10 Ways to Stay Creative in Good Times And Bad
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目录
“I walked myself into my best thoughts.”
—Søren Kierkegaard
Almost every morning, rain or shine, my wife and I load our two sons into a red double stroller and we take a three-mile walk around our neighborhood. It’s often painful, sometimes sublime, but it’s absolutely essential to our day. We talk. We make plans. We rant about politics. We stop to chat with neighbors or admire the suburban wildlife.
Words & phrases
demon
/ ˈdiːmən /n.魔鬼，恶魔；技艺出众的人，高手； 精力充沛的人，热情饱满的人；心魔，邪恶的事物；恶人；坏蛋，淘气鬼The demon meant to give him something.
这个魔鬼打算给他一些东西。
exorcise
/ ˈeksɔːrsaɪz /vt.驱邪；除怪These are both seriously disabling chronic illnesses that are hard to exorcise.
这两种疾病都属于严重的慢性致残疾病，很难治愈。
stroller: n.散步者；流浪者；（美）折叠式婴儿车；巡回演出的演员
I can put the baby in his stroller, and Terra makes sure we are both okay.
我可以把孩子放进婴儿车里，特拉会确保我们俩都安全。
sublime
/ səˈblaɪm /
adj.崇高的，壮丽的，令人赞叹的；极端的，十足的
v.（化）升华；使升华；<古>使变得崇高（或高尚），使变得出众
n.崇高的事物，壮丽的景象，绝妙的东西（the sublime）；顶点（the sublime）
Now we are rewarded for our sublime faith in a mother's love.
因为我们对母爱的崇高信念，我们现在得到了回报。
rant about 对……进行长篇大论的抱怨或批评：表达对某事物或某人的不满或不满意，通常是情绪化的、激烈的言辞。
We may all like to rant about our loved ones, but we do not want to hear anyone else do it.
我们总是喜欢数落我们爱的人，但是又不能容忍别人这么做。
suburban:
adj.郊区的，城郊的；平淡乏味的，乡气的，平庸的
n.郊区居民
At first sight it looked like a typical suburban road accident.
乍一看，这像是一起典型的郊区交通事故。
wildlife:
n.野生动植物
adj.野生动植物的
Development of the area would endanger wildlife.
开发这一地区将会危及野生生物。
Our morning walk is where ideas are born and books are edited. It’s so crucial that we go for our walk that we’ve adopted the unofficial United States Postal Service motto as our own: “Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom. . . stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds.” We won’t set morning appointments or meetings before we take a walk. Whenever we meet a neighbor, the conversation often starts with, “Are you the couple with the big red stroller?”
Words & phrases
motto: n.座右铭，格言，警句；格言主题
The school's motto is: 'Duty, Honour, Country'.
这所学校的校训是：“责任、荣誉、国家”。
gloom:
n.忧郁，绝望；昏暗，幽暗
v.外观昏暗；显得萧条（或消沉）
The flashlights barely penetrated the gloom.
手电筒勉强照见那幽暗处。
courier
/ ˈkəriər /
n.导游，旅游服务员；快递员，快递公司；（地下或间谍组织的）情报员
v.专递投送，通过信使或递送员递送（货物或文件）
She works as a courier.
她的职业是导游。
swift:
adj.迅速的，立刻的；快速移动的，速度非常快的；<美，非正式>机灵的，聪明的
n.雨燕；蝙蝠蛾；绷架
adv.<文> （在组合形式以外为诗歌或文学用于）迅速
After the election there was a swift transfer of power.
大选之后权力迅速交接。
appointed rounds 指定路线：指定的递送或收集路线，通常是邮递员、快递员或垃圾收集员等工作人员按照规定的路线递送或收集物品。
The mailman has his appointed rounds every day.
邮递员每天都有他指定的递送路线。
Walking really is a magic cure for people who want to think straight. “Solvitur ambulando,” said Diogenes the Cynic two millennia ago. “It is solved by walking.”
