The Invisible String無形的紐帶

夏洛特·格利克　張鐘月/譯

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

在我們的浴室里，鏡子上貼著一張3英寸×5英寸的破舊便條，上面寫著：“有一根無形的紐帶聯系著你與我?！?/p>

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.

我女兒霍普5歲那年，我得到了一份新工作，在得克薩斯州奧斯汀的社區學院擔任創意寫作系主任。于是，我們一家從加利福尼亞州北部搬到了奧斯汀。這段行程對于帶著年幼孩子的我和丈夫來說過于遙遠，所以我們請他的父母來幫忙。兩位老人從馬里蘭州飛過來接霍普。我們非常感激，但因為從未和心愛的女兒分離過這么長時間，我們也非常難過。我們給她寫了很多張便條，她可以隨身攜帶。貼在浴室鏡子上面的那張就是我們曾塞進她小手提箱里的其中一張。

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.

開車到達奧斯汀的頭一天晚上，天氣炎熱，我們筋疲力竭。我對丈夫說：“我們在這里有認識的人?！蔽腋杏X到，我們已經通過某種方式融入這座城市中生活充實的人群了。我們已經與這個新的地方聯系在一起，這是一種少有的、鮮活的直覺，一種發自內心的感觸。

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.

在我家女兒上幼兒園的第一個星期里，我與另一位母親聊了聊：原來她的公婆就居住在我們原來的城鎮。于是，這位女士和她的家人令我們感到親切起來。我家女兒經常和他們共進安息日晚餐，上周末我們兩家還一起戴著口罩徒步旅行。兩家女孩現在已經相伴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.

就在剛才，我女兒從她房間里走了出來。她很漂亮，是黑白混血兒。疫情肆虐期間，百無聊賴的日子過得飛快，就像雨滴迅速匯聚成洪水，這是其中一個星期六的下午。女兒在開學前還有歷史先修課作業要交，所以今天將是很忙的一天，但就像對很多人一樣——查德威克·博斯曼的死對她沖擊很大。我把她抱在懷里，思考著有根無形的紐帶將這個男人和這么多人聯系起來。他的死以及他默默與癌癥抗爭的故事在網上產生了種種反響，我們都能感受到。

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.

基諾沙市發生槍擊事件的那一周，眼看著自己十幾歲的孩子又一次認識到現實的嚴酷，我感覺胃里好像結了冰。那時的她正在學習我們國家殘酷的歷史，試圖理解造成我們這個社會不公平狀況的種種系統性問題。我想讓她了解的是，我們必須與另一種敘事建立聯系，在這種敘事中我們關注充滿活力的生活，也就是彼此之間充分又密切的聯系。

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.

作為一名作家和寫作課教師，我的職責之一就是幫助大家打破孤獨作家的神話。實際上，我們存在于一張網中。這張網支撐著我們——而作為回應，當我們認可自己受到的一切無形和有形的支持，我們也要支持社區。我認為，作為一名作家，一個重要的作用就是拓寬我們的視野，調整我們的思維方式。也許是通過與另一位作家進行視頻會談，簡單聊聊各自可能要寫的作品，抑或是通過與一位老友一起戴著口罩散散步——我們必須馬上開始積極尋求與他人建立聯系。

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.

我們需要別人幫助我們前進，也需要別人幫助我們記?。罕M管失落感和不確定性帶來的負荷似乎日益沉重，總有一根無形的紐帶將我們所有人連接起來。我們可以專注于分歧，也可以轉向愛，用我們最好的自我面向彼此，將這個世界變成我們所需要的樣子。

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.

照鏡子時，我面向那張3英寸×5英寸的便條捫心自問，鄭重思考著維系我與許許多多人的種種紐帶。那些紐帶形成的關系網產生了各種影響，給社區帶來種種可能，讓我們彼此關聯，而不僅僅只在乎我們自己。

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