The Invisible String无形的纽带

夏洛特·格利克　张钟月/译

In our bathroom， theres a worn 3×5 notecard taped to the mirror that reads， “Theres an invisible string connecting me to you.”

在我们的浴室里，镜子上贴着一张3英寸×5英寸的破旧便条，上面写着：“有一根无形的纽带联系着你与我。”

When my daughter， Hope， was five， we moved from Northern California to Austin， Texas because I had a new job as Chair of the Creative Writing Department at the community college. This isnt a small distance to cover with a tiny person， so my husband and I asked his parents to help. They flew from Maryland to collect Hope. We were immensely grateful， but we were also sad to be without our beloved daughter for the longest time ever. We wrote her notes she could carry with her. The message taped to the bathroom mirror is one we had tucked into her small suitcase.

我女儿霍普5岁那年，我得到了一份新工作，在得克萨斯州奥斯汀的社区学院担任创意写作系主任。于是，我们一家从加利福尼亚州北部搬到了奥斯汀。这段行程对于带着年幼孩子的我和丈夫来说过于遥远，所以我们请他的父母来帮忙。两位老人从马里兰州飞过来接霍普。我们非常感激，但因为从未和心爱的女儿分离过这么长时间，我们也非常难过。我们给她写了很多张便条，她可以随身携带。贴在浴室镜子上面的那张就是我们曾塞进她小手提箱里的其中一张。

When we drove into Austin that first night， pummeled by the heat， I said to him， “There are people here we know.” I had a feeling that we were already joined somehow to individuals with full lives in this city. It was a rare， vivid moment of intuition， a visceral sense that we were already connected in this new place.

开车到达奥斯汀的头一天晚上，天气炎热，我们筋疲力竭。我对丈夫说：“我们在这里有认识的人。”我感觉到，我们已经通过某种方式融入这座城市中生活充实的人群了。我们已经与这个新的地方联系在一起，这是一種少有的、鲜活的直觉，一种发自内心的感触。

During our daughters first week of kindergarten， I talked to another mother： it turned out her in-laws lived in the town wed come from. This woman and her family have become beloved. Our daughter has spent Shabbat dinners with them， and last weekend， we all went on a masked hike together， the two girls now eleven years connected.

在我家女儿上幼儿园的第一个星期里，我与另一位母亲聊了聊：原来她的公婆就居住在我们原来的城镇。于是，这位女士和她的家人令我们感到亲切起来。我家女儿经常和他们共进安息日晚餐，上周末我们两家还一起戴着口罩徒步旅行。两家女孩现在已经相伴11年了。

Just now， my beautiful， bi-racial daughter emerges from her room. Its in the afternoon on a pandemic Saturday， where days run together like raindrops quickly turning into a flood. She has work due before school starts for AP History. Today is going to be a big push， but Chadwick Bosemans death1 weighs on her—as it does on so many. I gather her in my arms， thinking about the invisible string connecting so many people to this man. His death， and his quiet fight with cancer， hum through the web， and we all feel it.

就在刚才，我女儿从她房间里走了出来。她很漂亮，是黑白混血儿。疫情肆虐期间，百无聊赖的日子过得飞快，就像雨滴迅速汇聚成洪水，这是其中一个星期六的下午。女儿在开学前还有历史先修课作业要交，所以今天将是很忙的一天，但就像对很多人一样——查德威克·博斯曼的死对她冲击很大。我把她抱在怀里，思考着有根无形的纽带将这个男人和这么多人联系起来。他的死以及他默默与癌症抗争的故事在网上产生了种种反响，我们都能感受到。

Watching my teen absorb another bitter pill2 in the week of the Kenosha shooting， its like ice in the gut. Shes studying our countrys brutal history， trying to make sense of the systemic ways we have created the inequity of our current world. And what I want her to know is this： There is another narrative we must connect to， one where we focus on vibrant living， which means full engagement with one another.

基诺沙市发生枪击事件的那一周，眼看着自己十几岁的孩子又一次认识到现实的严酷，我感觉胃里好像结了冰。那时的她正在学习我们国家残酷的历史，试图理解造成我们这个社会不公平状况的种种系統性问题。我想让她了解的是，我们必须与另一种叙事建立联系，在这种叙事中我们关注充满活力的生活，也就是彼此之间充分又密切的联系。

As a writer and a teacher of writing， one of my tasks is to help dismantle the myth of the solitary author. In fact， we exist within a web. One that sustains us—and we， in return， bolster the community when we acknowledge all the invisible and visible ways we are supported. I believe that one essential role of being a writer is to grow our vision， to adjust our perspectives. This might be a Zoom date with another writer where we simply discuss our potential work or it might be a masked walk with an old friend—right now， we have to actively seek out the connections.

作为一名作家和写作课教师，我的职责之一就是帮助大家打破孤独作家的神话。实际上，我们存在于一张网中。这张网支撑着我们——而作为回应，当我们认可自己受到的一切无形和有形的支持，我们也要支持社区。我认为，作为一名作家，一个重要的作用就是拓宽我们的视野，调整我们的思维方式。也许是通过与另一位作家进行视频会谈，简单聊聊各自可能要写的作品，抑或是通过与一位老友一起戴着口罩散散步——我们必须马上开始积极寻求与他人建立联系。

We need others to help us move， to help us remember that despite the weight of loss and uncertainty that seems to loom larger every day， there is an invisible string connecting us all. We can focus on the divides or we can turn toward love， toward each other with our best selves， toward the way we need this world to be.

我们需要别人帮助我们前进，也需要别人帮助我们记住：尽管失落感和不确定性带来的负荷似乎日益沉重，总有一根无形的纽带将我们所有人连接起来。我们可以专注于分歧，也可以转向爱，用我们最好的自我面向彼此，将这个世界变成我们所需要的样子。

When I look in the mirror， I ask myself to be accountable to that 3×5 card， to consider and hold with reverence the connections tying me to so many people. The reverberations across those webs crackle with the possibilities of community， of who we can be in relation to each other， rather than just to ourselves.

照镜子时，我面向那张3英寸×5英寸的便条扪心自问，郑重思考着维系我与许许多多人的种种纽带。那些纽带形成的关系网产生了各种影响，给社区带来种种可能，让我们彼此关联，而不仅仅只在乎我们自己。

Parkour Sayings and Quotes （1）

Parkour is like Golf. The better you play， the less you need to do.

—Anan Anwar

Many people open their mind through different things like music and painting， as well as parkour. How is not important. What is important is to open your mind because you gain some freedom through it.

—David Belle

Parkour for me has been a step change in the way I view life and interact with others. It has given me discipline to train， confidence in life and myself and camaraderie with fellow participants.

——Sam Kilby

The way of the parkour is to continue， not to stay here.

—Sébastien Foucan