有意思的人。

每每电视里出现访谈类节目,我都会把视线停留一会儿。访谈的对象通常都是在各自领域小有一番成绩或者大有名气的。听他们聊聊自己的经历,自己的理想,特别是他们的习惯,进而想到他们今天的有所作为,会觉得这其中有很多说不清道不明的、千丝万缕的、微妙的联系,很有意思。

磨铁图书公司(一个畅销书出版公司)创始人沈浩波在访谈中起初给人的印象是雷厉风行,想到就做,想干就立即干的人。比如说要推出一个原创文学网站,魔铁中文网就应运而生。才过两个月,现在每天的流量就有一百万,已经是一个非常不错的成绩。但是他说到他酝酿这个想法的时间其实持续了七八年。虽说七八年他绝对不止做这一件事,但考虑这一件事的时间跨度七八年可能在很多人眼里已经算是优柔寡断型的了。从表面上看,外人来看,一个人做成一件事就是那么短的时间,比如磨铁中文网这个例子,但如果你只从表面上来看,从现象上来看,你就大错特错了。

优酷网的创始人古永锵是66年生人,曾在多家著名的跨国公司供职过,在他创办优酷网之前的最后一个职位是搜狐总裁兼首席运营官。他创办优酷网的时候正是四十不惑的年纪。十几年在互联网领域的职业生涯给他提供了强大的资源,造就了今天优酷网的流行。优酷网从2006年创立到2010年上市也不过四年的时间。但在这4年的背后,是一个人40年的积累。

因为最近恰巧看到了这两人的访谈,于是恰好让我有了这样的联想。当然,类似的故事肯定还有很多很多。比如大家都熟知的乔布斯,他重返苹果公司时是42岁。而苹果产品真正风靡世界的时候,老乔其实已经是接近50岁的人了。那么,这些故事说明了什么,又体现了怎样的联系呢。它说明了一个人做成一件事情绝不是偶然,千万别小看了时间和阅历的积累。

我们常说年轻人是最有朝气,有活力,有想法的人。但这些是远远不够的,仅仅有这些是非常可怕的。能沉得住气,能坚持所爱,不成功才难。同时,活到40,50岁的人,也别以为自己一生就这么着了。岁月留下的痕迹不仅仅是面容苍老。

时光小聚

写于2008年6月12日

其实,本来没想要说什么的。

席间,看到冯同学,又聊到了那年的北戴河。小桥说起小姜姜贴的照片。然后我才知道,看到了“07年的五月,你怎么能那么美好”。我好怀念。也许是酒助怀旧。想起这一年多的种种,虽然没什么轰轰烈烈,却也让我满心怀念。去年这个时候,我们真的很疯狂了一次。

其实,我是不太懂得去后悔的。有什么事情未来不可以做的,只要还有时间。而且,过去也不总是那么不堪,不是吗。可能比起很多人要失色一些,但一样的也有好多闪光点啊。每个人的经历都会是特别的,无法复制。也许是和小崔同学有很多很多代沟,他要比我经历的多很多,我没有接触那么多社会,也不知道为何一定要以一种社会人的常态去面对。也许我一辈子也学不来。很多人常说,以前不觉得什么社会是如何如何现实,过了几年后,才算真正体会到了。我想,即使我现在没有体会过,以后就算体会了,我大概也不会说这样的话。其实,我只是希望更多人可以过自己理想的生活,我只是想通过各种反驳去支持那种美好日子,只是希望小崔同学不用再可惜诸多的不完整,也许你真可以再回来多体验下学校生活,只要你真的想。

话说,小晋同学也不应该被工作绊住脚步的。不过我知道你肯定不会的。工作有时也是一种别样的体验,有时也需要经历一下。腻了就放掉,应该才是你的风格。

然后,为啥我觉得大家都不像是一年未见的人呢。各自忙活了一年,似乎也没变什么哩。冯同学还是有点耍酷时而沉默时而笑得异常开心。小崔呢,说什么事情必然长篇大论,似乎要从公元前三千年开始谈起,而且肃然起敬。让我想起脑海里常常划过的那些大白话,今天的分别是为了明天更好的相聚。不行,太俗了点。不过,今天不想晦涩。这样,这个散伙,其实是重逢吧。

