利记官方网站-热血篮球盛宴:精彩对决一触即发

Our Parents Discovered Leisure.利记官网 We Killed It.

  ByStephanie Buck ∷黄湘淇 译注

  在我们的祖辈眼中热血篮球盛宴:精彩对决一触即发,工作与休闲是泾渭分明的两项活动。而今,工作和爱好却出现了彼此难分难解的趋势,甚至有时是相辅相成的,也就是把爱好变成了赚钱的项目——也不知我们是该将其称为爱好,还是第二职业了。

  

  My great aunt loved to press ?owers. She lived in the Northeast corner of California—the part nobody talks about—where the elevation is so high and the climate so dry you’ll get nosebleeds. The ?owers were bright orange Indian paintbrush, delicate lupine, earthy sage. Often she’d hike the mountains that border Nevada, or the stream beds that crust1over in summer, searching for new plant life.

  我的姨奶奶钟爱压干花。她住在加州的东北角——那个无人谈及的角落,海拔高且气候干燥到能让人流鼻血。那里的花儿有亮橙色的火焰草,精致的羽扇豆,还有朴实的鼠尾草。她常常徒步登上与内华达州接壤的山上,或者行至夏日里结成硬块的河床,寻觅新植物物种。

  She was a hobbyist by nature. When not caring for family, she would dry pine needles and weave them into coasters or Christmas ornaments. But she was also a product of her time. In the post-war era, hobbies were what people did in their spare time, after work: basketball, cooking, writing poetry, fixing motorcycles. These were activities people didn’t feel whole without.

  她就是个天生的业余爱好者。在不为家务操心时,她会晒干松针,然后编进杯垫或者圣诞饰品里。但她也是那个时代的产物。在战后时期,爱好是人们在空余时间、下班之后做的事热血篮球盛宴:精彩对决一触即发:打篮球、烹饪、写诗、修机车。这是人们感觉完整生活中不可或缺的活动。

  My great aunt died not long ago, in 2000, but she would have a hard time understanding how my generation uses its spare time. For many of us, the hobby is dead. Our work lives have merged with our free time, and hobbies are now often indistinguishable from second jobs. In a culture obsessed with productivity, the hobby has become the next venture.

  我的姨奶奶在不久前,也就是2000年去世了,否则她会对我这一代人使用空闲时间的方式感到费解。对于我们中的许多人而言,爱好已死。我们的工作生活和我们的空闲时间已融为一体,如今的爱好往往与兼职无异。在一种执迷于生产力的文化中,爱好沦为了又一种投资。

  After the US survived two world wars and the economic fragility they wrought,2the American middle class discovered a new definition of leisure. The leisure industry was born—and welcomed by 60 million people. The American road trip, motels, summer camps, and amusement parks all vied for3travel dollars. People built model planes in their basements and learned to cook fancy foreign food. By 1958, spending on leisure activities amounted to $34 billion per year.

  美国挨过了两次世界大战及其导致的经济脆弱后,美国的中产阶级发现了休闲的新定义。休闲产业应运而生——并受到了六千万人的欢迎。美国的公路旅行、汽车旅馆、夏令营和游乐园都竞相争夺旅游收入。人们在自家地下室搭建航模,或学做花哨的外国菜。到1958年,人们每年在休闲上的花销达到了340亿美元。

  Leisure came to define a person’s identity during this time, in many cases superseding4career identity. Having a hobby was not only accessible, it was a status symbol. “The history of past centuries has been written mainly in terms of the work men did. We may be coming to a time when men’s leisure activities will be at least an equally fruitful feld for inquiry, re?ecting not only the achievements of an age but also its tensions, frustrations, and search for values.”wrote New York Timesbook reviewer Erik Barnouw in 1958.

  这样一来,休闲方式逐渐定义了个人身份,甚至在很多情境下,取代了其在事业上的身份。“过去几个世纪的历史主要记载了人们做哪些工作。如今我们可能来到了一个时代——人们的休闲活动成了至少同样卓有成效的研究领域,这反映的不仅仅是时代的成就,还有时代的不安、挫败和对价值的追寻。《纽约时报》书评撰稿人埃里克·巴尔诺在1958年如是写道。

  1. crust: 盖以硬皮,在……上结硬皮。

  2. fragility: 脆弱; wrought: wreak的过去式,引起,造成(破坏等)。

  3. vie for: 竞争。

  4. supersede: 取代,代替。

  

  Barnouw was wrong, of course. Post-war prosperity petered out5, replaced by civil unrest, oil shortages, and economic uncertainty. By the time of the recession of the late aughts6, traditional jobs simply weren’t available to many young people. And those who did work were discontent. In 2010, only 42.6% of workers were satisfed in their jobs, an all-time low since research began in 1987.

