TED演讲之幕后揭秘 伊丽莎白·吉尔伯特谈呵护创造力及减轻创作压力(9)
And when this happened, back then, people knew it for what it was, you know, they called it by its name.
当时的人们，清楚地知道这是什么，他们能叫出它的名字。
They would put their hands together and they would start to chant, “Allah, Allah, Allah, God, God, God.” That’s God, you know.
他们会拍起手来，开始吟唱：阿拉，阿拉，阿拉，神啊，神啊，神啊。人人都知道：那是神迹显现。
Curious historical footnote: when the Moors invaded southern Spain,
有趣的野史是，当摩尔帝国入侵南西班牙时，他们带去了这一习俗，
they took this custom with them and the pronunciation changed over the centuries from “Allah, Allah, Allah,” to “Olé, olé, olé,” which you still hear in bullfights and in flamenco dances.
于是几世纪来，颂词的发音渐渐改变，从“阿拉，阿拉”变成“欧嘞，欧嘞”，如今你仍能在斗牛比赛和弗拉明戈舞中听到这一喝彩声。
In Spain, when a performer has done something impossible and magic,
在西班牙，当一个表演者完成了某种不可思议的神奇之举时，
“Allah, olé, olé, Allah, magnificent, bravo,” incomprehensible, there it is — a glimpse of God. Which is great, because we need that.
人们就会喝彩：“阿拉，欧嘞，欧嘞，阿拉，真伟大，太棒了，不可思议”，那就是神迹显现，这种方式很好，因为这正是我们需要的。
But, the tricky bit comes the next morning, for the dancer himself, when he wakes up and discovers that it’s Tuesday at 11 a.m., and he’s no longer a glimpse of God.
对艺术家来说，最棘手的是第二天早上，舞者悠悠转醒，发现已经是周二上午11点了，他不再是神迹的显现。
He’s just an aging mortal with really bad knees, and maybe he’s never going to ascend to that height again.
而只是那个腰腿不好，终将老去的凡人，而且，他或许再也无法达到昨晚那样的高度了。
And maybe nobody will ever chant God’s name again as he spins, and what is he then to do with the rest of his life?
也许再也不会有人在他跳舞时喝彩神迹显现，他该如何自处呢？
This is hard. This is one of the most painful reconciliations to make in a creative life.
这是个很棘手的问题，也是创作生涯中最痛苦的自我认知之一。
But maybe it doesn’t have to be quite so full of anguish if you never happened to believe,
但也许，我们原本无需如此痛苦，如果你本来就从不曾认为，
in the first place, that the most extraordinary aspects of your being came from you.
那无与伦比的艺术作品完全来源于你。
But maybe if you just believed that they were on loan to you from some unimaginable source for some exquisite portion of your life to be passed along when you’re finished, with somebody else.
如果你认为它们是某种神奇的存在，只是暂时借你一用，给你带来精美绝伦的作品，在你完成作品后，继续传递给其他人，
And, you know, if we think about it this way, it starts to change everything.
如果我们这样看待这一问题，一切就都改变了。
This is how I’ve started to think, and this is certainly how I’ve been thinking in the last few months
在过去的几个月中，我开始以这种方式看待这一问题，
as I’ve been working on the book that will soon be published, as the dangerously, frighteningly over-anticipated follow up to my freakish success.
同时从事着我下一本书的写作那本危险的，骇人的，被过度预期的，继我的畅销大作之后的作品。
And what I have to sort of keep telling myself when I get really psyched out about that is don’t be afraid.
而我需要做的，就是不断告诉自己，尤其是在我忧郁焦躁的时候：
Don’t be daunted. Just do your job. Continue to show up for your piece of it, whatever that might be.
“不要害怕，不要气馁，只需做好你的那部分工作”，坚守在你的岗位上，无论你的岗位是什么：
If your job is to dance, do your dance. If the divine, cockeyed genius assigned to your case decides to let some sort of wonderment be glimpsed,
如果你是舞者，那就跳舞，如果那个属于你的，神圣却又邪门的精灵决定通过你让神迹显现，
for just one moment through your efforts, then “Olé!”
哪怕只是短短一瞬。那么，让我们喝彩：“欧嘞”！
And if not, do your dance anyhow. And “Olé!” to you, nonetheless. I believe this and I feel that we must teach it.
如果没有，那就请继续跳舞，坚守你的岗位，我依然为你喝彩：欧嘞！我坚信我们必须传授这一理念。
“Olé!” to you, nonetheless, just for having the sheer human love and stubbornness to keep showing up. Thank you.
只要你出于热爱与执着，坚守岗位，那你就值得喝彩：“欧嘞”！谢谢。
演讲简介：
对于那些不可思议的伟大艺术作品，当代社会常将之归功于创作者本身，人们从而对艺术天才抱有超乎寻常的期望，伊丽莎白.吉尔伯特对这一点进行了探索和思考，提出了对于创造天才的独到观点：与其认为某个个人是“天才”，不如说他/她在创作中获得了“天才”的帮助。这一演讲生动有趣、充满个人色彩、令人感动而充满启发。