Hannah Brencher: Love letters to strangers

Translator: Joseph Geni Reviewer: Morton Bast

譯者: 盧 曉天 審譯者: James Hung

I was one of the only kids in college who had a reason

念大學的時，我是唯一一個

to go to the P.O. box at the end of the day,

每天都要到郵政信箱報到的孩子

and that was mainly because my mother has never believed

主要是因為

in email, in Facebook, in texting or cell phones in general.

我媽從來就不相信 電郵、臉書、簡訊或手機這些東西

And so while other kids were BBM-ing their parents,

所以， 當其他人都在用黑莓機連絡爸媽時

I was literally waiting by the mailbox

我真的就是站在郵箱旁邊等

to get a letter from home to see how the weekend had gone,

等一封家書，看看家裡近況如何

which was a little frustrating when Grandma was in the hospital,

聽說奶奶住院，有點沮喪

but I was just looking for some sort of scribble,

但我在找熟悉的筆跡

some unkempt cursive from my mother.

我媽媽潦草的筆跡

And so when I moved to New York City after college

畢業後，我搬到紐約

and got completely sucker-punched in the face by depression,

好巧不巧遇上金融海嘯

I did the only thing I could think of at the time.

那時候，我只想到要做一件事

I wrote those same kinds of letters that my mother had written me

我照著媽媽以前寫給我的信， 再寫了一些給陌生人

for strangers, and tucked them all throughout the city,

把數十封信

dozens and dozens of them. I left them everywhere,

塞到每個角落

in cafes and in libraries, at the U.N., everywhere.

放在咖啡廳、圖書館、聯合國總部，每一個地方

I blogged about those letters and the days

然後，我在部落格上公布了這件事

when they were necessary, and I posed

告訴大家什麼時候可以拿到這些信

a kind of crazy promise to the Internet:

也向大家保證

that if you asked me for a hand-written letter,

我可以毫無條件地寫信給

I would write you one, no questions asked.

每一個想要收到手寫信的人

Overnight, my inbox morphed into this harbor of heartbreak --

一夜間， 我的郵箱變成大家的避風港

a single mother in Sacramento, a girl being bullied

一位沙加緬度的單親媽媽、 一位被霸凌的堪薩斯農村女孩

in rural Kansas, all asking me, a 22-year-old girl

大家都要我這個22歲

who barely even knew her own coffee order,

連自己點什麼咖啡都搞不清楚的女孩

to write them a love letter and give them a reason

寫情書給他們

to wait by the mailbox.

並給他們一個等待的理由

Well, today I fuel a global organization

如今，我參與了一個國際組織

that is fueled by those trips to the mailbox,

一個專門透過郵箱寄信的組織

fueled by the ways in which we can harness social media

這個組織 史無前例地利用社群媒體

like never before to write and mail strangers letters

寫信給迫切需要的陌生人

when they need them most, but most of all,

但最重要的是

fueled by crates of mail like this one, my trusty mail crate,

用像這個裝了郵件的紙箱支撐著， 我最可靠的裝信紙箱，

filled with the scriptings of ordinary people,

裡頭裝滿了平凡人的筆跡，

strangers writing letters to other strangers not because

陌生人寫信給其他陌生人，

they're ever going to meet and laugh over a cup of coffee,

並非因為他們將要見面或者喝杯咖啡聊天，

but because they have found one another by way of letter-writing.

而是因為他們藉由寫信發現彼此。

But, you know, the thing that always gets me

但你知道嗎，我老是被這些信感動的是

about these letters is that most of them have been written

其中大部分的信是被一些從來不知道

by people that have never known themselves loved on a piece of paper.

他們自己喜歡紙上文字的人所寫。

They could not tell you about the ink of their own love letters.

他們無法告訴你他們自己情書上的油墨。

They're the ones from my generation,

他們和我是同個世代的人，

the ones of us that have grown up into a world

我們成長在沒有紙張的世界，

where everything is paperless, and where some

而且有些我們最好的溝通

of our best conversations have happened upon a screen.

