herself by leaving home.

She's a longtime magazine writer -- covering music and politics for Spin and GQ -- as well as a novelist and short-story writer. Her books include the story collection Pilgrims, the novel Stern Men (about lobster fishermen in Maine) and a biography of the woodsman Eustace Conway, called The Last American Man. Her work has been the basis for two movies so far (Coyote Ugly, based on her own tale of working at the famously raunchy bar in New York City), and Eat, Pray, Love, with the part of Gilbert played by Julia Roberts. Not bad for a year off.

In 2010, Elizabeth published Committed, a memoir exploring her ambivalent feelings about the institution of marriage. And her 2013 novel, The Signature of All Things, is "a sprawling tale of 19th century botanical exploration."

Gilbert also owns and runs the import shop Two Buttons in Frenchtown, New Jersey.

More profile about the speaker
Elizabeth Gilbert | Speaker | TED.com

TED2014

Elizabeth Gilbert: Success, failure and the drive to keep creating

伊丽莎白·吉尔伯特: 成功、失败与创造的动力

Filmed: 2014-03-19

Readability: 3.8

5,069,463 views

伊丽莎白·吉尔伯特曾经是一位“发表不了作品的餐馆服务生”，曾因拒绝信而绝望。然而，《美食、祈祷和恋爱》成功的唤醒了她，她发现她非常认同原来的自己。通过她独特的见解，吉尔伯特揭示了为什么成功会像失败一样让人迷失方向，同时也提供了一个简单，但实施起来又比较困难的方法来让生活继续，无论结果如何。

Elizabeth Gilbert - Writer
The author of 'Eat, Pray, Love,' Elizabeth Gilbert has thought long and hard about some big topics. Her fascinations: genius, creativity and how we get in our own way when it comes to both. Full bio

Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.

00:12

So, a few少数 years年份 ago前 I was at JFKJFK Airport飞机场

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几年前, 在肯尼迪机场,

00:15

about to get on a flight飞行,

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我正在赶飞机,

00:17

when I was approached接近 by two women妇女

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两名女士从后面追上我,

00:19

who I do not think would be insulted受辱

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我想她们大概不会介意

00:21

to hear听 themselves他们自己 described描述

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我把她们描述为

00:22

as tiny小 old旧 tough-talking强硬的谈话 Italian-American意大利 - 美国 broads湖区.

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身材矮小, 言语粗陋的
美籍意大利老大妈。

00:26

The taller高 one, who is like up here,

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个子高的那个, 大概这么高,

00:29

she comes来 marching行军 up to me, and she goes去,

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她追上我, 然后问道,

00:31

"Honey蜜糖, I gotta总得 ask问 you something.

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"亲爱的, 我想问你个事儿.

00:33

You got something to do with that whole整个

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你是不是跟最近上映的那个什么

00:35

'Eat吃, Pray祈祷, Love'爱' thing that's been going on lately最近?"

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《美食、祈祷和恋爱》有啥关系?"
(译注:又名《一辈子做女孩》)

00:38

And I said, "Yes, I did."

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我说, "是的。"

00:40

And she smacks嫌 her friend朋友 and she goes去,

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然后她拍了一下她的朋友, 说道,

00:42

"See, I told you, I said, that's that girl女孩.

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"对吧, 我就说嘛, 就是她。

00:44

That's that girl女孩 who wrote写 that book书

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那个根据电影的故事情节

00:46

based基于 on that movie电影."

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写了本儿书的姑娘。"

00:48

(Laughter笑声)

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(笑声)

00:50

So that's who I am.

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这就是我。

00:52

And believe me, I'm extremely非常
grateful感激 to be that person人,

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相信我, 我还是非常感激那个人,

00:56

because that whole整个 "Eat吃, Pray祈祷, Love" thing

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因为有关《美食、祈祷和恋爱》的一切

00:58

was a huge巨大 break打破 for me.