无数次干杯,想起小翼子当年的畅快,为了年轻干杯。为了你没去过美国,我也没去过。

而我,也许就过着这样那样的小日子,十分认真严肃的日子,十分不规律的昼夜颠倒,十分疯狂地迷恋这些那些人,十分屁颠屁颠地去各个角落,十分陶醉地怀抱各式梦想……却也惊喜连连。我爱我现在的,过去的,和未来的生活。

小田和正用他不老的声音唱到花甲,中性婉约,依然像个小男生。

我也要不老地拼死拼活地永葆青春。~~万岁。

思想者

如果风筝感觉不到了线的牵引。

如果流下的眼泪已经不被察觉。

如果我不再拍照片也没有关系。

如果这音乐只有我一个人感动。

如果热爱奔跑的脚步就要停下。

如果路的尽头很快就到了。

如果你仍只专注你的经典。

如果你向往的只是在虚拟中漂流。

如果你在乎的都表现得不在意。

如果你不在意只是因为不在乎。

如果你的周围有层自然保护盾。

如果你不介意多一人或者失去。

如果就是这样。

如果我不管了。

都不管了。

你的指头也不再碰了。

你的东西都还你。

你是个人马。

坚如磐石。

屹立不倒。

连路边的小猫都会冲我微笑。

你却只是个雕像。

如果就是这样。

从此月儿再也不会弯了。

 

凤凰会馆小观察

写于2007年6月16日

总之是有幸进凤凰会馆小参观了一下。才发现她离我们那么近,出北门走几步就到了。一栋很低调的六七层的楼,有点难想象那些光鲜的节目就是从这里策划出炉的。电梯门打开的时候便看到一排帅哥靓女主持人的照片,都是我比较喜欢、羡慕的荧幕形象。

短短的走廊的墙上贴着收视率的排名,让人感受到了电视台里充满竞争的工作氛围。穿过走廊,便是一排紫红色的办公桌,每个桌上的布置都体现着它主人的嗜好,让人又觉得这个氛围里还是比较有自我存在的,是比较自由的。

我们这次去凤凰会馆主要是看“社会能见度”栏目做的最近一期的片子,在电视台上放映之前,站在观众的角度提提意见,以让它更完善。

片子放完后,便是我们和工作人员一起参与讨论,自由发言。算是体验了一下电视栏目创作的过程吧。讨论完这部片子后,制片人便接着开选题讨论会。我们作为旁听人,也能自由发表自己的看法。

首先,制片人说了几个最近提出来的选题,有河南拐骗小孩做童工的,有因揭露无锡水质变差的内幕原因而被监禁的事情,有有关淮河沿岸癌症村的调查的,还有白洋淀水质受污染的问题。然后是工作人员和我们一起就选题可行性,如何开展等问题提意见。

这里我强调的重点,不是我们在这中间起到了怎样的作用,也不是想说凤凰栏目的编导人如何如何懂得集思广益。只是在参与了这个过程后,我更发觉作为一个媒体,一个只有有限话语权的媒体能做的好像真的并不多。

就如何去调查河南(记不太清了,也许是河北)小孩被拐骗到工厂做童工的事情,我们提到应当深入现场,拍摄真实场景,会更能引起共鸣。但工作人员解释道,确实应该深入现场,但那些工厂里都有打手,如果被发现是记者,把你拖到哪个偏僻角落打死了也说不定。在未被确认是事实之前又不能轻易动用警方的力量。

关于无锡水质的问题,有一个很积极的NGO人士调查了水质变差的原因,发现与政府有很大关系。而正因为触动了政府利益,现在他被以种种理由监禁了。其妻子也在监控范围内,到哪里都常被跟踪。如要以这个为切入点,对无锡水质进行报道,最重要的便是暗中联系到他妻子。要联系到她而不被政府力量察觉便是一件很不易的事。

