The Art of Stillness | Pico Iyer | TED

Prevoditelj: Ivan Stamenković Recezent: Katarina Smetko

I'm a lifelong traveler.

Putujem cijeli život.

Even as a little kid,

Još kao dječak

I was actually working out that it would be cheaper

izračunao sam da bi bilo povoljnije

to go to boarding school in England

ići u internat u Engleskoj

than just to the best school down the road from my parents' house in California.

nego u najbolju školu u blizini kuće mojih roditelja u Kaliforniji.

So, from the time I was nine years old

Tako sam od svoje devete godine

I was flying alone several times a year

nekoliko puta godišnje sâm letio

over the North Pole, just to go to school.

preko Sjevernog pola samo kako bih išao u školu.

And of course the more I flew the more I came to love to fly,

I naravno, što sam više letio, više sam volio letenje.

so the very week after I graduated from high school,

Tako sam tjedan dana nakon mature

I got a job mopping tables

našao posao čišćenja stolova

so that I could spend every season of my 18th year

kako bih svako godišnje doba svoje 18. godine mogao provesti

on a different continent.

na drugom kontinentu.

And then, almost inevitably, I became a travel writer

Zatim sam, gotovo neizbježno, postao putopisac

so my job and my joy could become one.

te su se moj posao i moja radost sjedinili.

And I really began to feel that if you were lucky enough

Zaista sam počeo osjećati da, ako imate dovoljno sreće

to walk around the candlelit temples of Tibet

da uz svjetlost svijeća šećete tibetanskim hramovima

or to wander along the seafronts in Havana

ili lutate obalom mora u Havani

with music passing all around you,

uz glazbu svuda oko sebe,

you could bring those sounds and the high cobalt skies

mogli biste te zvukove i visoka kobaltna neba

and the flash of the blue ocean

i svjetlucanje plavog oceana

back to your friends at home,

donijeti svojim prijateljima kod kuće

and really bring some magic

i zaista unijeti malo čarolije

and clarity to your own life.

i jasnoće u vlastiti život.

Except, as you all know,

Osim, kao što svi znate,

one of the first things you learn when you travel

jedna od prvih stvari koje naučite kad putujete

is that nowhere is magical unless you can bring the right eyes to it.

jest da ništa nije čarobno ako to ne gledate na pravi način.

You take an angry man to the Himalayas,

Povedite mrzovoljnog čovjeka na Himalaju

he just starts complaining about the food.

i žalit će se na hranu.

And I found that the best way

Otkrio sam da je najbolji način

that I could develop more attentive and more appreciative eyes

da stvari počnem pažljivije gledati i više ih cijeniti,

was, oddly,

začudo,

by going nowhere, just by sitting still.

ne otići nikamo, samo mirno sjediti.

And of course sitting still is how many of us get

Naravno, dok mirno sjedimo, mnogi od nas dobiju

what we most crave and need in our accelerated lives, a break.

ono što najviše žele i trebaju u svojim ubrzanim životima – predah.

But it was also the only way

Ali to je bio i jedini način

that I could find to sift through the slideshow of my experience

na koji sam mogao dobro promisliti o svojim iskustvima

and make sense of the future and the past.

i stvoriti si sliku budućnosti i prošlosti.

And so, to my great surprise,

I tako, na moje veliko iznenađenje,

I found that going nowhere

otkrio sam da je ne ići nikamo

was at least as exciting as going to Tibet or to Cuba.

bilo jednako uzbudljivo kao ići na Tibet ili Kubu.

And by going nowhere, I mean nothing more intimidating

Kad kažem „ne ići nikamo”, mislim jednostavno

than taking a few minutes out of every day

svaki dan odvojiti nekoliko minuta

or a few days out of every season,

ili nekoliko dana u svakom godišnjem dobu

or even, as some people do,

ili čak, kako to čine neki ljudi,

a few years out of a life

nekoliko godina života

in order to sit still long enough

i mirno sjediti dovoljno dugo

to find out what moves you most,

da biste otkrili što vas najviše pokreće,

to recall where your truest happiness lies

da se prisjetite u čemu je vaša istinska sreća

and to remember that sometimes

i da se sjetite da su ponekad

making a living and making a life

živjeti i preživljavati

point in opposite directions.

dvije suprotne stvari.