Words & phrases
magic cure 灵丹妙药：指一种能够治愈所有疾病或解决所有问题的神奇药物或方法。
There is no magic cure for a broken heart.
没有什么灵丹妙药可以治愈一颗破碎的心。
think straight 清晰地思考
I can't think straight when I'm tired.
我疲惫时无法清晰地思考。
solvitur ambulando （拉丁语）通过脚步来解决问题（指通过实际示范来解决问题）；致知在躬行
I was happy to read that one of your favorite phrases is solvitur ambulando - "it is solved by walking."
我很高兴读到您最喜爱的警句之一是“致知在躬行”(solvitur ambulando)。
cynic
/ ˈsɪnɪk /
n.愤世嫉俗者；悲观者；怀疑者
adj.犬儒学派的；愤世嫉俗的
I see myself not as a cynic but as a realist.
我把自己看成是现实主义者而不是愤世嫉俗的人。
millennia
/ mɪˈleniə /n.千年期；千周年纪念日（millennium 的复数）For millennia the average person's stance toward providing for himself had been, ultimately I'm on my own.
几千年来，一般人对于养活自己的立场是，最终我要靠自己。
The list of famous artists, poets, and scientists who took strolls, hikes, and rambles around the city and countryside is practically endless. Wallace Stevens composed poems on his walk back and forth from the insurance agency where he worked. Friedrich Nietzsche wrote many of his books while hiking around lakes. “If I couldn’t walk far and fast,” Charles Dickens wrote of his twenty-mile marathons around London, “I should just explode and perish.” Both Ludwig van Beethoven and Bob Dylan got picked up by the police while wandering the suburbs—Beethoven in nineteenth-century Vienna, Dylan in twenty-first-century New Jersey. Henry David Thoreau, who used to spend four hours a day walking around the woods outside Concord, wrote, “Methinks that the moment my legs begin to move, my thoughts begin to flow.”
Words & phrases
stroll
/ stroʊl /
v.散步，闲逛；（体育比赛）轻而易举地获胜
n.散步，溜达；（竞赛中）轻易的胜利
We went for a stroll in the park.
我们去公园散了散步。
ramble
/ ˈræmb(ə)l /
v.散步，闲逛；闲扯，随笔；（植物）蔓生，蔓延
n.（在乡间的）漫游，闲逛；杂乱无章的长篇大论
We will ramble about every rainy day.
我们将在每个雨天漫游。
practically adv.几乎，差不多；实事求是地，实际地
The theatre was practically empty.
剧院几乎是空的。
insurance agency 保险中介：专门从事保险业务的咨询、推销、风险管理安排、保险价值的估量、损失鉴定、赔款理算等中介服务活动，并从中获取佣金或者手续费的实体。
I contacted an insurance agency to help me find the best coverage for my car.
我联系了一家保险中介，帮助我找到最适合我的汽车保险。
insurance: n.保险；保险费；保险业；保险赔偿金，保险金；保险单；预防措施，安全保障
Medical insurance is very pricey.
医疗保险很昂贵。
marathons:
n.马拉松赛跑；马拉松式的活动（或工作）
adj.马拉松式的，漫长而累人的
v.参加马拉松赛跑（或马拉松式的比赛、活动）
Avoid learning marathons—they do not make the best use of your mind.
避免学习马拉松——它们不能充分利用你的头脑。
explode v.（使）爆炸，（使）爆破；急剧扩大，激增；（情感）迸发，爆发；推翻，破除；爆响，发出巨响；迅速移动
The bomb was primed, ready to explode.
炸弹已准备好，可随时引爆。
perish: v.（人或动物）惨死，猝死；湮灭，毁灭；（木头、橡胶、食物等）腐烂，腐败；<英，非正式> 经受酷寒
Most of the butterflies perish in the first frosts of autumn.