要报道癌症村的事情,得找一个很典型的案例,才能震撼人心。但这个恰当的案例要被挖掘到,又岂是容易的事。报道又能不能得到预想的效果。引发一连串癌症的原因是因为水质的问题,但光用镜头拍淮河水,屏幕上的效果并不觉得有多异样。另外,就算报道了,最重要的问题是如何解决居民用水的问题,这事最终仍然不是新闻报道能解决的。政府如能在意识到这个问题后雷厉风行,提高效率,体察民情,这样才能让报道起到它真正的作用。

再说到白洋淀的水质问题,并不是每个时节去到那里都能看到被污染的壮观场面的。因季节而异,枯水季节的白洋淀并不让人觉得被污染得有多严重,此时镜头呈现出来的也许是真实的,但它不是报道所需要的。因此,报道也得挑时间,适当地用镜头夸大事实才能达到预期的宣传效果,才能引起人们的关注。

记者不能一年四季驻守在一个地方,那么,我总觉得在这短短一段时间看到的事实就不是那么真实了,他看到的永远都只是一个侧面。而调查究竟能发现多大程度的真实,是新闻工作者一直苦恼的事情。究竟需要报道多大程度的真实,又是新闻工作者一直困惑的问题。在这样的思考过程中,种种矛盾在内心纠结,这个过程并不轻松。

虽然,我相信他们一直都在努力,都在努力尽到自己的责任。但这个力量有时候让人觉得其实是很微弱、很渺小的。如果要挣扎在这样的漩涡中,我想我还是应该尽力选到另一条路,去做自己能做的更大的事情。哪怕是改变一点点现实,似乎也比乖乖承认这个现实要强。

后记(2011年10月28日):

[一直记得自己写过这么些东西,4年过去了,现在读来也仍然有所触动,那就再读一次吧。]

中青报一瞥

写于2007年6月16日

报社的楼似乎有一些年代了。院子不大。一楼的候客厅很小,装修也比较陈旧了。电控门没有停息地开开关关,让等待着的我有些烦躁。坐在皮质的、很朴实的沙发上,接待员问询了我们几句。进进出出上下班的人流里,偶尔夹杂一两个背着背包、挎着相机出任务的记者。让我看到了这一行比较真实的状态。

乘电梯到三楼,转过一角,便是一片密密的办公桌,编辑们在这些桌子边改着稿子。跟着学长再上一层楼,依旧是办公桌,只不过四周的墙壁上多了很多照片。这些很经典的黑白照片记录着一个个过去的时代,大概从五几年一直到现在,都有涉猎。当年拍这些片子的人如今都是新闻摄影界的大腕了。那幅熟悉的希望工程的“大眼睛”很快就映入了眼帘,依旧深入人心。

在一个角落的门里拐进去,便是摄影部的办公室了。大约往里走还有两三道门。墙上贴着不同期数的摄影专题的小样,当然都是偏重新闻摄影的专题。办公室里有点乱,也许是照片很多的缘故吧。自己光是看着那些照片都会受益很多。有个小小的门里就是还保留着的暗房。主任跟我们说话的语气有点轻挑,可能是看着我们这些还很嫩的小孩不怎么在意吧。或许还在心里教训着,你们要学的还多得很呐。

那天程刚似乎是很语重心长地对我们说着他的体会。其实我只是凭兴趣,并没有以后一定要从事这方面工作的想法,我是知道有时理想和现实是存在差别的。正如他说,其实干的时间越长,就越觉得它很虚。学新闻的,涉猎的知识面虽然广,但都不是很精,不管是写一般的稿子还是评论,偶尔都会感觉有些无力,不能真实地把握好一些尺度。同时,新闻这一行,干扰的力量太多,政治上的,经济上的,都左右着你。在这个漩涡里,人的价值观有时可能会偏离自己的初衷。他甚至说到能不干新闻这一行就不要来。我想象着他这样一副有点岁月痕迹的表情后究竟有着怎样的经历和体会。

