Deep sea diving ... in a wheelchair | Sue Austin

Translator: Joseph Geni Reviewer: Morton Bast

翻译人员: xueling Sun 校对人员: Rongyang Sun

It's wonderful to be here

非常高兴能在这里

to talk about my journey,

谈谈我的人生旅程

to talk about the wheelchair

谈谈轮椅

and the freedom it has bought me.

以及它给与我的自由

I started using a wheelchair 16 years ago

我是从16年前开始坐上轮椅的

when an extended illness

那时一场长期的慢性病

changed the way I could access the world.

改变了我接触这个世界的方式

When I started using the wheelchair,

当我开始使用轮椅

it was a tremendous new freedom.

我立即感受到一种全新的绝妙的自由

I'd seen my life slip away and become restricted.

因为生活曾经一度离我而去，人生受到限制

It was like having an enormous new toy.

那时好像拥有了一个崭新的玩具

I could whiz around and feel the wind in my face again.

我可以嗖嗖地快速来往，重新体验风拂在脸上的感觉

Just being out on the street was exhilarating.

就连出门都变得如此令人高兴

But even though I had this newfound joy and freedom,

但即使我重获快乐与自由

people's reaction completely changed towards me.

人们对我的反应还是彻彻底底的改变了

It was as if they couldn't see me anymore,

他们好像看不见我了

as if an invisibility cloak had descended.

就好像我穿上了隐身衣似的

They seemed to see me in terms of their assumptions

他们似乎是通过自己的逻辑来推测我的想法，

of what it must be like to be in a wheelchair.

来断言坐在轮椅中的感觉如何的。

When I asked people their associations with the wheelchair,

当被问起关于“轮椅"会有怎样的联想时

they used words like "limitation," "fear,"

人们会用到诸如”限制“，”害怕“

"pity" and "restriction."

”遗憾“和”约束“等词语

I realized I'd internalized these responses

我意思到在潜意识里我会把他们的回答内化

and it had changed who I was on a core level.

因此就从根本上改变了我

A part of me had become alienated from myself.

我内心的一部分渐渐疏远了自己

I was seeing myself not from my perspective,

我对自己的看法并不是来自自身所持观点

but vividly and continuously from the perspective

而是不断地、强烈地受到

of other people's responses to me.

他人给与的回应的影响

As a result, I knew I needed to make my own stories

正因此，我明白自己需要就这段经历

about this experience,

创造属于我自己的故事

new narratives to reclaim my identity.

一个全新的，可以改造自我意识的故事

["Finding Freedom: 'By creating our own stories we learn to take the texts of our lives as seriously as we do 'official' narratives.' — Davis 2009, TEDx Women"]

["寻找自由：‘通过创造属于自己的故事，我们学会认真审视自己的生命，正如我们编写官方材料一样。‘——Davis2009.TEDx women']

I started making work

于是我开始着手创造

that aimed to communicate something

其目的在于传递

of the joy and freedom I felt when using a wheelchair --

轮椅带给我的快乐和自由

a power chair -- to negotiate the world.

有魔力的椅子--她助我玩转世界

I was working to transform these internalized responses,

我致力于改变那些“内化了的回应”

to transform the preconceptions that had so shaped

去改变那些当我开始使用轮椅时

my identity when I started using a wheelchair,

曾一度塑造了我的自我意识的先入为主的观点

by creating unexpected images.

通过创造出人意料的画面

The wheelchair became an object to paint and play with.

这轮椅成了我绘画和娱乐的用具

When I literally started leaving

当我真的开始留下

traces of my joy and freedom,

我快乐和自由的痕迹的时候

it was exciting to see

人们表现出的

the interested and surprised responses from people.

兴趣和惊讶非常令我激动

It seemed to open up new perspectives,

这似乎成了新观念的开端

and therein lay the paradigm shift.

这其中蕴含了思维模式的转换

It showed that an arts practice

我们可以看到艺术性尝试

can remake one's identity

能够重塑一个人的自我意识

and transform preconceptions by revisioning the familiar.

