【英语语言学习】那些我与钱绝缘的日子
时间:2018-12-28 作者:英语课 分类:英语语言学习
英语课
When I was about this small, I decided 1 that I wanted to help save the planet. I was one of those kids that would tear off the label of the tea bag and then put it in the waste paper and then think where I put the staple 2. So I also really liked the idea of becoming a comedian 3. But I ignored that and I went to university to learn how to help save the environment. Save the planet. And about 10 years later in a master’s degree, many classes, books, a PhD degree, I became an environmental psychologist. Several research projects, I found myself sitting in a room at a computer. And I felt that I wasn’t really helping 4 to save the planet.
And then something happened. In a farm north of Amsterdam I took part in a master class for transition management that was organized, by the way, by an ex-colleague from the DRIFT Institute which is right here at Erasmus University. And in the master class it was January 2009 over dinner we discussed the crisis and are shock when talented people around us and friends lost jobs. And one of us — one participant [Liang Fu], she said, “Imagine. Imagine all of us would lose their jobs and we’d simply live”. And something happened inside me, I felt these happy hormones 5 and I thought, oh, oh, oh, oh, I want to do that. I want to do that. I like the idea of getting up in the morning and going out and doing what I’m good at, doing what I enjoy doing and then society takes care of me too.
So she appealed to a very personal longing 6 inside of me and the next day I wrote out a promise to myself and I said I’m going to do this. I am going to simply live without a job. And all these ideas came to me and I can work for him and do that with her and help her with the project. And so I was all inspired and I went home and told my boyfriend, and he said, “Oh great. That’s quite decadent 7. You’re going to live off your savings 8 for a year”. But I said, “Well, I’m not going to let you pop my balloon, this is not about money. You know anyone can do this with or without money and, well, I’ll do without them. I will prove it to you”.
So let’s observe what happened. We have the pre-boyfriend conversation, sabbatical, you know that we’re all kind of familiar with. And then we have the post-conversation, crazy idea. And I knew it was a crazy idea. So I said to myself, calm down. Take a couple of months to see if the idea sticks, and it did. After half a year it was mid 9 2009 I was still thrilled, I had found my Mount Everest that I wanted to climb. So I went ahead and within half a year I arranged to set up seven barter 10 deals for food and for staying in my apartment, for going out to dance, for having a work space. And throughout 2010 my bank balance remained stable without an income coming in.
I love adventure. I love adventure. I’m also very thorough person and I enjoy my projects most if I get to prepare them meticulously 11. So I drafted a letter, I had approved it by three of my friends whose creative writings I very much appreciate. It was a letter to my project with barter partners. I got my favorite stationery 12 and I invented a whole new concept of the CV, added it to the letter and I sent it out to the barter partners and then I would call them up and see if they were willing to see me and have a discussion with me. And to my great surprise, most of them said yes. Even a big company like [Nickel], energy supplier said, “OK we’ll supply you with a year’s gas and electricity, and you will do a research project for us that will help us market our green products”.
And then there was Mika with her organic store at my local organic store and I asked her if we could barter something and she was a bit taken aback, and said I’m sorry — she’s really nice, so when she said no, I thought what’s going on. And she said I have to operate in such a tight budget, I can’t afford this. And then I thought oh, I have to do some extra explaining, so I baked a cake, went over, we sat down for coffee and I explained to her that I was not interested in what would me be fair in the world out there, that I was only interested in what she and I would want to share with the job and which she would be interested in. And so in fairness we, the two of us, had to decide on that and we ended doing was this. We installed a coffee corner every Saturday morning in her store and that’s something that I’d been sort of dreaming about for a couple of years, so I was super happy that we could do that.
I made one big exception and that was with health care. I had at that time a three-year old son and I did approach an insurance company — a health insurance company, and they turned me down and I decided I’m not going to put my health at risk or my son’s health so that that is one point where money is going to flow from my account to the health insurance.
And the last letter I sent out was to the tango school because I thought you know I need more than just food and shelter. I need to be able to dance and they also said you know we’ll think of something, just keep coming to the milongas, we love to have you there. And so that was it. And then it was New Year’s Eve. And I had a wonderful day because the Dutch Financial Times had printed a letter that I’d sent into them in response to a call and what is your career opportunity in crisis year 2009, write a letter about working without money for one year, and I was very proud and obviously I wasn’t going to write text messages for a year. So in the afternoon I splurged out this long text message to all my friends.