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对我而言都是一个巨大的突破.

01:00

But it also也 left me in a really tricky狡猾 position位置

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但是同时也把我推向了
一个尴尬的境地。

01:02

moving移动 forward前锋 as an author作者

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作为一名作家,

01:04

trying试 to figure数字 out how in the world世界

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我需要继续写作,

01:06

I was ever going to write写 a book书 again

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但我无法确定我写的
下一本书能否得到

01:07

that would ever please anybody任何人,

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读者的青睐,

01:09

because I knew知道 well in advance提前

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因为我非常的清楚,

01:11

that all of those people who
had adored崇拜 "Eat吃, Pray祈祷, Love"

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无论我下一本书的内容是什么,

01:14

were going to be incredibly令人难以置信 disappointed失望

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那些热爱《美食、祈祷和恋爱》的读者们

01:15

in whatever随你 I wrote写 next下一个

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都会无比失望,

01:17

because it wasn't不 going to be "Eat吃, Pray祈祷, Love,"

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因为下一本书一定不会再是
《美食、祈祷和恋爱》,

01:19

and all of those people who
had hated恨 "Eat吃, Pray祈祷, Love"

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而那些厌恶《美食、祈祷和恋爱》的读者们

01:21

were going to be incredibly令人难以置信 disappointed失望

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也都会无比失望,

01:22

in whatever随你 I wrote写 next下一个

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无论我的下一本书写的是什么,

01:24

because it would provide提供 evidence证据 that I still lived生活.

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因为他们会失望的发现我还活得好好的。

01:26

So I knew知道 that I had no way to win赢得,

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所以, 我知道怎么做都无法两全其美。

01:30

and knowing会心 that I had no way to win赢得

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当我刚开始意识到这一点的时候

01:32

made制作 me seriously认真地 consider考虑 for a while

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我很认真的考虑过

01:34

just quitting戒烟 the game游戏

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要不要就此封笔,

01:35

and moving移动 to the country国家 to raise提高 corgis威尔士矮脚狗.

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搬到乡下养养小狗退休算了。

01:39

But if I had doneDONE that, if I had given特定 up writing写作,

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但是如果我真的这么做了, 真的放弃了,

01:41

I would have lost丢失 my beloved心爱 vocation职业,

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我将会失去所热爱的职业生涯,

01:43

so I knew知道 that the task任务 was that I had to find

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所以我很清楚应该做什么，

01:45

some way to gin杜松子酒 up the inspiration灵感

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就是要想办法重新激起斗志,

01:48

to write写 the next下一个 book书

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继续写新书,

01:49

regardless而不管 of its inevitable必然 negative负 outcome结果.

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不去在意会收到怎样的负面评价。

01:52

In other words话, I had to find a way to make sure

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换句话说, 我需要努力的找到一条出路,

01:53

that my creativity创造力 survived幸存 its own拥有 success成功.

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确保我在成功之后依旧保持创造力。

01:56

And I did, in the end结束, find that inspiration灵感,

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最终, 我做到了, 我找到了动力,

01:58

but I found发现 it in the most最 unlikely不会

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只不过是在比较意外的、

02:00

and unexpected意外 place地点.

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不太可能的场合.

02:01

I found发现 it in lessons教训 that I had learned学到了 earlier前 in life

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这其实是源于我早年

02:04

about how creativity创造力 can survive生存 its own拥有 failure失败.

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失败时如何保持创造力的经验.

02:08

So just to back up and explain说明,

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让我稍微重复一下,

02:09

the only thing I have ever wanted to be

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成为作家是我这辈子唯一希望能够

02:11

for my whole整个 life was a writer作家.

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从事的职业。

02:13

I wrote写 all through通过 childhood童年,
all through通过 adolescence青春期,

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我从孩童时期就开始不停的写,
青少年时期也坚持着,

02:15

by the time I was a teenager青少年 I was sending发出

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当我只有十几岁的时候, 就已经

02:17

my very bad坏 stories故事 to The New新 Yorker纽约客,

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把写的不怎么样的故事
寄给了给《纽约客》,

02:19

hoping希望 to be discovered发现.

