评论
打印
A Nordic Education
一场北欧教育
Shortly after landing in Helsinki, I dropped my bags at the Hotel Fabian and headed to the waterside sauna and restaurant Loyly (which means “steam”).
抵达赫尔辛基后不久，我把行李放在费比安酒店，然后前往海滨桑拿餐厅洛伊利（意为“蒸汽”）。
As is custom, I alternated between short stints in the wood-fired sauna and the Baltic waters, frigid even in June, reached via a ladder from the sun deck.
按照当地习俗，我在烧火的桑拿房与波罗的海的海水之间轮番体验，即便在六月，海水依然冰冷刺骨，要通过晒台的梯子才能下水。
Research has shown that cold plunges have physical benefits, but Finns also view the activity as a mental exercise — a way of staying present.
研究表明，冷水浴对身体有益，但芬兰人也将此视为一种精神锻炼，认为这是一种关注当下的方法。
I set a goal of 30 seconds.
我设定的目标是30秒。
The water was so biting that all I could think about was counting to 30.
海水寒冷刺骨，我满脑子只想着要数到30。
Did that count as staying present?
这算是关注当下了吗？
I pawed against the chop, trying not to drown.
我在海浪里狗刨式划水，奋力不让自己被淹没。
When I emerged, a rush of accomplishment overcame me.
当我从水里走出来时，一股成就感涌上心头。
I repeated the circuit twice, and by the time I left, I felt a sense of ecstasy as my skin seemed to glow and my mind decluttered.
我重复了两遍这个循环，离开桑拿房时，我感到一阵狂喜，皮肤仿佛在发光，头脑也变得豁然开朗。
Happiness came in waves and troughs over the next few days, though.
然而，接下来的几天里，幸福如潮水般时起时落。
Still, I was optimistic that I could recreate the happiest moments of this trip back home in New York, even if I had to get creative — say, a forest walk in Central Park.
尽管如此，我仍乐观地认为，我可以在纽约重现这次旅行中最幸福的时刻，哪怕需要发挥一些创意，比如去中央公园来一场森林漫步。
How hard could it be, really?
这能有多难呢？
The American Reality
美国的现实
As it turns out, happiness is a luxury in America — a privilege, even.
事实证明，幸福在美国是一种奢侈品，甚至是一种特权。
I was dismayed to find that most sauna passes in New York cost upward of $60.
我沮丧地发现，纽约大多数桑拿浴的门票价格都在60美元以上。
As a freelance journalist, I could not afford to steam like the Finns — many of whom have access to saunas in their homes or apartment buildings.
作为一名自由职业记者，我没有财力像芬兰人那样蒸桑拿，许多芬兰人在家中或公寓楼里就有桑拿房。
But I eventually found a place in Brooklyn that offered a reasonable deal and on Friday evenings began visiting its backyard barrel sauna, soaking tub and one-person cold plunge.
但我最终在布鲁克林区找到了一处价格合理的地方，每周五晚上都会去那里体验后院木桶桑拿、泡澡浴缸和单人冷水池。
Because I was not about to forage for my own food like the Finns, I tried the next best thing: shopping at the farmers’ market.
因为我不打算像芬兰人那样去野外寻找食材，所以我尝试了次优的选择：去农贸市场买菜。
I also purchased a pot containing basil, thyme, chive and sage plants with the intent of becoming a gardener.
我还买了一盆有罗勒、百里香、细香葱、鼠尾草植物的盆栽，打算开始种菜。
My kitchen does not get much sunlight, so every morning I carried my little garden to the roof.
我的厨房采光不好，所以每天早晨我都会把我的小菜园搬到楼顶上。
Some nights I went out drinking and forgot about it.
有几个夜晚我出去喝酒了，完全忘了楼顶上的菜园。
Summer storms soaked the soil.
夏季的暴雨让土壤泡满了水。
One evening I chopped the basil stem too low and was left with a barren nub.
有一天傍晚，我把罗勒茎剪掉太多，最后只有光秃秃的残根。
Everything eventually died, and someone tossed out the pot.
最后所有植物都死掉了，花盆也被某个人扔了。
All in all, however, things were going pretty well.
不过，总的来说，一切进展得相当顺利。
I even had a breakthrough one afternoon as I rushed through Central Park after an emotional therapy session and noticed a cluster of people staring at the ground.
有一天下午我还有了突破性发现，那天我刚结束一次情绪治疗，正匆匆穿过中央公园，忽然注意到一群人正盯着地面看。
I flicked my eyes to the asphalt. A cardinal!
我扫了一眼柏油路面。是一只红衣凤头鸟！
I stopped to admire the bird’s red plumage before it flapped away.
我停下来欣赏那只鸟的红色羽毛，然后它就拍打着翅膀飞走了。
This was a win, I decided, for staying present.
我认为，这是关注当下的一次胜利。
A ‘Simple’ Discovery
一个“简单”的发现
Then in late July, the man I’d been involved with texted me to say he had started seeing someone.
然后在七月底，我喜欢的那个男人发短信告诉我，他开始和别人交往了。
I tried to channel sisu, a Finnish word meaning perseverance, but my mood fluctuated for weeks.
我试图展现sisu——在芬兰语中意为坚韧的精神——但我好几个星期情绪都很不稳定。
Sometimes all it took was a brisk nature walk for the dopamine to kick in.
有时只需在大自然中轻快地散步一次，就能让多巴胺开始发挥作用。
Other times I ate very little or cried at random.
但其他时候我吃不下饭，或者会莫名其妙地哭起来。
Soon, even the sauna no longer lifted my spirits.
很快，就连桑拿也无法让我情绪高昂。
I was sitting at the beach one afternoon, wondering why nature was not making me feel better, when the answer hit me: I was trying too hard to live exactly like the Finns.
一天下午，我坐在海滩上，思索着为何大自然没能让我感觉好些，这时答案突然闪现：我太努力地想活得像芬兰人一样了。
I’d been so bogged down trying to find the time and money for the happiness hacks that I’d missed the point of what all the hackers were saying: Quiet the mind, and find pleasure in small acts and observations — like a cardinal taking flight, or talking to trees.
我只想着要找到时间和金钱来实现那些幸福技巧，而忽略了所有幸福黑客们所说的重点：静下心来，从细微的行动和观察中寻找愉悦，比如一只红衣凤头鸟飞起的瞬间，或是与树木对话。
“Simple things,” Ms. Pajunen had said. “This is at the core of what Finns have to offer the rest of the world.”
“简单的事情，”帕尤宁曾说，“这正是芬兰人能为世界其他人提供的核心价值。”