And then when it was midnight, I wrapped up my wallet in the newspaper and sealed it with gaffer tape. And then it was 2010. So what is life like people ask me, what is it like to live without money? I thought — at first I thought oh, I would be lonely and feel excluded and where can I still go if I don’t have money to spend. And then I found out that because I was working together in all these small projects, with all these people that my life was more social than ever before or after that year. And for instance to make up for not going to restaurants I would cook every Thursday for friends and you know, every week a different set of people would show up and they’d bring the drinks and this, that and you know my kitchen transformed into a salon 13 like place where people like to come and eat and drink and discuss. And if I ever needed, this was [inaudible] on the roof. If I even needed anything in particular I’d send out an email to my network in Rotterdam explaining my requests, for instance, Max was three and he was learning how to cycle. So I wanted to get him a bike. And I would always get what I needed.
The tango and salons 14 were important by the way in the social aspects because I now work for them, I fly it around town to market their classes and their milongas and I felt almost like a special guest coming to the milongas and I became more loyal to them than ever.
I also bartered 15 for a workplace. The hub is a co-working space for people who are into sustainable development, and this is their garden. But the hub came to play a key role. Because before my year I had really thought about what money is and then coincidentally the hub screened the film Money As Debt which is a documentary about the money system. And this world opened up for me about what money is and that there are all kinds of critical people thinking about it and alternatives to money. And my jaw 16 dropped not so much because of the facts that were presented in the film but much more because of my own naïve, I had lived and worked in this system for all my life at least for my working life and I didn’t know. I didn’t know how it worked. I thought that you take your savings to the bank and then someone else can come and make a loan and work with that.
And I don’t know, you are students from the Erasmus University, you have a great affinity 17 to business but look at your neighbor and you can ask each other, who knows — who knows how the money system works because I didn’t. Maybe you want to interview each other after the talk.
Mind you I didn’t start my year because I was critical about money. I started it because just because I wanted to be even freer in choosing the work that I did. People asked me, ‘Did you ever want to give up?’ Well in fact I did.
In the middle of the year I was invited by friends to come along to Berlin and I’ve lived in Berlin for a while, so I have friends there too. I came along and I was there but I had no barter deals there. So I did go to organic stores and explain them my experiment and they gave me some food and I felt so vulnerable and I felt excluded and dependent on my friends and I realized that I had come to a limit of what I was willing to do and to experience. And after about two days of deliberation, I said OK this is where it stops. I went to this cash machine, took a picture, got out some money and bought ice cream for my friends.
And when I came back to the Netherlands, I picked up where I left off. And as the year proceeded in the beginning I had been very reluctant to tell people what I was doing, because I thought oh, God, a big crazy woman, I’m a freak living without money what’s she doing. And I noticed that I was sharing my story which I was of course all the time because I was doing things together with all these people and relying on my network. I realized that people were inspired and enthusiastic and curious how you do that. How do you do this and they were also — they seemed somehow relieved and happy that apparently 18 there was a way around money and that money is no must, so I became more and more happy and confident to share my story.
And then with the end of the year and New Year’s Eve came again and I went back to that farm where I had first gotten inspired where the transition management master class would take place. And we had a beautiful ceremony with lots of yoga and tango and the next day Max helped me unwrapped my wallet and I was allowed to go out again and to spend money. And it was really odd. And I didn’t like it very much at first and I missed my barter deals because I had grown used to and I had grown appreciative 19 of being dependent on these people that I knew and friend of mine calls it an economy of relationships and my own tiny economy of relationships had really given me this feeling of existential security.
Since then three years have passed and I’ve developed my own business and I make a living out of it. And that’s a direct effect of me trying myself out in that year. And in that year I gave up spontaneity, coffee and cake sessions, I gave up traveling to anywhere, I gave up run shopping, I gave up choosing my own perfume. And I got what I wanted. I now have work that helps save the planet. And I got more because I was working together with all these people and tried myself out from running a coffee corner in an organic store to writing — being a consultant 20 for a big firm and working with all these people and interacting with them that really boosted my confidence, because I knew what I liked and what I didn’t like and I knew what I could do, and what I couldn’t do.