大多数蝴蝶在秋季初霜来临时死亡。
get picked up 被接走：被某人或某车辆接走，通常指从某个地方接到某人或某物。
I will get picked up by my friend at the airport.
我将在机场被我的朋友接走。
methinks: v.据我看来
It was, methinks about this season that we had our wedding.
我想，我们正是在这个季节举行婚礼的。
“I set out to dispel daily depression. Every afternoon I get low-spirited, and one day I discovered the walk . . . I set myself a destination, and then things happen in the street.”
—Vivian Gornick
Words & phrases
set out to 开始一段旅程
They set out to explore the jungle.
他们开始探索丛林。
dispel v.驱散，消除（尤指感觉或信仰）
The police moved quickly to dispel the rumours.
警察迅速采取行动来消除谣言。
low-spirited adj.无精神的；意志消沉的
Poor Alice began to cry again, for she felt very lonely and low-spirited.
可怜的爱丽丝又哭了起来，因为她感到非常孤独和沮丧。
things happen 事情发生：指各种事件或情况的发生，常用于表示对于不可预测或不可控制的事情的接受和理解。
Sometimes things happen that we can't explain.
有时候发生的事情我们无法解释。
in the street 在大众中
The opinion of the man in the street is often overlooked.
常常忽视大众的意见。
Walking is good for physical, spiritual, and mental health. “No matter what time you get out of bed, go for a walk,” said director Ingmar Berman to his daughter, Linn Ullmann. “The demons hate it when you get out of bed. Demons hate fresh air.”
What I’ve learned on our morning walks is that, yes, walking is great for releasing inner demons, but maybe even more important, walking is great for battling our outer demons.
The people who want to control us through fear and misinformation—the corporations, marketers, politicians—want us to be plugged into our phones or watching TV, because then they can sell us their vision of the world. If we do not get outside, if we do not take a walk out in the fresh air, we do not see our everyday world for what it really is, and we have no vision of our own with which to combat disinformation.
Words & phrases
misinformation: n.误报；错误的消息
This was a deliberate piece of misinformation.
这是一条故意提供的虚假消息。
corporations: n.公司，企业（corporation 的复数）
Many voters resented the power of big corporations.
许多投票人憎恨大公司的权力。
plugged:
adj.堵塞的；塞紧的
v.堵塞；接通电源（plug 的过去分词）
He plugged his razor in to recharge it.
他把剃刀插在插座上，给它充电。
Art requires the full use of our senses. Its job is to awaken us to our senses. Our screens, on the other hand, have made us lose our senses and our sense. Their overall effect has been a kind of spiritual numbing. “To be sensual, I think, is to respect and rejoice in the force of life, of life itself, and to be present in all that one does,” wrote James Baldwin in his essay “The Fire Next Time.” He continued, “Something very sinister happens to the people of a country when they begin to distrust their own reactions as deeply as they do here, and become as joyless as they have become.” Baldwin worried that we no longer relied on our sensory experiences: “The person who distrusts himself has no touchstone for reality.”
Words & phrases
overall effect 整体效果：指某物或某事物的总体印象或影响。
The overall effect of the painting is quite stunning.
这幅画的整体效果非常惊人。
numbing
/ ˈnʌmɪŋ /
adj.使麻木的；使失去感觉的
v.麻木；失去知觉（numb 的 ing 形式）
It was another day of mind-numbing tedium.
又是一个令人麻木的单调乏味的日子。
sensual
/ ˈsenʃuəl /adj.感官的，愉悦感官的；肉欲的，性感的；喜爱感官享受（尤指情欲）的He was a very sensual person.
他是个非常喜爱感官享受的人。
rejoice: v.非常高兴，深感欣喜；<英>享有（用于吸引人注意奇特之处，尤指名字）（rejoice in）；<古>使感到高兴，使喜悦
When the war ended, people finally had cause to rejoice.
战争结束，人们终于可以欢欣鼓舞了。
sinister
/ ˈsɪnɪstər /adj.邪恶的，不祥的；<古>（纹章）（在）盾形纹章左侧的The more sinister explanation is that he is about to make mischief in the Middle East again.