他跟我说,学经济的就努力把经济学好吧,现在的资本市场虽然不是很成熟,但将来肯定会有很大的发展,会很需要这方面的人。同时,也要学些法律,社会学的东西,等到将来再学的话成本会高很多,现在有这个机会,就把基础打牢,将来会觉得它很有用的。

虽然他说的我早已明白,但那天他作为过来人以一种关切、真诚的语气来给我讲这些话,让我记忆深刻。

而我似乎早已想好,尽自己的力量吧,希望能做个自由的摄影人,用自己的责任感关注一些事情,保持心灵自由的同时也许那样看到的将更接近于真相。

 

后记(2011年10月28日):

[一直记得自己写过这么些东西,4年过去了,现在读来也仍然有所触动,那就再读一次吧。]

呼吸的理由

从各处摘抄的有关呼吸的理由(因为自己常常不知该如何表达生命的意义和对生命的敬意,以下这些表达各不相同,但都足以让人印象深刻并且觉得是那么地恰到好处):

“每个生命体都是上帝赐予,我们每个人作为一个生命体来到这个世界上,都是独一无二,都有自己的长处和短处,也因此而藏有无穷无尽的潜在能力和要将其彻底开发的使命,这也是我们仍在呼吸的理由……无限制地去完美和表达自己这个生命体。”

每个人都是独一无二的星星 在每个角落绽放光明
当你失去方向停在原地 生活只剩呼吸

“有一种声音,你在聆听他的同时,觉得自己也被聆听了。
当我需要被聆听的时候,我会听建为的歌,
他常将我不知不觉烂得像条破裤子的情绪,缝补出美丽的骨架。”

大卫·林奇说:“所谓的心理学毁掉了神秘性。”他的大意是,人类有很多超常规的反应,在这一门学问里,它们被这种术语代替包裹,最终抹煞掉了人内在所包容着的无限可能。

那些看似不正常的思维方式也许正是人类思想无限潜能的所在。

“典型的中国式的悲剧意识是:个体的生命也许没有希望了,但天道是永恒的,只要将个体的生命与价值融入永恒的天道,个人也就可以获得某种永恒。中国悲剧意识的基本特征是在暴露人的困境的同时又在弥合这种困境,使人不至于彻底绝望,而是在超越中得到归宿,但这种超越又不是廉价的,往往要在“艰难苦恨”中完成。”

“他们相信,即使你死了,你也不会真的死去。你变成永恒。他们相信,当死亡笼罩身体时,她会重返到地下,而灵魂以另外的形式存在,在树木之间,在鱼身上,在石头里,甚至在另一个会成为我们的人身上。

如果你不喜欢你存在的形式怎么办?

那你就等着变成另一种形式。故事中最精彩的是,如果我们两个一起撞了飞机,这有可能会发生,因为我们的灵魂会永恒,然后我们又重新相爱,因为我们是永恒的。”

……

我感觉我就像一颗树被种在地里,但在每一边都有风暴。我只有尝试让自己深深扎根。

“日子很仔细地过着。上海屋檐下的日子,都有些仔细和用心的面目。倘若不是这样专心致志,将注意力集中在这些最具体最琐碎的细节上,也许就很难将日子过到底。这些日子其实都是不能从全局推敲的。所以,在这仔细的表面之下,是有着一股坚忍。这坚忍不是穿越急风骤雨的那一种,而是用来对付江南独有的梅雨季节。外面下着连绵的细雨,房间的地板和墙壁起着潮,霉菌悄无声息地生长。那一点煨汤或是煎药的小火,散发出的干燥与热气,就是这坚忍。所以,这坚忍还是节省的原则,光和热都是有限,只可细水长流。它是供那些小人物的切碎了平均分配的小日子和小目标。”

“我想起干杯之前我想说什么了。应该说,我在犹豫要不要说。说实话,有点不知道该怎么说出来。我只说一遍你好好听着。听好,海里,你会去自杀,这样也没关系。只是,要在我死以后。你要在我死后,为了和我继续在一起而自杀。我会戒烟,也会每年定期做体检。直到变成走路都不稳的糟老头,一直健康长寿地活下去。所以,变成直不起腰的老太婆之前,你都不能死。听见了么,死神。在我死后很久很久,我才会把海里交给你。”

“朋友过世了,有点吃不消。”

“死别再所难免。”

“身为人父你就不能说点安慰人的话吗?”

