about to get on a flight,

準備搭飛機時

when I was approached by two women

兩位女士朝我走來

who I do not think would be insulted

我不認為她們被描述成年老矮小

to hear themselves described

且言詞強硬的義裔美國女人

as tiny old tough-talking Italian-American broads.

會有被羞辱的感覺

The taller one, who is like up here,

比較高的一位，大概這麼高

she comes marching up to me, and she goes,

她走向我，然後說

"Honey, I gotta ask you something.

「親愛的，我得問你一件事」

You got something to do with that whole

「你是那位最近出版…」

'Eat, Pray, Love' thing that's been going on lately?"

「享受吧！一個人的旅行」的人嗎？

And I said, "Yes, I did."

我說：「是的，我是」

And she smacks her friend and she goes,

她咂嘴跟朋友說

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

「你看吧，我就說是那個女生」

That's that girl who wrote that book

「她就是那個以電影為基礎…」

based on that movie."

「出書的女生」

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

So that's who I am.

那就是我的形象

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

相信我，我很感謝能成為那樣的人

because that whole "Eat, Pray, Love" thing

因為整個「享受吧！一個人的旅行」

was a huge break for me.

對我來說非常幸運

But it also left me in a really tricky position

但它也讓我陷入兩難

moving forward as an author

身為一位作家

trying to figure out how in the world

我試圖了解自己

I was ever going to write a book again

到底該如何再寫一本新書

that would ever please anybody,

能讓大家滿意

because I knew well in advance

因為我已經先知道

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

喜歡「享受吧！一個人的旅行」的所有人

were going to be incredibly disappointed

都將會非常失望

in whatever I wrote next

不管我接下來寫什麼

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

都不會是「享受吧！一個人的旅行」這本書了

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

而討厭「享受吧！一個人的旅行」的所有人

were going to be incredibly disappointed

都將會非常失望

in whatever I wrote next

不管我接下來寫什麼

because it would provide evidence that I still lived.

都證明我還活著

So I knew that I had no way to win,

所以我知道怎麼做都不對

and knowing that I had no way to win

而知道這個事實

made me seriously consider for a while

讓我認真地想了一下

just quitting the game

乾脆不玩了

and moving to the country to raise corgis.

去鄉下養狗

But if I had done that, if I had given up writing,

但如果我這麼做了，真的放棄寫作

I would have lost my beloved vocation,

我當時就會失去我最愛的職業

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

所以我知道我的任務是要找出

some way to gin up the inspiration

某種方法，讓我得到靈感

to write the next book

繼續寫下一本書

regardless of its inevitable negative outcome.

而不去在乎必然會有的負面結果

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

換句話說，我必須找到方法確保

that my creativity survived its own success.

我的創造力在成功之後還是存在

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

我做到了，最後找到了靈感

but I found it in the most unlikely

但我是在最不可能

and unexpected place.

最出乎意料的地方，找到靈感的

I found it in lessons that I had learned earlier in life

那是我早年的人生就學到的一課

about how creativity can survive its own failure.

也就是創造力戰勝失敗

So just to back up and explain,

讓時光回到過去，解釋一下

the only thing I have ever wanted to be

我這輩子唯一想做的事

for my whole life was a writer.

為什麼是當一位作家

I wrote all through childhood, all through adolescence,

我整個童年和青春期都在寫作

by the time I was a teenager I was sending

一直到青少年時，我寄了

my very bad stories to The New Yorker,

我寫的一些爛故事到「紐約客」

hoping to be discovered.

希望能被發掘

After college, I got a job as a diner waitress,

大學畢業後，我當起餐廳服務生

kept working, kept writing,

不斷工作並持續寫作

kept trying really hard to get published,

繼續非常努力地讓自己的書出版

and failing at it.

然後繼續失敗

I failed at getting published

連續六年

for almost six years.

都沒有書出版

So for almost six years, every single day,

所以六年來的每一天

I had nothing but rejection letters

我只有拒絕信

waiting for me in my mailbox.