更为险恶的解释是他又要在中东制造事端。
sensory: adj.感觉的，感官的
Both motor and sensory functions are affected.
运动功能和感觉功能都受到影响。
touchstone: n.试金石；（检验）标准
Job security has become the touchstone of a good job for many employees.
对许多雇员来说，工作的稳定性已经成了一份好工作的标准。
When we’re glued to our screens, the world looks unreal. Terrible. Not worth saving or even spending time with. Everyone on earth seems like a troll or a maniac or worse. But you get outside and you start walking and you come to your senses. Yeah, there are a few maniacs and some ugliness, but there are also people smiling, birds chirping, clouds flying overhead . . . all that stuff. There’s possibility. Walking is a way to find possibility in your life when there doesn’t seem to be any left.
Words & phrases
be glued to 无法停止观看某物
Why must you always be glued to the TV?
你为何一定要这么全神贯注地看电视？
troll:
n.巨怪，侏儒怪物；恶意挑衅的帖子，发挑衅帖子的人；曳绳钓鱼法中用的曳绳或鱼饵；用曳绳法钓鱼；轮唱
v.拖捞，拖钓；搜寻，寻找；随便浏览，随便翻翻；<英>闲逛，游荡；（无缘由地在网际网路上某处）留下侮辱性的讯息；快乐地唱
A quant will troll through tons and tons of data, looking for patterns.
金融工程师会在大量数据中寻找模式。
maniac
/ ˈmeɪniæk /
n.疯子，躁狂者
adj.发狂的；狂热的；癫狂的
My mom is turning into a religious maniac.
我妈妈正在变成一个宗教狂热分子。
ugliness: n.丑陋，丑陋之物
No doubt we will remember a 20th century way of life beyond comprehension for its ugliness.
毫无疑问，我们会记得20世纪的生活方式，其丑陋令人难以理解。
chirping:
n.[昆]鸣叫；啁啾声；鸟叫声
v.叽叽喳喳地讲话；唧唧地叫（chirp 的 ing 形式）
Now the tiresome chirping of a cricket that no human ingenuity could locate, began.
这时，一只蟋蟀开始发出烦人的唧唧声，而人们根本找不到它在哪。
So get outside every day. Take long walks by yourself. Take walks with a friend or a loved one or a dog. Walk with a coworker on your lunch break. Grab a plastic bag and a stick and take a litter-picking walk like David Sedaris. Always keep a notebook or camera in your pocket for when you want to stop to capture a thought or an image.
Explore the world on foot. See your neighborhood. Meet your neighbors. Talk to strangers.
The demons hate fresh air.
Words & phrases
litter-picking: n．捡拾垃圾：一种环保活动，志愿者或工作人员在公共场所、街道、公园等地捡拾丢弃的垃圾，以保持环境整洁。
The volunteers organized a litter-picking event in the park.
志愿者们在公园组织了一次捡拾垃圾的活动。
demons: n.魔族，恶魔；[计]守护程序
He claimed to have the power to cast out demons.
他宣称有驱魔的神力。
demon: n.魔鬼，恶魔；技艺出众的人，高手； 精力充沛的人，热情饱满的人；心魔，邪恶的事物；恶人；坏蛋，淘气鬼
What demon possessed me that I behaved so well?
是什么恶魔控制了我，让我如此墨守成规？
“Go out and walk. That is the glory of life.”
—Maira Kalman
Words & phrases
glory
n.光荣，荣誉；（对上帝的）赞颂；壮丽，辉煌；值得称赞的事，引以为豪的成就；欣喜；天堂的荣耀（或福祉）；（尤指耶稣基督或圣人头顶的）光环，光轮
v.（因某事而）欣喜；自豪，得意
She wanted to enjoy her moment of glory.
她希望尽情享受自己的光荣时刻。