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希望能够被编辑发现。

02:20

After college学院, I got a job工作 as a diner餐车 waitress小姐,

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大学后我找了一份餐厅服务员的工作,

02:23

kept不停 working加工, kept不停 writing写作,

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继续工作, 继续写作,

02:25

kept不停 trying试 really hard硬 to get published发表,

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继续努力的让自己的作品出版,

02:27

and failing失败 at it.

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却连续的遭遇了失败。

02:29

I failed失败 at getting得到 published发表

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大概有六年的时间, 一直不断的

02:30

for almost几乎 six六 years年份.

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被出版社拒绝。

02:32

So for almost几乎 six六 years年份, every一切 single单 day,

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在那六年的时间里的每一天,

02:34

I had nothing but rejection拒绝 letters信

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除了邮箱里收不完的拒信,

02:35

waiting等候 for me in my mailbox邮箱.

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我一无所有。

02:37

And it was devastating破坏性的 every一切 single单 time,

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每一个这样的时刻都非常难熬,

02:39

and every一切 single单 time, I had to ask问 myself我

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每一次我都不由得问自己,

02:41

if I should just quit放弃 while I was behind背后

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是不是应该放弃,

02:43

and give up and spare备用 myself我 this pain疼痛.

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不要再这么痛苦下去了。

02:47

But then I would find my resolve解决,

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但是我又总是立刻就找回了斗志,

02:48

and always in the same相同 way,

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每次都是如此,

02:50

by saying话, "I'm not going to quit放弃,

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对自己说, "我不会放弃,

02:52

I'm going home."

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我要回家."

02:54

And you have to understand理解 that for me,

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这里你们需要明白一点,

02:55

going home did not mean
returning回国 to my family's家庭的 farm农场.

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"回家"并不是指回到我的家族农场。

02:58

For me, going home

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对我而言,

03:00

meant意味着 returning回国 to the work of writing写作

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"回家"就是回去继续写作的意思,

03:01

because writing写作 was my home,

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因为写作就是我的家,

03:03

because I loved喜爱 writing写作 more
than I hated恨 failing失败 at writing写作,

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因为对写作的热爱,
远大于被拒绝带给我的伤痛,

03:06

which哪一个 is to say that I loved喜爱 writing写作

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或者说我对写作的热爱

03:08

more than I loved喜爱 my own拥有 ego自我,

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胜过我对自我(ego)的爱,

03:09

which哪一个 is ultimately最终 to say

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更直接的说,

03:11

that I loved喜爱 writing写作 more than I loved喜爱 myself我.

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我爱写作胜过爱我自己。

03:13

And that's how I pushed推 through通过 it.

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我就是这么挺过来的。

03:15

But the weird奇怪的 thing is that 20 years年份 later后来,

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不过奇怪的是, 20年之后,

03:17

during中 the crazy疯 ride骑 of "Eat吃, Pray祈祷, Love,"

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当《美食、祈祷和恋爱》
带给我巨大成功的时候,

03:19

I found发现 myself我 identifying识别 all over again

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我发现自己又回到了从前的状态,

03:21

with that unpublished未公布 young年轻 diner餐车 waitress小姐

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那个无书可出的年轻服务员的状态,

03:24

who I used to be, thinking思维 about her constantly经常,

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我无时不刻不回想着过去的我,

03:26

and feeling感觉 like I was her again,

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觉得我又变成了当初的自己,

03:28

which哪一个 made制作 no rational合理的 sense感 whatsoever任何

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这听上去不太合理,

03:30

because our lives生活 could not
have been more different不同.

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毕竟过去和现在的我生活状态
已经大不一样了。

03:32

She had failed失败 constantly经常.