And I find now that I never really much worry about my career or where it’s going because I’m confident that I will keep on moving towards interesting challenges. And therefore I want to recommend it to all of you. You don’t have to do what I did but take a while off, be a year or a week or a month and do what you really want to do and work with the people that you like and who inspire you and I will promise you that you will be up for interesting certain difficult lessons and personal growth. And by doing so, by moving without worrying about your career or about money, you also do something else. You also contribute to the rest of us. And I quote Manfred Max Neef who says the economy is there to serve the people and not the other way around. If you start moving and doing what you are inspired you will help to do just that and you’ll create an economy where we do the work that needs to be done and we create new things and an economy that serves us.
Thank you.
And then something happened. In a farm north of Amsterdam I took part in a master class for transition management that was organized, by the way, by an ex-colleague from the DRIFT Institute which is right here at Erasmus University. And in the master class it was January 2009 over dinner we discussed the crisis and are shock when talented people around us and friends lost jobs. And one of us — one participant [Liang Fu], she said, “Imagine. Imagine all of us would lose their jobs and we’d simply live”. And something happened inside me, I felt these happy hormones 5 and I thought, oh, oh, oh, oh, I want to do that. I want to do that. I like the idea of getting up in the morning and going out and doing what I’m good at, doing what I enjoy doing and then society takes care of me too.
So she appealed to a very personal longing 6 inside of me and the next day I wrote out a promise to myself and I said I’m going to do this. I am going to simply live without a job. And all these ideas came to me and I can work for him and do that with her and help her with the project. And so I was all inspired and I went home and told my boyfriend, and he said, “Oh great. That’s quite decadent 7. You’re going to live off your savings 8 for a year”. But I said, “Well, I’m not going to let you pop my balloon, this is not about money. You know anyone can do this with or without money and, well, I’ll do without them. I will prove it to you”.
So let’s observe what happened. We have the pre-boyfriend conversation, sabbatical, you know that we’re all kind of familiar with. And then we have the post-conversation, crazy idea. And I knew it was a crazy idea. So I said to myself, calm down. Take a couple of months to see if the idea sticks, and it did. After half a year it was mid 9 2009 I was still thrilled, I had found my Mount Everest that I wanted to climb. So I went ahead and within half a year I arranged to set up seven barter 10 deals for food and for staying in my apartment, for going out to dance, for having a work space. And throughout 2010 my bank balance remained stable without an income coming in.
I love adventure. I love adventure. I’m also very thorough person and I enjoy my projects most if I get to prepare them meticulously 11. So I drafted a letter, I had approved it by three of my friends whose creative writings I very much appreciate. It was a letter to my project with barter partners. I got my favorite stationery 12 and I invented a whole new concept of the CV, added it to the letter and I sent it out to the barter partners and then I would call them up and see if they were willing to see me and have a discussion with me. And to my great surprise, most of them said yes. Even a big company like [Nickel], energy supplier said, “OK we’ll supply you with a year’s gas and electricity, and you will do a research project for us that will help us market our green products”.
And then there was Mika with her organic store at my local organic store and I asked her if we could barter something and she was a bit taken aback, and said I’m sorry — she’s really nice, so when she said no, I thought what’s going on. And she said I have to operate in such a tight budget, I can’t afford this. And then I thought oh, I have to do some extra explaining, so I baked a cake, went over, we sat down for coffee and I explained to her that I was not interested in what would me be fair in the world out there, that I was only interested in what she and I would want to share with the job and which she would be interested in. And so in fairness we, the two of us, had to decide on that and we ended doing was this. We installed a coffee corner every Saturday morning in her store and that’s something that I’d been sort of dreaming about for a couple of years, so I was super happy that we could do that.
I made one big exception and that was with health care. I had at that time a three-year old son and I did approach an insurance company — a health insurance company, and they turned me down and I decided I’m not going to put my health at risk or my son’s health so that that is one point where money is going to flow from my account to the health insurance.