“我还不会死,但离死也不远了,你也一样。

只不过你还不会那么早死。

不过总会有那一天的,大家都会死的。”

“那到也是。”

“人总归一死,活着就是胜利。

能活着就要好好活着。”

时间

时间是什么。

时间是一年半没回家的我看到了床底沉落的薄薄灰尘。

是许久不挪动的柜子印下的痕迹,像要与地板黏在一起,再难把它搬动。

是柜子上放着的相框,相框里的照片,照片上的表情一直不变,一直灿烂。

是悄无声息的,照片上的草地会褪色,树影会黯淡,眼神会遥远。

是隔许久回来看到会觉得是摆了很久很久。

是擦也擦不去的角落里的灰,淡忘的角落里留下的碎屑。

是墙壁隔板上的东西越来越多,小狗,小狮子,小企鹅,小老虎,小熊,小鸭子,小猴子,小老鼠,小娃娃,各个年份,各个月份,各个日子的遗留。

是抽屉里的东西越塞越满,放着的纸条被空气慢慢氧化。

是刷新过的墙壁又被水慢慢浸透。

是空了许久的房间回来熟悉又陌生,新又旧。

是现在想要记住留住的一张张笑脸。

是不太愿意看以前的字,以前的画。

是一种软性强迫地去感觉到了变化,又莫名其妙地习惯了这种变化,一步步地任时间过渡。

是我不愿意离开家,又愿意离开家。

是我想看到变化,又不愿意变化。

是我们都逃不过的。

是他会开心么,你会开心么,他还爱你么,你还爱他么。

是你还认识我么,我还认识他么,认识你么。

是有多少人更喜欢你,多少人更讨厌你,多少人更嫉妒你,多少人更鄙视你,多少人更真心,多少人更假意,多少人更猜不透,多少人更无奈,多少人更理想,多少人更现实,多少人更把心隔起来,多少人更无从开口,多少人更遥远了,多少人还能让你保有纯真。

[Stay hungry, stay foolish]–Follow your heart

今天我突然想起之前曾收藏了乔布斯在斯坦福大学毕业典礼上的演讲,犹记得当时并不怎么清楚乔布斯的伟大之处,而是仅仅被他的演讲所深深震撼,颇为受益。现在转载下以便重温和激励自己,同时也在这个特别的日子借此表达对这位领袖的崇高敬意。

This is the text of the Commencement address by Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple Computer and of Pixar Animation Studios, delivered on June 12, 2005.

 

I am honored to be with you today at your commencement from one of the finest universities in the world. I never graduated from college. Truth be told, this is the closest I’ve ever gotten to a college graduation. Today I want to tell you three stories from my life. That’s it. No big deal. Just three stories.

The first story is about connecting the dots.

I dropped out of Reed College after the first 6 months, but then stayed around as a drop-in for another 18 months or so before I really quit. So why did I drop out?

It started before I was born. My biological mother was a young, unwed college graduate student, and she decided to put me up for adoption. She felt very strongly that I should be adopted by college graduates, so everything was all set for me to be adopted at birth by a lawyer and his wife. Except that when I popped out they decided at the last minute that they really wanted a girl. So my parents, who were on a waiting list, got a call in the middle of the night asking: “We have an unexpected baby boy; do you want him?” They said: “Of course.” My biological mother later found out that my mother had never graduated from college and that my father had never graduated from high school. She refused to sign the final adoption papers. She only relented a few months later when my parents promised that I would someday go to college.