And of course, this is what wise beings through the centuries

Naravno, to nam stoljećima govore mudraci

from every tradition have been telling us.

iz mnogih kultura.

It's an old idea.

To je stara ideja.

More than 2,000 years ago, the Stoics were reminding us

Prije više od 2000 godina stoici su nas podsjećali

it's not our experience that makes our lives,

da se naš život ne oblikuje iskustvom,

it's what we do with it.

već onime što od njega napravimo.

Imagine a hurricane suddenly sweeps through your town

Zamislite da uragan iznenada prođe kroz vaš grad

and reduces every last thing to rubble.

i uništi sve.

One man is traumatized for life.

Jedan čovjek bit će traumatiziran do kraja života.

But another, maybe even his brother, almost feels liberated,

Ali drugi, možda čak i njegov brat, osjećat će se gotovo oslobođeno

and decides this is a great chance to start his life anew.

i zaključit će da je to odlična prilika da iznova započne život.

It's exactly the same event,

Potpuno isti događaj,

but radically different responses.

ali krajnje različite reakcije.

There is nothing either good or bad, as Shakespeare told us in "Hamlet,"

Ne postoji ništa dobro ni loše, kako nam je Shakespeare rekao u „Hamletu”,

but thinking makes it so.

već ga razmišljanje čini takvim.

And this has certainly been my experience as a traveler.

Takvo je svakako bilo i moje iskustvo kao putnika.

Twenty-four years ago I took the most mind-bending trip

Prije 24 godine bio sam na vrlo intenzivnom putovanju

across North Korea.

Sjevernom Korejom.

But the trip lasted a few days.

Putovanje je trajalo nekoliko dana.

What I've done with it sitting still, going back to it in my head,

Mirno sjedeći, razmišljajući o tom putovanju,

trying to understand it, finding a place for it in my thinking,

nastojeći da ga shvatim, nalazeći mu mjesto u svojim mislima,

that's lasted 24 years already

ono traje već 24 godine

and will probably last a lifetime.

i vjerojatno će trajati cijeli život.

The trip, in other words, gave me some amazing sights,

Drugim riječima, na tom putovanju bilo je predivnih vidika,

but it's only sitting still

ali tek mirnim sjedenjem

that allows me to turn those into lasting insights.

uspio sam ih pretvoriti u trajne uvide.

And I sometimes think that so much of our life

Ponekad pomislim kako se tako velik dio našeg života

takes place inside our heads,

odvija u našim glavama,

in memory or imagination or interpretation or speculation,

u našem sjećanju ili mašti ili interpretaciji ili predviđanjima

that if I really want to change my life

i zato, ako zaista želim promijeniti svoj život,

I might best begin by changing my mind.

najbolje bi bilo početi s promjenama u glavi.

Again, none of this is new;

Ponavljam, ništa od ovoga nije novo.

that's why Shakespeare and the Stoics were telling us this centuries ago,

Sve su nam to Shakespeare i stoici govorili pred mnogo stoljeća,

but Shakespeare never had to face 200 emails in a day.

ali Shakespeare nikad nije imao 200 e-mailova dnevno.

(Laughter)

(Smijeh)

The Stoics, as far as I know, were not on Facebook.

Stoici, koliko znam, nisu bili na Facebooku.

We all know that in our on-demand lives,

Svi znamo da, u našim životima na zahtjev,

one of the things that's most on demand

jedna od najtraženijih stvari

is ourselves.

upravo smo mi sami.

Wherever we are, any time of night or day,

Gdje god da jesmo, u bilo koje doba noći i dana,

our bosses, junk-mailers, our parents can get to us.

naši šefovi, isporučitelji spam pošte, naši roditelji, mogu doći do nas.

Sociologists have actually found that in recent years

Sociolozi su zapravo otkrili da posljednjih godina

Americans are working fewer hours than 50 years ago,

Amerikanci rade manje sati nego prije 50 godina,

but we feel as if we're working more.

ali osjećamo kao da radimo više.

We have more and more time-saving devices,

Imamo sve više i više uređaja koji nam štede vrijeme,

but sometimes, it seems, less and less time.

ali ponekad, čini se, sve manje i manje vremena.