And the last letter I sent out was to the tango school because I thought you know I need more than just food and shelter. I need to be able to dance and they also said you know we’ll think of something, just keep coming to the milongas, we love to have you there. And so that was it. And then it was New Year’s Eve. And I had a wonderful day because the Dutch Financial Times had printed a letter that I’d sent into them in response to a call and what is your career opportunity in crisis year 2009, write a letter about working without money for one year, and I was very proud and obviously I wasn’t going to write text messages for a year. So in the afternoon I splurged out this long text message to all my friends.
And then when it was midnight, I wrapped up my wallet in the newspaper and sealed it with gaffer tape. And then it was 2010. So what is life like people ask me, what is it like to live without money? I thought — at first I thought oh, I would be lonely and feel excluded and where can I still go if I don’t have money to spend. And then I found out that because I was working together in all these small projects, with all these people that my life was more social than ever before or after that year. And for instance to make up for not going to restaurants I would cook every Thursday for friends and you know, every week a different set of people would show up and they’d bring the drinks and this, that and you know my kitchen transformed into a salon 13 like place where people like to come and eat and drink and discuss. And if I ever needed, this was [inaudible] on the roof. If I even needed anything in particular I’d send out an email to my network in Rotterdam explaining my requests, for instance, Max was three and he was learning how to cycle. So I wanted to get him a bike. And I would always get what I needed.
The tango and salons 14 were important by the way in the social aspects because I now work for them, I fly it around town to market their classes and their milongas and I felt almost like a special guest coming to the milongas and I became more loyal to them than ever.
I also bartered 15 for a workplace. The hub is a co-working space for people who are into sustainable development, and this is their garden. But the hub came to play a key role. Because before my year I had really thought about what money is and then coincidentally the hub screened the film Money As Debt which is a documentary about the money system. And this world opened up for me about what money is and that there are all kinds of critical people thinking about it and alternatives to money. And my jaw 16 dropped not so much because of the facts that were presented in the film but much more because of my own naïve, I had lived and worked in this system for all my life at least for my working life and I didn’t know. I didn’t know how it worked. I thought that you take your savings to the bank and then someone else can come and make a loan and work with that.
And I don’t know, you are students from the Erasmus University, you have a great affinity 17 to business but look at your neighbor and you can ask each other, who knows — who knows how the money system works because I didn’t. Maybe you want to interview each other after the talk.
Mind you I didn’t start my year because I was critical about money. I started it because just because I wanted to be even freer in choosing the work that I did. People asked me, ‘Did you ever want to give up?’ Well in fact I did.
In the middle of the year I was invited by friends to come along to Berlin and I’ve lived in Berlin for a while, so I have friends there too. I came along and I was there but I had no barter deals there. So I did go to organic stores and explain them my experiment and they gave me some food and I felt so vulnerable and I felt excluded and dependent on my friends and I realized that I had come to a limit of what I was willing to do and to experience. And after about two days of deliberation, I said OK this is where it stops. I went to this cash machine, took a picture, got out some money and bought ice cream for my friends.
And when I came back to the Netherlands, I picked up where I left off. And as the year proceeded in the beginning I had been very reluctant to tell people what I was doing, because I thought oh, God, a big crazy woman, I’m a freak living without money what’s she doing. And I noticed that I was sharing my story which I was of course all the time because I was doing things together with all these people and relying on my network. I realized that people were inspired and enthusiastic and curious how you do that. How do you do this and they were also — they seemed somehow relieved and happy that apparently 18 there was a way around money and that money is no must, so I became more and more happy and confident to share my story.
And then with the end of the year and New Year’s Eve came again and I went back to that farm where I had first gotten inspired where the transition management master class would take place. And we had a beautiful ceremony with lots of yoga and tango and the next day Max helped me unwrapped my wallet and I was allowed to go out again and to spend money. And it was really odd. And I didn’t like it very much at first and I missed my barter deals because I had grown used to and I had grown appreciative 19 of being dependent on these people that I knew and friend of mine calls it an economy of relationships and my own tiny economy of relationships had really given me this feeling of existential security.
Since then three years have passed and I’ve developed my own business and I make a living out of it. And that’s a direct effect of me trying myself out in that year. And in that year I gave up spontaneity, coffee and cake sessions, I gave up traveling to anywhere, I gave up run shopping, I gave up choosing my own perfume. And I got what I wanted. I now have work that helps save the planet. And I got more because I was working together with all these people and tried myself out from running a coffee corner in an organic store to writing — being a consultant 20 for a big firm and working with all these people and interacting with them that really boosted my confidence, because I knew what I liked and what I didn’t like and I knew what I could do, and what I couldn’t do.
