［0120读书］The art of doing nothing

周六，上午睡到10点。起床做了点翻译。11点半开始做午饭，吃完已经下午1点40。两点钻进被子，看了会儿书，然后一觉睡到了5点，被拉起来。又做了点翻译，然后开始做晚饭、吃晚饭。

My typical day during the weekend.

今天恰巧读到这么一段，相似到不忍心承认这就是自己目前的状态：

Of course, we all inevitably work too hard, then we get burned out and have to spend the whole weekend in our pajamas, eating cereal straight out of the box and staring at the TV in a mild coma (which is the opposite of working, yes, but not exactly the same thing as pleasure).

工作日拼命工作，导致精力不足。周末穿着睡衣宅在家里足不出户，啃着麦片，盯着电视两眼放空，简直半昏迷的状态 （这确实是完全抛开了工作状态，但并不能称得上是“快乐“。

作者说: Americans don't really know how to do nothing. This is the cause of that great sad American stereotype-the over stressed executive who goes on vacation, but who cannot relax.

我也有这个病。许多中国人, if not most，都有这个病。就是不能纯粹地享受生活（inability to relax into sheer pleasure），总觉得要做点什么与工作、（说得大一点）与提升自己相关的事，不然就是无所事事，将“什么都不做”视为一种颓废的状态。“即使去度假，也不能真正的放松”。

然而，能够纯粹地享受生活、彻底放松自己是一门艺术：

It is the art of making something out of nothing. The art of turing a few simple ingredients into a feast, or a few gathered friends into a festival. Anyone with a talent for happiness can do this, not only the rich.

但是目前的我还做不到。因为一旦开始放松自己，心中那种根深蒂固的想法便开始作祟：For me, though, a major obstacle in my pursuit of pleasure is my ingrained sense of guilt. 我无法充分体会到 the beauty of doing nothing.

文化差异真的挺大，文化对于人的影响也是巨大的。作者提到，意大利是一个快乐的国度。在意大利，人们充分掌握了这种享受纯粹快乐的能力。在他们的思想观念中，这是一种正确的、值得肯定的生活方式：a cherished Italian ideal. 正如上面所说，you do not necessarily need to be rich to experience sheer pleasure, to enjoy the bearuty of doing nothing. 这是一种对生活的态度、一种自由的心态、一种掌控自己情绪的能力。

I should practice on that.