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她一直遭遇失败.

03:33

I had succeeded成功 beyond外 my wildest最疯狂 expectation期望.

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而我获得了始料未及的成功。

03:36

We had nothing in common共同.

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我们没有任何相似之处.

03:37

Why did I suddenly突然 feel like I was her all over again?

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那么为什么我突然觉得自己很像她,
很像过去的自己?

03:40

And it was only when I was trying试 to unthread抽去线 that

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直到我尝试一点一点的解开谜团,

03:43

that I finally最后 began开始 to comprehend理解

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我终于开始意识到,

03:44

the strange奇怪 and unlikely不会 psychological心理 connection连接

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使现在和过去的我产生这种
奇怪的"心理联接"的原因,

03:47

in our lives生活 between之间 the way
we experience经验 great failure失败

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在于我们在面临巨大失败

03:49

and the way we experience经验 great success成功.

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以及巨大成功时的应对方式。

03:51

So think of it like this:

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想象一下:

03:53

For most最 of your life, you live生活 out your existence存在

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在你生命中绝大多数时间,
你的生活状态

03:55

here in the middle中间 of the chain链 of human人的 experience经验

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只是人类生活经历中的一个片段,

03:57

where everything is normal正常
and reassuring令人欣慰 and regular定期,

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普通, 安稳而又平常,

04:00

but failure失败 catapults弹射器 you abruptly突然 way out over here

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而失败就相当于突然把你从这种状态中

04:04

into the blinding致盲 darkness黑暗 of disappointment失望.

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猛的推向了无尽黑暗和失望的深渊。

04:06

Success成功 catapults弹射器 you just as abruptly突然 but just as far远

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成功也会如此突如其来的改变你,

04:10

way out over here

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不同的是,

04:11

into the equally一样 blinding致盲 glare强光

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成功会给你带来

04:13

of fame名誉 and recognition承认 and praise赞美.

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极高的认可、赞扬和威望。

04:16

And one of these fates命运

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这两种不同的命运,

04:17

is objectively客观地 seen看到 by the world世界 as bad坏,

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一种被这个世界视为是坏的,

04:20

and the other one is objectively客观地
seen看到 by the world世界 as good,

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另一种被这个世界认为是好的,

04:22

but your subconscious潜意识 is completely全然 incapable无法

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但是你的潜意识

04:24

of discerning挑剔的 the difference区别 between之间 bad坏 and good.

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完全无法区分这种好坏的差别。

04:27

The only thing that it is capable能 of feeling感觉

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你唯一能够感知的

04:29

is the absolute绝对 value值 of this emotional情绪化 equation方程,

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是在情绪上体验到的绝对值,

04:33

the exact精确 distance距离 that you have been flung甩到

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是你在情绪上偏离常态的自己的

04:35

from yourself你自己.

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绝对值。

04:37

And there's a real真实 equal等于 danger危险 in both都 cases例

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而且(成功和失败)两种情形下都会面临

04:39

of getting得到 lost丢失 out there

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同样的危机,

04:40

in the hinterlands辛特兰 of the psyche精神.

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你可能迷失在心灵的孤岛中。

04:42

But in both都 cases例, it turns圈 out that there is

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而这两种不同的境遇,

04:44

also也 the same相同 remedy补救 for self-restoration自我修复,

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又有着相同的自我修复的方法，

04:47

and that is that you have got to
find your way back home again

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就是你要尽可能快的, 顺利的

04:50

as swiftly如飞 and smoothly顺利 as you can,

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找到回家的路.

04:52

and if you're wondering想知道 what your home is,

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如果你不知道自己"家"指的是哪里,

04:54

here's这里的 a hint暗示:

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有个技巧:

04:55

Your home is whatever随你 in this world世界 you love

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你的"家"就是你在这个世界上任何一个

04:57

more than you love yourself你自己.

