TED演讲：休假的力量(6)

 　　In the beginning, on the first sabbatical, it was rather disastrous¹. 我的第一个休假初期，事情进展一点也不顺利。

　　I had thought that I should do this without any plan, 我以为不用计划，

　　that this vacuum of time somehow would be wonderful and enticing² for idea generation. 空闲本身就很好，使人创新。

　　It was not. I just, without a plan, I just reacted to little requests, not work requests, those I all said no to, but other little requests. 但我错了，没有计划，我会被动的去应付琐碎小事，我不是指工作上的事情，那些我全拒绝了，我是指的其他琐事。

　　Sending mail to Japanese design magazines and things like that. So I became my own intern³. 比如说给日本设计杂志写信，就是说，我成了给自己打下手的学徒工。

　　And I very quickly made a list of the things I was interested in, put them in a hierarchy⁴, 很快，我把自己感兴趣的事情列了个清单，把它们分门别类，

　　divided them into chunks⁵ of time and then made a plan, very much like in grade school. 分给大块的时间，然后作个计划，就像在小学校做的一样。

　　What does it say here? Monday, 8 to 9: story writing; 9 to 10: future thinking. 计划有什么呢？星期一8至9点：写小说，9至10点，预想未来。

　　Was not very successful. And so on and so forth⁶. 那不是很成功。等等等等。

　　And that actually, specifically as a starting point of the first sabbatical, worked really well for me.  而实际上，作为第一次休假的开始，这些安排很适合我。

　　What came out of it? I really got close to design again. I had fun.  结果呢，我又重新爱上设计了。我自得其乐。

　　Financially, seen over the long term, it was actually successful.  从长远经济角度看，我的第一个长假是成功的。

　　Because of the improved quality, we could ask for higher prices. 由于质量提高，我们可以设更高的价格。

　　And probably most importantly, basically everything we've done in the seven years following 或许最重要的是，基本上，在接下来的七年，

　　the first sabbatical came out of thinking of that one single year.  我们的设计意念俱源自我们休假的那一年。

　　And I'll show you a couple of projects that came out of the seven years following that sabbatical. 请你看看以下几项作品，都是那个长休假之后七年设计的。

　　One of the strands⁸ of thinking I was involved in was that sameness is so incredibly overrated. 第一种体会是（在设计品牌时）我们过分强调一致性。

　　This whole idea that everything needs to be exactly the same works for a very very few strand⁷ of companies, and not for everybody else. 其实这种凡事必须完全相同的想法，仅仅能对极少数公司行得通，而并非每家公司都合适。

1 disastrous   

adj.灾难性的，造成灾害的；极坏的，很糟的

参考例句：

• The heavy rainstorm caused a disastrous flood.暴雨成灾。
• Her investment had disastrous consequences.She lost everything she owned.她的投资结果很惨，血本无归。

2 enticing   

adj.迷人的；诱人的

参考例句：

• The offer was too enticing to refuse. 这提议太有诱惑力，使人难以拒绝。
• Her neck was short but rounded and her arms plump and enticing. 她的脖子短，但浑圆可爱；两臂丰腴，也很动人。

3 intern   

v.拘禁，软禁；n.实习生

参考例句：

• I worked as an intern in that firm last summer.去年夏天我在那家商行实习。
• The intern bandaged the cut as the nurse looked on.这位实习生在护士的照看下给病人包扎伤口。

4 hierarchy   

n.等级制度；统治集团，领导层

参考例句：

• There is a rigid hierarchy of power in that country.那个国家有一套严密的权力等级制度。
• She's high up in the management hierarchy.她在管理阶层中地位很高。

5 chunks   

厚厚的一块( chunk的名词复数 )； （某物）相当大的数量或部分

参考例句：

• a tin of pineapple chunks 一罐菠萝块
• Those chunks of meat are rather large—could you chop them up a bIt'smaller? 这些肉块相当大，还能再切小一点吗？

6 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

7 strand   

vt.使（船）搁浅，使（某人）困于（某地）

参考例句：

• She tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ears.她把一缕散发夹到了耳后。
• The climbers had been stranded by a storm.登山者被暴风雨困住了。

8 strands   

n.（线、绳、金属线、毛发等的）股( strand的名词复数 )；缕；海洋、湖或河的)岸；（观点、计划、故事等的）部份v.使滞留，使搁浅( strand的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Twist a length of rope from strands of hemp. 用几股麻搓成了一段绳子。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• She laced strands into a braid. 她把几股线编织成一根穗带。 来自《简明英汉词典》