都發生在銀幕上。

We have learned to diary our pain onto Facebook,

我們知道怎麼將我們的痛苦記錄在臉書上，

and we speak swiftly in 140 characters or less.

我們講話時非常簡短，有時用到少於140字母。

But what if it's not about efficiency this time?

如果這次不是只關效率呢？

I was on the subway yesterday with this mail crate,

昨天我拿著這個裝了信件的紙箱搭地鐵，

which is a conversation starter, let me tell you.

我跟你說，這紙箱是一個話匣子。

If you ever need one, just carry one of these. (Laughter)

如果你需要話題的話，就帶一個吧。(笑聲)

And a man just stared at me, and he was like,

有個男人盯著我看，他看起來好像是在說：

"Well, why don't you use the Internet?"

「奇怪了，為什麼你不用網路呢？」

And I thought, "Well, sir, I am not a strategist,

我心想：「先生，我不是戰略家，

nor am I specialist. I am merely a storyteller."

也不是專家。我姑且算是一個說故事的人吧。」

And so I could tell you about a woman

我能夠告訴你的是有個妻子，

whose husband has just come home from Afghanistan,

她丈夫剛從阿富汗回到家，

and she is having a hard time unearthing this thing called conversation,

她經歷一段非常艱難的時間想辦法和丈夫溝通，

and so she tucks love letters throughout the house

於是她將情書藏遍整個房子，

as a way to say, "Come back to me.

如同在說：「回到我身邊。

Find me when you can."

當你可以的時候，找到我。」

Or a girl who decides that she is going to leave love letters

另外，有個女孩決定要將情書放在

around her campus in Dubuque, Iowa, only to find

自己位在愛荷華州迪比克的校園裡，

her efforts ripple-effected the next day when she walks out

直到隔天當她走到教室外時，

onto the quad and finds love letters hanging

她發現她的付出已經成熟，

from the trees, tucked in the bushes and the benches.

發現有情書掛在樹上，藏在草叢和長椅中。

Or the man who decides that he is going to take his life,

另一則是有個男人決定要結束他的生命，

uses Facebook as a way to say goodbye

透過臉書和朋友還有家人

to friends and family.

道別。

Well, tonight he sleeps safely with a stack of letters

嗯，今晚他舒適地睡在一疊信中，

just like this one tucked beneath his pillow,

就像我手上這一疊信，塞在他的枕頭下，

scripted by strangers who were there for him when.

這些信由那些一向支持他的陌生人們所寫。

These are the kinds of stories that convinced me

就是這些故事讓我相信

that letter-writing will never again need to flip back her hair

寫信不再是令人討厭，

and talk about efficiency, because she is an art form now,

也不是要講求效率的事， 因為現在這已經是種藝術，

all the parts of her, the signing, the scripting, the mailing,

每個部分都是，簽名，筆跡，郵寄，

the doodles in the margins.

邊緣的塗鴉。

The mere fact that somebody would even just sit down,

事實是有個人可以就坐下，

pull out a piece of paper and think about someone

拿出一張紙，從頭到尾想著一個人，

the whole way through, with an intention that is so much

而這樣的心意是打開網路瀏覽器、

harder to unearth when the browser is up and the iPhone

iPhone發出訊息聲告訴我們一次接收六則對話，

is pinging and we've got six conversations rolling in at once,

很難達到的，

that is an art form

這是種藝術，

that does not fall down to the Goliath of "get faster,"

不論我們加入多少社群網絡媒體，

no matter how many social networks we might join.

並不會敗倒在「快速」哲學巨人之下。

We still clutch close these letters to our chest,

當我們將胸膛拉近到紙張前，

to the words that speak louder than loud,

更強烈地述說著早就想大聲說的事情，

when we turn pages into palettes to say the things

當我們將這些書信化為調色盤，去訴說著

that we have needed to say,

那些我們必須說出來的事情，

the words that we have needed to write, to sisters

那些我們必須寫出來的事情

and brothers and even to strangers, for far too long.

給我們的兄弟姊妹，甚至是陌生人，讓他們永遠珍藏...

Thank you. (Applause)

謝謝(掌聲)

(Applause)

(掌聲)