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爱它胜过爱自己的东西。

04:59

So that might威力 be creativity创造力, it might威力 be family家庭,

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可能是你的灵感和创意, 可能是家庭,

05:01

it might威力 be invention发明, adventure冒险,

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可以是投资, 冒险,

05:03

faith信仰, service服务, it might威力 be raising提高 corgis威尔士矮脚狗,

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信仰, 服务, 可以是养小狗,

05:06

I don't know, your home is that thing

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总之, 你的"家"就是这样一个东西,

05:08

to which哪一个 you can dedicate奉献 your energies能量

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你会愿意将全部精力

05:10

with such这样 singular单数 devotion忠诚

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投入其中,

05:12

that the ultimate最终 results结果 become成为 inconsequential无关紧要.

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而最终的结果并不是最重要的。

05:15

For me, that home has always been writing写作.

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对我来说, 这个"家"就是写作。

05:18

So after the weird奇怪的, disorienting迷失方向 success成功

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所以在我出版《美食、祈祷和恋爱》之后

05:20

that I went去 through通过 with "Eat吃, Pray祈祷, Love,"

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经历这种奇特的、令人迷失的成功之后,

05:22

I realized实现 that all I had to do was exactly究竟

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我意识到我需要做的事情

05:23

the same相同 thing that I used to have to do all the time

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跟过去的我在经历同样令人迷失的失败时

05:25

when I was an equally一样 disoriented迷失方向 failure失败.

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要做的事一样。

05:27

I had to get my ass屁股 back to work,

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我需要回"家"写作,

05:29

and that's what I did, and that's how, in 2010,

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我真的这么做了, 并且在2010年,

05:32

I was able能够 to publish发布 the dreaded可怕的 follow-up跟进

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我终于在《美食、祈祷和恋爱》之后,

05:34

to "Eat吃, Pray祈祷, Love."

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出版了新书。

05:35

And you know what happened发生 with that book书?

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你们知道出版之后的反响么?

05:37

It bombed轰炸, and I was fine.

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恶评如潮, 但是我感觉还不错.

05:39

Actually其实, I kind类 of felt毡 bulletproof防弹,

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事实上, 我觉得自己已经有免疫力了,

05:41

because I knew知道 that I had broken破碎 the spell拼写

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因为我知道我需要打破这魔咒

05:43

and I had found发现 my way back home

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而且我找到了回"家"的路,

05:45

to writing写作 for the sheer绝对 devotion忠诚 of it.

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为了这种绝对而纯粹的热爱去写作。

05:48

And I stayed住 in my home of writing写作 after that,

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出版之后我继续在"家"中创作,

05:50

and I wrote写 another另一个 book书 that just came来了 out last year年

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又写了另一本书, 去年刚刚出版,

05:51

and that one was really beautifully精美 received收到,

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获得的反馈真的还不错,

05:53

which哪一个 is very nice不错, but not my point点.

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这非常好, 不过不是我的重点。

05:55

My point点 is that I'm writing写作 another另一个 one now,

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我要说的是我现在正在写一本新的书,

05:57

and I'll write写 another另一个 book书 after that

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而且我会在这本书之后继续写下一本,

05:58

and another另一个 and another另一个 and another另一个

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一本接着一本的写。

06:00

and many许多 of them will fail失败,

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很多书的反响都不会太好,

06:01

and some of them might威力 succeed成功,

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其中有几本或许会获得成功,

06:03

but I will always be safe安全

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不过无论出版后反响如何剧烈,

06:04

from the random随机 hurricanes飓风 of outcome结果

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我的内心都会感到平和,

06:07

as long as I never forget忘记 where I rightfully理所当然 live生活.

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只要我还记得我真心热爱的是什么。

06:10

Look, I don't know where you rightfully理所当然 live生活,

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我不知道你们各自真心热爱的是什么,

06:13

but I know that there's something in this world世界

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但是我知道这世上一定有什么东西,
能够让你们

06:14

that you love more than you love yourself你自己.