We can more and more easily make contact with people

Sve jednostavnije možemo stupiti u kontakt s ljudima

on the furthest corners of the planet,

u najudaljenijim dijelovima svijeta,

but sometimes in that process

ali ponekad u tom procesu

we lose contact with ourselves.

gubimo dodir sami sa sobom.

And one of my biggest surprises as a traveler

Jedno od najvećih iznanađenja koja sam doživio kao putnik

has been to find that often it's exactly the people

bilo je kad sam otkrio da su često baš oni ljudi

who have most enabled us to get anywhere

koji su nam najviše pomogli da odemo nekamo

who are intent on going nowhere.

čvrsti u namjeri da ne idu nikamo.

In other words, precisely those beings

Drugim riječima, upravo oni ljudi

who have created the technologies

koji su stvorili tehnologije

that override so many of the limits of old,

kojima su svladana tolika ograničenja iz prošlosti

are the ones wisest about the need for limits,

najviše su svjesni potrebe za ograničenjima,

even when it comes to technology.

čak i kad se radi o tehnologiji.

I once went to the Google headquarters

Jednom sam bio u sjedištu Googlea

and I saw all the things many of you have heard about;

i vidio sam sve one stvari za koje ste mnogi čuli:

the indoor tree houses, the trampolines,

kućice na drvetu u zatvorenom, trampoline,

workers at that time enjoying 20 percent of their paid time free

radnike koji su tada 20 % radnog vremena imali slobodno

so that they could just let their imaginations go wandering.

kako bi mogli pustiti mašti na volju.

But what impressed me even more

Ali još me više impresioniralo što mi je,

was that as I was waiting for my digital I.D.,

dok sam čekao svoju digitalnu identifikaciju,

one Googler was telling me about the program

jedan zaposlenik pričao o programu

that he was about to start to teach the many, many Googlers

koji će pokrenuti kako bi brojne zaposlenike Googlea

who practice yoga to become trainers in it,

koji se bave jogom naučio kako da postanu treneri.

and the other Googler was telling me about the book that he was about to write

Drugi zaposlenik pričao mi je o knjizi koju namjerava napisati

on the inner search engine,

o unutarnjem sustavu za pretraživanje

and the ways in which science has empirically shown

i načinima na koje je znanost empirički dokazala

that sitting still, or meditation,

da mirno sjedenje, odnosno meditacija,

can lead not just to better health or to clearer thinking,

može rezultirati poboljšanjem zdravlja i jasnijim razmišljanjem,

but even to emotional intelligence.

ali i emocionalnom inteligencijom.

I have another friend in Silicon Valley

Imam prijatelja u Silicijskoj dolini

who is really one of the most eloquent spokesmen

koji je zaista jedan od najelokventnijih govornika

for the latest technologies,

za najnovije tehnologije

and in fact was one of the founders of Wired magazine, Kevin Kelly.

i bio je jedan od osnivača časopisa Wired – Kevin Kelly.

And Kevin wrote his last book on fresh technologies

Kevin je svoju najnoviju knjigu o novim tehnologijama

without a smartphone or a laptop or a TV in his home.

napisao bez pametnog telefona, laptopa ili TV-a u svojem domu.

And like many in Silicon Valley,

Kao mnogi u Silicijskoj dolini,

he tries really hard to observe

i on se trudi prakticirati

what they call an Internet sabbath,

ono što oni zovu internetski šabat,

whereby for 24 or 48 hours every week

odnosno 24 ili 48 sati svaki tjedan

they go completely offline

kad budu u potpunosti offline

in order to gather the sense of direction

kako bi stavili stvari u perspektivu

and proportion they'll need when they go online again.

koja će im trebati kad opet budu online.

The one thing perhaps that technology hasn't always given us

Jedna stvar koju nam tehnologija nije uvijek davala

is a sense of how to make the wisest use of technology.

jest znanje o tome kako ju najpametnije iskoristiti.

And when you speak of the sabbath,

Kad govorite o šabatu,

look at the Ten Commandments --

pogledajte deset zapovijedi:

there's only one word there for which the adjective "holy" is used,

samo se uz jednu riječ spominje svetkovanje,

and that's the Sabbath.

a to je šabat (dan Gospodnji).

I pick up the Jewish holy book of the Torah --

Uzeo sam Toru, svetu knjigu Židova --

its longest chapter, it's on the Sabbath.

najdulje je poglavlje ono o šabatu.