And 17 years later I did go to college. But I naively chose a college that was almost as expensive as Stanford, and all of my working-class parents’ savings were being spent on my college tuition. After six months, I couldn’t see the value in it. I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life and no idea how college was going to help me figure it out. And here I was spending all of the money my parents had saved their entire life. So I decided to drop out and trust that it would all work out OK. It was pretty scary at the time, but looking back it was one of the best decisions I ever made. The minute I dropped out I could stop taking the required classes that didn’t interest me, and begin dropping in on the ones that looked interesting.

It wasn’t all romantic. I didn’t have a dorm room, so I slept on the floor in friends’ rooms, I returned coke bottles for the 5¢ deposits to buy food with, and I would walk the 7 miles across town every Sunday night to get one good meal a week at the Hare Krishna temple. I loved it. And much of what I stumbled into by following my curiosity and intuition turned out to be priceless later on. Let me give you one example:

Reed College at that time offered perhaps the best calligraphy instruction in the country. Throughout the campus every poster, every label on every drawer, was beautifully hand calligraphed. Because I had dropped out and didn’t have to take the normal classes, I decided to take a calligraphy class to learn how to do this. I learned about serif and san serif typefaces, about varying the amount of space between different letter combinations, about what makes great typography great. It was beautiful, historical, artistically subtle in a way that science can’t capture, and I found it fascinating.

None of this had even a hope of any practical application in my life. But ten years later, when we were designing the first Macintosh computer, it all came back to me. And we designed it all into the Mac. It was the first computer with beautiful typography. If I had never dropped in on that single course in college, the Mac would have never had multiple typefaces or proportionally spaced fonts. And since Windows just copied the Mac, its likely that no personal computer would have them. If I had never dropped out, I would have never dropped in on this calligraphy class, and personal computers might not have the wonderful typography that they do. Of course it was impossible to connect the dots looking forward when I was in college. But it was very, very clear looking backwards ten years later.

Again, you can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.

My second story is about love and loss.

I was lucky — I found what I loved to do early in life. Woz and I started Apple in my parents garage when I was 20. We worked hard, and in 10 years Apple had grown from just the two of us in a garage into a $2 billion company with over 4000 employees. We had just released our finest creation — the Macintosh — a year earlier, and I had just turned 30. And then I got fired. How can you get fired from a company you started? Well, as Apple grew we hired someone who I thought was very talented to run the company with me, and for the first year or so things went well. But then our visions of the future began to diverge and eventually we had a falling out. When we did, our Board of Directors sided with him. So at 30 I was out. And very publicly out. What had been the focus of my entire adult life was gone, and it was devastating.

I really didn’t know what to do for a few months. I felt that I had let the previous generation of entrepreneurs down – that I had dropped the baton as it was being passed to me. I met with David Packard and Bob Noyce and tried to apologize for screwing up so badly. I was a very public failure, and I even thought about running away from the valley. But something slowly began to dawn on me — I still loved what I did. The turn of events at Apple had not changed that one bit. I had been rejected, but I was still in love. And so I decided to start over.

I didn’t see it then, but it turned out that getting fired from Apple was the best thing that could have ever happened to me. The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything. It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods of my life.

During the next five years, I started a company named NeXT, another company named Pixar, and fell in love with an amazing woman who would become my wife. Pixar went on to create the worlds first computer animated feature film, Toy Story, and is now the most successful animation studio in the world. In a remarkable turn of events, Apple bought NeXT, I returned to Apple, and the technology we developed at NeXT is at the heart of Apple’s current renaissance. And Laurene and I have a wonderful family together.

I’m pretty sure none of this would have happened if I hadn’t been fired from Apple. It was awful tasting medicine, but I guess the patient needed it. Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. Don’t lose faith. I’m convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did. You’ve got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don’t settle.

My third story is about death.

When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: “If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you’ll most certainly be right.” It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: “If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?” And whenever the answer has been “No” for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.

Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure – these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.