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爱它们胜过爱自己。

06:16

Something worthy值得, by the way,

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当然, 是有价值的东西,

06:18

so addiction瘾 and infatuation痴情 don't count计数,

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毒瘾和让你过分沉溺的东西不算,

06:20

because we all know that those
are not safe安全 places地方 to live生活. Right?

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因为我们都知道这不是安全的"家", 不是么?

06:24

The only trick招 is that you've got to identify鉴定

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唯一的窍门就是你需要找到最好的,

06:26

the best最好, worthiest最有价值 thing that you love most最,

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从你热爱的事物中找到最有价值的,

06:28

and then build建立 your house屋 right on top最佳 of it

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在这个上面构建自己的"家",

06:31

and don't budge让步 from it.

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并且一直守护它。

06:33

And if you should someday日后, somehow不知何故

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或许会有一天, 不知道什么时候

06:35

get vaulted拱形的 out of your home

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你会被迫离开自己的"家",

06:37

by either或 great failure失败 or great success成功,

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带着是巨大的成功或者失败,

06:39

then your job工作 is to fight斗争 your
way back to that home

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那时你需要做的,
就是尽你最大的努力回"家"

06:42

the only way that it has ever been doneDONE,

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而回"家"的唯一方式,

06:43

by putting把 your head头 down and performing执行

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是沉下心来, 投入你的精力,

06:46

with diligence勤勉 and devotion忠诚

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勤奋, 毅力,

06:47

and respect尊重 and reverence尊敬

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尊重和敬畏,

06:49

whatever随你 the task任务 is that love

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无论你专注做的是什么事情

06:51

is calling调用 forth向前 from you next下一个.

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只要你遵循心中对这个事情的热爱。

06:53

You just do that, and keep doing that

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你只需要坚持, 埋头苦干,

06:55

again and again and again,

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坚持不懈的做下去,

06:57

and I can absolutely绝对 promise诺言 you,
from long personal个人 experience经验

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我可以向你保证,
依据我个人长期的经验,

07:00

in every一切 direction方向, I can assure保证 you

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无论从哪个角度来来说,
我都可以向你保证,

07:02

that it's all going to be okay.

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一切都会好起来的。

07:04

Thank you.

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谢谢大家。

(掌声)

07:06

(Applause掌声)

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Translated by Emma Zhao

ABOUT THE SPEAKER

Elizabeth Gilbert - Writer
The author of 'Eat, Pray, Love,' Elizabeth Gilbert has thought long and hard about some big topics. Her fascinations: genius, creativity and how we get in our own way when it comes to both.

Why you should listen

Elizabeth Gilbert faced down a premidlife crisis by doing what we all secretly dream of -- running off for a year. Her travels through Italy, India and Indonesia resulted in the megabestselling and deeply beloved memoir Eat, Pray, Love, about her process of finding herself by leaving home.

She's a longtime magazine writer -- covering music and politics for Spin and GQ -- as well as a novelist and short-story writer. Her books include the story collection Pilgrims, the novel Stern Men (about lobster fishermen in Maine) and a biography of the woodsman Eustace Conway, called The Last American Man. Her work has been the basis for two movies so far (Coyote Ugly, based on her own tale of working at the famously raunchy bar in New York City), and Eat, Pray, Love, with the part of Gilbert played by Julia Roberts. Not bad for a year off.

In 2010, Elizabeth published Committed, a memoir exploring her ambivalent feelings about the institution of marriage. And her 2013 novel, The Signature of All Things, is "a sprawling tale of 19th century botanical exploration."

Gilbert also owns and runs the import shop Two Buttons in Frenchtown, New Jersey.

More profile about the speaker
Elizabeth Gilbert | Speaker | TED.com

THE ORIGINAL VIDEO ON TED.COM

伊丽莎白·吉尔伯特: 成功、失败与创造的动力 | TED Talk | TED.com