And we all know that it's really one of our greatest luxuries,

Svi znamo da nam je to zapravo jedan od najvećih luksuza,

the empty space.

prazan prostor.

In many a piece of music, it's the pause or the rest

U mnogim glazbenim djelima upravo pauza ili odmor

that gives the piece its beauty and its shape.

daje djelu ljepotu i oblik.

And I know I as a writer

Znam da ću ja kao pisac

will often try to include a lot of empty space on the page

često na stranicama nastojati ostaviti mnogo praznog prostora

so that the reader can complete my thoughts and sentences

kako bi čitatelj mogao dovršiti moje misli i rečenice

and so that her imagination has room to breathe.

i kako njegova mašta ne bi bila sputana.

Now, in the physical domain, of course, many people,

U fizičkoj domeni, naravno, mnogi ljudi,

if they have the resources,

ako raspolažu sredstvima,

will try to get a place in the country, a second home.

nastojat će imati kuću na selu, drugi dom.

I've never begun to have those resources,

Ja nikad nisam ni približno raspolagao takvim resursima,

but I sometimes remember that any time I want,

ali ponekad se sjetim da, kad god poželim,

I can get a second home in time, if not in space,

mogu si stvoriti drugi dom u vremenu, ako već ne u prostoru,

just by taking a day off.

tako da jednostavno uzmem slobodan dan.

And it's never easy because, of course, whenever I do I spend much of it

To nikad nije lako jer, naravno, kad god to činim, velik dio vremena provedem

worried about all the extra stuff

brinući se o svim dodatnim stvarima

that's going to crash down on me the following day.

koje će se sljedećeg dana sručiti na mene.

I sometimes think I'd rather give up meat or sex or wine

Ponekad mislim da bih se radije odrekao mesa, seksa ili vina

than the chance to check on my emails.

nego mogućosti da provjeravam svoje e-mailove.

(Laughter)

(Smijeh)

And every season I do try to take three days off on retreat

Svake sezone nastojim se povući na tri dana,

but a part of me still feels guilty to be leaving my poor wife behind

ali dio mene još se uvijek osjeća krivim što ostavljam svoju sirotu ženu

and to be ignoring all those seemingly urgent emails

i što ignoriram sve te naizgled hitne e-mailove

from my bosses

od mojih šefova

and maybe to be missing a friend's birthday party.

i što možda propuštam prijateljevu rođendansku zabavu.

But as soon as I get to a place of real quiet,

Ali čim dođem na mjesto prave tišine,

I realize that it's only by going there

shvatim da ću samo boravkom ondje

that I'll have anything fresh or creative or joyful to share

imati bilo što novo ili kreativno ili radosno

with my wife or bosses or friends.

za podijeliti sa svojom ženom ili šefovima ili prijateljima.

Otherwise, really,

Inače, zapravo,

I'm just foisting on them my exhaustion or my distractedness,

samo na njih prebacujem svoju iscrpljenost ili nedostatak pozornosti,

which is no blessing at all.

što nije nimalo blagotvorno.

And so when I was 29,

I tako sam s 29 godina

I decided to remake my entire life

odlučio promijeniti cijeli svoj život

in the light of going nowhere.

s pomoću odlaženja nikamo.

One evening I was coming back from the office,

Jedne večeri vraćao sam se iz ureda,

it was after midnight, I was in a taxi driving through Times Square,

prošla je ponoć, bio sam u taksiju i prolazili smo Times Squareom

and I suddenly realized that I was racing around so much

kad sam iznenada shvatio da toliko jurim uokolo

I could never catch up with my life.

da nikad neću moći sustići sâm sebe.

And my life then, as it happened,

A moj je život tada, zapravo,

was pretty much the one I might have dreamed of as a little boy.

bio više-manje onakav o kakvom sam sanjao kao dječak.

I had really interesting friends and colleagues,

Imao sam zaista zanimljive prijatelje i kolege,

I had a nice apartment on Park Avenue and 20th Street.

lijep stan na uglu Avenije Park i 20. ulice,

I had, to me, a fascinating job writing about world affairs,

meni fascinantan posao, na kojem sam pisao o situaciji u svijetu,

but I could never separate myself enough from them

ali nikako se nisam mogao dovoljno od njih odvojiti

to hear myself think --

da bih čuo svoje misli --

or really, to understand if I was truly happy.

ili, zapravo, da bih shvatio jesam li zaista sretan.