About a year ago I was diagnosed with cancer. I had a scan at 7:30 in the morning, and it clearly showed a tumor on my pancreas. I didn’t even know what a pancreas was. The doctors told me this was almost certainly a type of cancer that is incurable, and that I should expect to live no longer than three to six months. My doctor advised me to go home and get my affairs in order, which is doctor’s code for prepare to die. It means to try to tell your kids everything you thought you’d have the next 10 years to tell them in just a few months. It means to make sure everything is buttoned up so that it will be as easy as possible for your family. It means to say your goodbyes.

I lived with that diagnosis all day. Later that evening I had a biopsy, where they stuck an endoscope down my throat, through my stomach and into my intestines, put a needle into my pancreas and got a few cells from the tumor. I was sedated, but my wife, who was there, told me that when they viewed the cells under a microscope the doctors started crying because it turned out to be a very rare form of pancreatic cancer that is curable with surgery. I had the surgery and I’m fine now.

This was the closest I’ve been to facing death, and I hope its the closest I get for a few more decades. Having lived through it, I can now say this to you with a bit more certainty than when death was a useful but purely intellectual concept:

No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don’t want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life’s change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true.

Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.

When I was young, there was an amazing publication called The Whole Earth Catalog, which was one of the bibles of my generation. It was created by a fellow named Stewart Brand not far from here in Menlo Park, and he brought it to life with his poetic touch. This was in the late 1960′s, before personal computers and desktop publishing, so it was all made with typewriters, scissors, and polaroid cameras. It was sort of like Google in paperback form, 35 years before Google came along: it was idealistic, and overflowing with neat tools and great notions.

Stewart and his team put out several issues of The Whole Earth Catalog, and then when it had run its course, they put out a final issue. It was the mid-1970s, and I was your age. On the back cover of their final issue was a photograph of an early morning country road, the kind you might find yourself hitchhiking on if you were so adventurous. Beneath it were the words: “Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.” It was their farewell message as they signed off. Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish. And I have always wished that for myself. And now, as you graduate to begin a new, I wish that for you.

Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.

Thank you all very much

一颗巨星的陨落:活着是为了什么

今天惊闻苹果创始人乔布斯溘然长逝,竟引起我心中无限悲凉和感慨。乔布斯的影响力撼动全世界这一点已经毋庸置疑。数以百万计即使不认识他的人都为此悲痛不已。奥巴马说他从此改变了我们看世界的方式。他自己曾声称活着就是为了改变世界。他卓越、无与伦比的才华让他的野心得以实现。乔布斯做到了,同时,他也向世人证明了,一个人就可以改变世界。所以,他的突然离世,让万众期待变成黯然神伤:不知会不会有下一个创新的神话、改变世界的奇迹,这个下一次会是什么时候。

我的想法是,乔布斯的离世纵然熄灭了这一处创新的火焰,但他留下的创新精神这一宝贵遗产将被后人继承。人类创新、前进和追求美好生活的步伐不会停止。另外,他的影响力使得他的离世将引发更多人关于生活意义的思考。这种思考将附着在这样一个成功的例子上而更有血有肉。因为他已经用亲身实践告诉你了,没有什么是不可能的。

那么,在物质愈渐富足和多彩的时代,在许多事情都成为可能的时代,你想得到的是什么。乔布斯提到他成长的那个年代(上世纪60年代)时说,“我们想拥有丰富的经历,探究我们为什么而活,而不是过上美好的生活,人们总是在不断探索。那个时代最重要的事情就是认识到生命的意义,而不是50年代末和60年代初的物质主义。我们都在进行深刻的探索。”这让我想到,现在的中国,是不是存在这样的物质主义,在吃穿不用发愁的现在,这个年代的人们都在追求什么。弄清这一点实在很有必要,因为追求什么往往决定了你能得到什么。就像我们常常能听到许多声音,他们不想要赚大钱,只要有维持生计的收入来源,安安稳稳的,最后就真的只是如此而已了。

不同和同

起初觉得出国留学是一件很有必要的事,因为它可以让你实实在在地体验一把国外的生活。这里不是电影电视里描述的世界,而是需要你亲自去感受去聆听的世界。道听途说的都不是十足可靠,而亲眼所见和亲耳所闻则相对可信。这也是我觉得为何一定要旅行,要踏踏实实地行走在某片土地的原因。