在信箱裡等著我

And it was devastating every single time,

每次都讓我很受傷

and every single time, I had to ask myself

每次我都問自己

if I should just quit while I was behind

是不是該趁早收手

and give up and spare myself this pain.

放棄寫作，不再讓自己感到痛苦

But then I would find my resolve,

但是我找回了決心

and always in the same way,

每次都是用一樣的方法

by saying, "I'm not going to quit,

我說：「我不會放棄」

I'm going home."

「我要回家」

And you have to understand that for me,

你們必須了解，對我來說

going home did not mean returning to my family's farm.

回家不是回到家裡的農田

For me, going home

對我來說，回家

meant returning to the work of writing

代表回到寫作這份工作

because writing was my home,

因為寫作就是我的家

because I loved writing more than I hated failing at writing,

因為我熱愛寫作勝過痛恨寫作失敗

which is to say that I loved writing

也就是說，我熱愛寫作

more than I loved my own ego,

勝過於我的自尊心

which is ultimately to say

而最後的結論是

that I loved writing more than I loved myself.

我愛寫作勝過於愛自己

And that's how I pushed through it.

這就是我撐下去的方法

But the weird thing is that 20 years later,

但奇怪的是20年後

during the crazy ride of "Eat, Pray, Love,"

在「享受吧！一個人的旅行」瘋狂之旅中

I found myself identifying all over again

我發現自己又出現相同的感覺

with that unpublished young diner waitress

我好像變回當年那個年輕的服務生

who I used to be, thinking about her constantly,

無法發表任何作品，我一直想著她

and feeling like I was her again,

覺得自己好像又變回當年的她

which made no rational sense whatsoever

這不合邏輯

because our lives could not have been more different.

因為我們的生活是如此與眾不同

She had failed constantly.

她不斷失敗

I had succeeded beyond my wildest expectation.

而我的成功已經超乎自己的想像

We had nothing in common.

我們兩人完全不同

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

為什麼我會突然又覺得自己像她呢？

And it was only when I was trying to unthread that

我試圖抽絲剝繭時

that I finally began to comprehend

才終於開始了解

the strange and unlikely psychological connection

我們生活中經歷慘敗的過程

in our lives between the way we experience great failure

和我們經歷成功的過程

and the way we experience great success.

之間有著奇特且不太可能產生的心理連結

So think of it like this:

所以想想看

For most of your life, you live out your existence

你們大部分的人生，都盡量活出自我

here in the middle of the chain of human experience

在人類生活經驗的一環中

where everything is normal and reassuring and regular,

一切都是那麼正常、安心和規律

but failure catapults you abruptly way out over here

但失敗突然來襲，讓你脫軌

into the blinding darkness of disappointment.

將你投入因失望而看不清的黑暗世界

Success catapults you just as abruptly but just as far

成功也來的一樣突然

way out over here

讓你脫軌

into the equally blinding glare

將你投入因知名度和讚美聲

of fame and recognition and praise.

而看不清的耀眼世界

And one of these fates

這當中的一種結果

is objectively seen by the world as bad,

被世人客觀地認為是負面的

and the other one is objectively seen by the world as good,

另一種結果則是被世人客觀地認為是正面的

but your subconscious is completely incapable

但你的潛意識完全無法

of discerning the difference between bad and good.

辨識這當中的好壞

The only thing that it is capable of feeling

唯一能感覺到的

is the absolute value of this emotional equation,

是情緒上對等的價值

the exact distance that you have been flung

也就是兩者與自己

from yourself.

所產生的距離

And there's a real equal danger in both cases

而且兩種精神上

of getting lost out there

迷失的情況

in the hinterlands of the psyche.

都很危險

But in both cases, it turns out that there is

但兩種情況到最後

also the same remedy for self-restoration,

也都能用相同的治療方法自我修復

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

也就是必須盡快順利地

as swiftly and smoothly as you can,

再次找到你回家的路

and if you're wondering what your home is,

如果不確定自己的家在哪裡

here's a hint:

我給大家一個提示

Your home is whatever in this world you love

你的家就在這世界上

more than you love yourself.