And so, I abandoned my dream life

Stoga sam ostavio svoj život iz snova

for a single room on the backstreets of Kyoto, Japan,

i zamijenio ga za sobu u uličici u Kyotu, u Japanu.

which was the place that had long exerted a strong,

Taj me grad vrlo dugo privlačio

really mysterious gravitational pull on me.

na vrlo snažan i tajnovit način.

Even as a child

Još kao dijete

I would just look at a painting of Kyoto and feel I recognized it;

pogledao bih sliku Kyota i osjećao da ju prepoznajem.

I knew it before I ever laid eyes on it.

Poznavao sam ga prije nego sam ga uopće vidio.

But it's also, as you all know,

Ali to je također, kao što znate,

a beautiful city encircled by hills,

prekrasan grad okružen brdima,

filled with more than 2,000 temples and shrines,

s više od 2000 hramova i oltara,

where people have been sitting still for 800 years or more.

gdje ljudi mirno sjede više od 800 godina.

And quite soon after I moved there, I ended up where I still am

Ubrzo nakon što sam se preselio tamo, završio sam na mjestu gdje sam i sada

with my wife, formerly our kids,

sa ženom, a ranije i s našom djecom,

in a two-room apartment in the middle of nowhere

u dvosobnom stanu usred ničega,

where we have no bicycle, no car,

gdje nemamo bicikl ni automobil

no TV I can understand,

ni TV koji bih razumio,

and I still have to support my loved ones

a još uvijek moram uzdržavati voljene osobe

as a travel writer and a journalist,

kao putopisac i novinar,

so clearly this is not ideal for job advancement

tako da to nije idealno za napredovanje u poslu

or for cultural excitement

ni za kulturološka uzbuđenja

or for social diversion.

ni za društvene aktivnosti.

But I realized that it gives me what I prize most,

Ali shvatio sam da dobivam ono što najviše cijenim:

which is days

dane

and hours.

i sate.

I have never once had to use a cell phone there.

Ondje se nijednom nisam morao poslužiti mobitelom.

I almost never have to look at the time,

Gotovo nikad ne moram gledati koliko je sati

and every morning when I wake up,

i svakog jutra kad se probudim,

really the day stretches in front of me

dan se prostire preda mnom

like an open meadow.

poput široke livade.

And when life throws up one of its nasty surprises,

A kad mi dan priredi ružno iznenađenje,

as it will, more than once,

kao što je to više puta bio slučaj,

when a doctor comes into my room

kad mi liječnik uđe u sobu

wearing a grave expression,

s ozbiljnim izrazom lica,

or a car suddenly veers in front of mine on the freeway,

kad se na autocesti iznenada ispred mene ubaci drugi automobil,

I know, in my bones,

znam, duboko u sebi,

that it's the time I've spent going nowhere

da će me vrijeme koje sam proveo idući nikamo

that is going to sustain me much more

održavati mnogo dulje

than all the time I've spent racing around to Bhutan or Easter Island.

nego sve vrijeme koje sam proveo jureći Butanom ili Uskršnjim otokom.

I'll always be a traveler --

Uvijek ću biti putnik --

my livelihood depends on it --

moji životni prihodi ovise o tome --

but one of the beauties of travel

ali jedna od ljepota putovanja

is that it allows you to bring stillness

jest to da vam omogućuje da unesete mirnoću

into the motion and the commotion of the world.

u kretanja i previranja u svijetu.

I once got on a plane in Frankfurt, Germany,

Jednom sam sjeo u avion u Frankfurtu, u Njemačkoj.

and a young German woman came down and sat next to me

Kraj mene je sjela mlada Njemica

and engaged me in a very friendly conversation

i započela sa mnom vrlo prijateljski razgovor

for about 30 minutes,

koji je trajao oko pola sata,

and then she just turned around

a zatim se samo okrenula

and sat still for 12 hours.

i mirno sjedila 12 sati.

She didn't once turn on her video monitor,

Nijednom nije upalila svoj monitor,

she never pulled out a book, she didn't even go to sleep,

nije izvadila knjigu, nije čak ni zaspala.

she just sat still,

Samo je mirno sjedila,

and something of her clarity and calm really imparted itself to me.

a njezina jasnoća i mir zaista su utjecali na mene.