  战后的繁荣逐渐消失,取而代之的是国内动乱、石油短缺及经济的不确定性。到了21世纪初的经济萧条期,许多年轻人根本无法找到传统的工作。而那些在职的人也不甚满意。在2010年,仅有42.6%的员工对自己的工作满意,这个数据是该项研究自1987年来的最低值。

  With fewer reasons to stay in one job, workers began to explore a wider variety of options. For some, these options included turning a hobby into a business. Young people turned to what they loved, what they were good at, with an entrepreneurial mindset angled toward self-employment. It’s why we have so many artisan lollipops and food trucks.

  既然越来越少的理由支持劳动者留在一个岗位上,他们便开始去拓展更广阔的就业选择。对于某些人而言,这其中就包括将爱好变成事业。年轻人们带着自我创业的心态,转而投入他们或倾心或擅长的工作。这就是我们为什么有这么多的手工艺棒棒糖和流动美食车。

  The American economy has fared better in recent years, but the millennial dogma to follow one’s bliss remains.7According to a 2015 poll, older Americans’ primary concern about their first job was earning money or learning skills. By contrast, 57% of millennials prioritized8doing something they found enjoyable and that made a di?erence. Half said they would take a pay cut to find work that matches their values, and would switch jobs as their values changed.

  近年来,美国经济走向复苏,但千禧一代追随幸福的教条始终未变。在2015年的一项投票中,老一辈美国人对自己第一份工作的首要关注点是赚钱或学习技能。与此相反, 57%的千禧一代更在乎从事自己享受的,或者能够有所作为的工作。有一半的人说他们宁愿接受减薪去做符合他们价值观的工作,而当他们的价值观改变时就要换工作。

  Instead of viewing work as the inevitable grind9and hobbies as core to one’s identity, as in the post-war era, today’s professionals strive to equate career with leisure. A Quartzpiece published earlier calls this new phenomenon“the journey of duality.” Phyllis Korkki writes, “The secret to a side hustle for the soul is to believe in the power of incrementalism.10Know that 20minutes here and there add up. We can make it a priority to find time to devote to personally meaningful endeavors11.”

  不再像战后时期将工作视为不可避免的苦差、将爱好视为个人身份的核心,如今的职业工作者致力于将事业与休闲等同起来。前不久,一篇《石英》上的刊文将这一新现象称为“二元性之旅”。菲丽丝·寇奇写道:“人们为心灵所需而成功兼职的秘诀在于要坚信渐进主义的力量。知道从这里或那里挤出的20分钟总会积少成多。我们要优先考虑的是,挤出时间投入到对个人有意义的努力中去。”

  For my great aunt, ?ower collecting was a path to peace outside the home. It was a meditative return to nature, something she could own and be alone with. It was not work. Her ?ower-pressing excursions12were citizen science by happy coincidence.

  对我的姨奶奶而言,采集花朵是家以外寻得宁静之路。像是一种回归自然的冥想,是她能专享并自得其乐的所在。这不是工作。她的压花远足是因机缘际会而成的民间科学。

  Still, I can’t help but imagine her today, perhaps earning a paycheck as she hunted for new plant species, logging1347 hours per week among the dusty hills of Northeast California. Would it taint14the purity of her hobby? Or would it enhance her life?

  然而,我忍不住去想象,如果今日她每周在加州东北部积满尘土的山丘上远足47个小时,寻觅新的植物,并赚到了收入,这会污染了她这项爱好的纯洁性吗?还是会提高她的生活质量?

  Maybe it wouldn’t be the worst thing. Then again, I’m a millennial.

  也许,这并不是件最糟糕的事。毕竟,我属于千禧世代的一员。

热血篮球盛宴:精彩对决一触即发

  5. peter out: 逐渐消失,逐渐减少。

  6. aughts:〈美俚〉指2000至2010这10年。

  7. fare: 进展; millennial: 千禧世代的;dogma: 教条; bliss: 福佑,天赐之福。

  8. prioritize: 优先考虑,重点发展。

  9. grind: 苦工,苦差。

  10. side hustle: 兼职(不同于通常意义上的兼职,而是指在不辞掉现有工作的基础上,为了满足个人兴趣、发掘其他潜能而做的兼职); incrementalism: 递增论,渐进主义。

  11. endeavor: 努力,尽力。

  12. excursion: 远足,出游。

  13. log: 旅行或工作达……之久。

  14. taint: 污染,腐蚀。

以上内容节选自《英语学习》杂志,更多精彩,尽在2017年《英语学习》。

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