前几天听一个talk, 开篇speaker就说到你们最初来英国,是不是觉得这里应该都是摩天大楼,这里的男士都绅士优雅,但来了后却发现这里是那么小,充其量只是一个village,但当地人却很奇怪地管它叫city. 而英国人眼中的中国也不是它实际的样子。这些依赖于想像和惯性认知的误解就需要自己去探索去明了真相。当然,探明了真实之后的一个结果是发现这世界原来是如此不同,我们身在一个完全不同的国度,与自己前二十多年所待的地方迥然不同,这些差异很容易就被刚刚到这里的我们纤细敏感的神经发现。

文化上的差异进而思维上的,也让我们眼中的自己国家和人们的特点更加鲜明。而这里的不同也在一定程度上不能为我们所理解。比如这里很流行party, 各种类型的party, 街上的酒吧夜夜笙歌,大冬天的人们也可以光腿着短裙,光怪陆离的打扮犹如一场流动的show。或者是house party, 有些则不那么夸张,就是邀请一些朋友,或者朋友的朋友一起来喝喝茶聊聊天,非常舒适惬意的氛围。但其中会有些互不认识的陌生人,或者可能连主人也不认识的,但他们很习惯这种方式,主人也很乐意邀请不同的人,这样的好处是一下子可以认识到很多朋友。于中国人而言,这种方式却显得有点奇怪,主人一般不会邀请不认识的人,与陌生人一起待在自己的家里会觉得尴尬并且不放心。而去赴会的朋友也不一定能与陌生人聊得开,总之气氛可能会偏向于比较尴尬。当然这可能只是我的片面的看法,可能只是一些个体差异,并非真正意义上的文化差异。

借这个小例子可以说明,不同是我们很明显就能看到的。但在这种不同的背景下我也越来越能感觉到一些共性。比如前几天和一英国朋友聊到对早上起床的闹钟的反感,如果长期把一首歌设置为铃声,久而久之,再听到这首歌或者这个声音的时候就会很反感。这些小情绪在即使是差别如此之大的两个国家的人们而言也是能产生共鸣的。

进而联想到今天才看完的纯真年代,一部讲述19世纪美国上流社会爱情的电影,某些情感是不分国家和年代差别的。虽然略显拖沓,看到最后这部影片还是让我挺有感触。往往在现实里无法实现的爱情是最触动人心的。而为自己的最爱不得不做的牺牲让步让这爱情更显动人。这些爱情道理也在不同国别的人眼中得到了共识。

再说到奥巴马在访问中国所做的演讲,暂不论他的其他论调是否值得赞同,他在复旦的讲话中提到在一些共同话题,比如妇女权利,恐怖势力等,是全人类都会有共同情绪的问题。对平等权利的追求,对恐怖暴力的反对,是不分文化,不分国别的人都会有的情感。这些共同的情感或情绪将会是各国人民得以沟通的桥梁,对话和交流才有可能实现。

最后想说到一个略显意外的联想。在最近玩到的一个游戏中,提到两个种族(兽人和人类)的冲突,由于一场暗黑势力的释放,两个种族间的矛盾骤然加深,已经到水火不相容的地步。两个种族相互看不顺眼,兽人认为人类只知道凭嘴说,离开兽人完全就不能存活,人类觉得兽人空有粗壮的四肢,野蛮笨拙而不可交流。一群为了解决这场纷争的斗士开始了长途跋涉并坚信两个种族最终能和睦共处。其中有一位坚信种族平等的斗士认为就算两个种族体格特征生活方式都不一样,但心境都是一致的,他们都有共同的情绪,愤怒,开心,忧愁等都是人所具有的共性,从这个角度看,大家都是一样的,平等的。这游戏的编剧似乎也影射了某种他所坚信的道理。即使这世界存在着多么不同的人,凭着这些依然存在的共同的情感或者情绪,我们都是可以对话可以沟通的。谈不上是一个多么新鲜的道理,可却是容易被人遗忘的道理。

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