你所愛勝過自己的地方

So that might be creativity, it might be family,

所以那可能是創造力；可能是家庭

it might be invention, adventure,

可能是創新、冒險

faith, service, it might be raising corgis,

信仰、服務，也可能是養狗

I don't know, your home is that thing

我不知道，你的家

to which you can dedicate your energies

是你能投入精力

with such singular devotion

非常努力付出

that the ultimate results become inconsequential.

以至於最後結果也不重要的事物

For me, that home has always been writing.

對我來說，那個家一直都是寫作

So after the weird, disorienting success

所以在經歷「享受吧！一個人的旅行」

that I went through with "Eat, Pray, Love,"

不可思議且令人迷惘的成功後

I realized that all I had to do was exactly

我發現我必須做的

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

就和我過去經歷令人迷惘的失敗時

when I was an equally disoriented failure.

一直必須做的一樣

I had to get my ass back to work,

我必須回到工作上

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

我就是這麼做的，也因此讓我在2010年

I was able to publish the dreaded follow-up

能夠在「享受吧！一個人的旅行」之後出版

to "Eat, Pray, Love."

下一部糟糕的作品

And you know what happened with that book?

你們知道那本書怎麼樣了嗎？

It bombed, and I was fine.

完全慘敗，但我沒事

Actually, I kind of felt bulletproof,

事實上，我覺得自己免疫了

because I knew that I had broken the spell

因為我知道自己破除了魔咒

and I had found my way back home

而且找到了回家的路

to writing for the sheer devotion of it.

讓我能全心投入寫作

And I stayed in my home of writing after that,

在那之後我待在家繼續寫作

and I wrote another book that just came out last year

寫了去年出版的一本書

and that one was really beautifully received,

那一本頗受好評

which is very nice, but not my point.

這樣當然很好，但那不是重點

My point is that I'm writing another one now,

我的重點是我現在又在寫另一本書了

and I'll write another book after that

之後我會再寫下一本

and another and another and another

然後繼續不斷地寫

and many of them will fail,

其中會有很多本失敗

and some of them might succeed,

有一些可能會獲得成功

but I will always be safe

但在結果隨機帶來的颶風中

from the random hurricanes of outcome

我永遠都很安全

as long as I never forget where I rightfully live.

只要我記得自己好好地住在哪裡

Look, I don't know where you rightfully live,

各位，我不知道你們住在哪裡

but I know that there's something in this world

但我知道世界上一定有什麼

that you love more than you love yourself.

是你愛它勝過於愛自己的

Something worthy, by the way,

順便提一下，那要是值得的事

so addiction and infatuation don't count,

所以上癮、迷戀都不算

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

因為我們都知道那些地方住起來不安全，對吧？

The only trick is that you've got to identify

唯一棘手的是，你必須確定

the best, worthiest thing that you love most,

你最愛的、最好、最值得的事是什麼

and then build your house right on top of it

然後在那裡建房子

and don't budge from it.

永不離開

And if you should someday, somehow

假如有一天不知怎麼的

get vaulted out of your home

因為經歷慘敗或巨大的成功

by either great failure or great success,

遠離了你的家

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

那你的工作就是努力回到那個家

the only way that it has ever been done,

而唯一可行的辦法是

by putting your head down and performing

埋頭苦幹

with diligence and devotion

勤奮地投入

and respect and reverence

表現出重視且敬愛的態度

whatever the task is that love

不管是什麼任務

is calling forth from you next.

你都能找回你所熱愛的事物

You just do that, and keep doing that

你就這麼做，持續做下去

again and again and again,

一次又一次

and I can absolutely promise you, from long personal experience

我完全可以向你保證，依我個人的經驗

in every direction, I can assure you

不管哪個方向，我都可以向你保證

that it's all going to be okay.

一切都會好起來

Thank you.

謝謝大家

(Applause)

（掌聲）