I've noticed more and more people taking conscious measures these days

Primijetio sam da sve više i više ljudi u zadnje vrijeme svjesno poduzima mjere

to try to open up a space inside their lives.

da bi oslobodili prostor u svojim životima.

Some people go to black-hole resorts

Neki ljudi idu u „offline odmorišta”,

where they'll spend hundreds of dollars a night

u kojima plaćaju stotine dolara po noći

in order to hand over their cell phone and their laptop

da bi svoj mobitel i laptop

to the front desk on arrival.

predali na recepciji pri dolasku.

Some people I know, just before they go to sleep,

Neki od mojih poznanika prije nego odu spavati,

instead of scrolling through their messages

umjesto da pregledavaju poruke

or checking out YouTube,

ili gledaju YouTube,

just turn out the lights and listen to some music,

jednostavno isključe svjetla i slušaju glazbu

and notice that they sleep much better

te su primijetili da spavaju mnogo bolje

and wake up much refreshed.

i bude se odmorniji.

I was once fortunate enough

Jednom sam imao sreće

to drive into the high, dark mountains behind Los Angeles,

da se odvezem u visoke, mračne planine oko Los Angelesa,

where the great poet and singer

gdje je veliki pjesnik i pjevač

and international heartthrob Leonard Cohen

i međunarodni lomitelj srca Leonard Cohen

was living and working for many years as a full-time monk

mnogo godina živio i radio kao pravi redovnik

in the Mount Baldy Zen Center.

u Zen centru Mount Baldy.

And I wasn't entirely surprised

Nisam se naročito iznenadio

when the record that he released at the age of 77,

kad je ploča koju je objavio sa 77 godina

to which he gave the deliberately unsexy title of "Old Ideas,"

i kojoj je namjerno dao neprivlačan naslov „Stare ideje”,

went to number one in the charts in 17 nations in the world,

skočila na prvo mjesto top lista u 17 zemalja svijeta,

hit the top five in nine others.

i bila među prvih pet u još devet zemalja.

Something in us, I think, is crying out

Nešto u nama, rekao bih, vapi

for the sense of intimacy and depth that we get from people like that.

za tim osjećajem intimnosti i dubokoumnosti kojim odišu takvi ljudi,

who take the time and trouble to sit still.

koji odvajaju vrijeme i trude se mirno sjediti.

And I think many of us have the sensation,

Mislim da mnogi od nas imaju osjećaj – ja sigurno imam –

I certainly do,

that we're standing about two inches away from a huge screen,

da stojimo gotovo priljubljeni uz golemi ekran

and it's noisy and it's crowded

koji je glasan i natrpan

and it's changing with every second,

i mijenja se svake sekunde.

and that screen is our lives.

Taj je ekran naš život.

And it's only by stepping back, and then further back,

Tek kad se odmaknemo, malo pa onda još malo,

and holding still,

i stanemo mirno,

that we can begin to see what the canvas means

možemo shvatiti što to platno znači

and to catch the larger picture.

i sagledati širu sliku.

And a few people do that for us by going nowhere.

Nekoliko ljudi to radi za nas tako što ne idu nikamo.

So, in an age of acceleration,

Stoga je u doba ubrzavanja

nothing can be more exhilarating than going slow.

najuzbudljivije ići sporo.

And in an age of distraction,

U doba odvlačenja pažnje

nothing is so luxurious as paying attention.

najveći je luksuz obraćati pažnju.

And in an age of constant movement,

A u doba stalnoga kretanja

nothing is so urgent as sitting still.

od najveće je važnosti sjediti mirno.

So you can go on your next vacation

Sljedeći put na odmor možete otići

to Paris or Hawaii, or New Orleans;

u Pariz ili na Havaje ili u New Orleans

I bet you'll have a wonderful time.

i siguran sam da će vam biti odlično.

But, if you want to come back home alive and full of fresh hope,

Ali ako se kući želite vratiti stvarno živi i puni optimizma,

in love with the world,

zaljubljeni u svijet,

I think you might want to try considering going nowhere.

možda biste mogli razmisliti o tome da ne odete nikamo.

Thank you.

Hvala vam.

(Applause)

(Pljesak)