通过修订熟识之事来改变先入之见

So when I began to dive, in 2005,

于是，在2005年，我开始潜水

I realized scuba gear extends your range of activity

我意识到水肺同轮椅一样

in just the same way as a wheelchair does,

能扩展使用者的活动自由

but the associations attached to scuba gear

但不同的是，水肺带来的

are ones of excitement and adventure,

是令人兴奋和冒险的联想

completely different to people's responses to the wheelchair.

和人们对于轮椅的联想截然相反

So I thought, "I wonder what'll happen

于是我就想，“如果把它们俩

if I put the two together?" (Laughter) (Applause)

放在一起会如何？”（笑）（掌声)

And the underwater wheelchair that has resulted

然后，水下轮椅就诞生了

has taken me on the most amazing journey

在过去的这7年里

over the last seven years.

它带给我最最惊奇的水下之旅

So to give you an idea of what that's like,

为了让你们体会这是怎样的一种感受

I'd like to share with you one of the outcomes

我将在这里和你们分享

from creating this spectacle,

其中一次这种奇景带来的成果

and show you what an amazing journey it's taken me on.

并向你们展示它带给我的是一种怎样的奇妙旅程

(Music)

（音乐)

(Applause)

（掌声）

It is the most amazing experience,

这是我最最叹服的经历

beyond most other things I've experienced in life.

超过我所经历过的任何事情

I literally have the freedom to move

我竟能真的如此自由自在地

in 360 degrees of space

360度地在空间中移动

and an ecstatic experience of joy and freedom.

同时享受着愉悦和自由带来的狂喜之情

And the incredibly unexpected thing

最难以置信的事情是

is that other people seem to see and feel that too.

其他人似乎也有身临其境之感

Their eyes literally light up,

他们眼中闪着光芒

and they say things like, "I want one of those,"

并说，“我也想试试！”

or, "If you can do that, I can do anything."

”既然你可以做到，我也能做任何事情！”

And I'm thinking, it's because in that moment

然后我在想，这是因为在那时

of them seeing an object

他们目睹了一件

they have no frame of reference for,

他们从来没有见过的事

or so transcends the frames of reference

或者说，这件事超越了人们心中

they have with the wheelchair,

关于轮椅的固有的观念

they have to think in a completely new way.

使得他们不得不采用一种崭新的思维方式

And I think that moment of completely new thought

我觉得在这全新观念诞生的时刻

perhaps creates a freedom

也许也带来了一种新的自由

that spreads to the rest of other people's lives.

这自由也在其他人的生命之中穿梭

For me, this means that they're seeing

对我而言，这意味着他们目睹了

the value of difference,

与众不同的价值

the joy it brings

以及它带来的快乐

when instead of focusing on loss or limitation,

当我们不在计较失去和限制时

we see and discover the power and joy

我们就能发现这令人兴奋的新观念

of seeing the world from exciting new perspectives.

拥有的力量和愉悦

For me, the wheelchair becomes

对我来说，轮椅

a vehicle for transformation.

成为了一种转化工具

In fact, I now call the underwater wheelchair "Portal,"

实际上我现在把水下轮椅叫做 “穿越之门”

because it's literally pushed me through

因为它的确

into a new way of being,

把我推入了一种崭新的生活

into new dimensions and into a new level of consciousness.

进入了一个新的维度和一个思想意识的新高度

And the other thing is,

除此之外

that because nobody's seen or heard

水下轮椅对其他人而言

of an underwater wheelchair before,

闻所未闻见所未见

and creating this spectacle is about creating

因此创造这奇物就是在创造

new ways of seeing, being and knowing,

新的看法，存在 和认知感

now you have this concept in your mind.

现在这一概念已经存在于你的脑海之中

You're all part of the artwork too.

你们也就都成了这艺术作品的一部分。

(Applause)

（掌声）