And I find now that I never really much worry about my career or where it’s going because I’m confident that I will keep on moving towards interesting challenges. And therefore I want to recommend it to all of you. You don’t have to do what I did but take a while off, be a year or a week or a month and do what you really want to do and work with the people that you like and who inspire you and I will promise you that you will be up for interesting certain difficult lessons and personal growth. And by doing so, by moving without worrying about your career or about money, you also do something else. You also contribute to the rest of us. And I quote Manfred Max Neef who says the economy is there to serve the people and not the other way around. If you start moving and doing what you are inspired you will help to do just that and you’ll create an economy where we do the work that needs to be done and we create new things and an economy that serves us.
Thank you.
1 decided
adj.决定了的,坚决的;明显的,明确的
- This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
- There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。
2 staple
n.主要产物,常用品,主要要素,原料,订书钉,钩环;adj.主要的,重要的;vt.分类
- Tea is the staple crop here.本地产品以茶叶为大宗。
- Potatoes are the staple of their diet.土豆是他们的主要食品。
3 comedian
n.喜剧演员;滑稽演员
- The comedian tickled the crowd with his jokes.喜剧演员的笑话把人们逗乐了。
- The comedian enjoyed great popularity during the 30's.那位喜剧演员在三十年代非常走红。
4 helping
n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的,辅助的
- The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
- By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。
5 hormones
n.(for)渴望
- Hearing the tune again sent waves of longing through her.再次听到那首曲子使她胸中充满了渴望。
- His heart burned with longing for revenge.他心中燃烧着急欲复仇的怒火。
6 decadent
adj.颓废的,衰落的,堕落的
- Don't let decadent ideas eat into yourselves.别让颓废的思想侵蚀你们。
- This song was once banned, because it was regarded as decadent.这首歌曾经被认定为是靡靡之音而被禁止播放。
7 savings
n.存款,储蓄
- I can't afford the vacation,for it would eat up my savings.我度不起假,那样会把我的积蓄用光的。
- By this time he had used up all his savings.到这时,他的存款已全部用完。
8 mid
adj.中央的,中间的
- Our mid-term exam is pending.我们就要期中考试了。
- He switched over to teaching in mid-career.他在而立之年转入教学工作。
9 barter
n.物物交换,以货易货,实物交易
- Chickens,goats and rabbits were offered for barter at the bazaar.在集市上,鸡、山羊和兔子被摆出来作物物交换之用。
- They have arranged food imports on a barter basis.他们以易货贸易的方式安排食品进口。
10 meticulously
adv.过细地,异常细致地;无微不至;精心
- The hammer's silvery head was etched with holy runs and its haft was meticulously wrapped in blue leather. 锤子头是纯银制成的,雕刻着神圣符文,而握柄则被精心地包裹在蓝色的皮革中。 来自辞典例句
- She is always meticulously accurate in punctuation and spelling. 她的标点和拼写总是非常精确。 来自辞典例句
11 stationery
n.文具;(配套的)信笺信封
- She works in the stationery department of a big store.她在一家大商店的文具部工作。
- There was something very comfortable in having plenty of stationery.文具一多,心里自会觉得踏实。
12 salon
n.[法]沙龙;客厅;营业性的高级服务室
- Do you go to the hairdresser or beauty salon more than twice a week?你每周去美容院或美容沙龙多过两次吗?
- You can hear a lot of dirt at a salon.你在沙龙上会听到很多流言蜚语。
13 salons
n.(营业性质的)店( salon的名词复数 );厅;沙龙(旧时在上流社会女主人家的例行聚会或聚会场所);(大宅中的)客厅
- He used to attend to his literary salons. 他过去常常去参加他的文学沙龙。 来自《简明英汉词典》
- Conspiracy theories about Jewish financiers were the talk of Paris salons. 犹太金融家阴谋论成为巴黎沙龙的话题。 来自互联网
14 bartered
v.作物物交换,以货换货( barter的过去式和过去分词 )
- The local people bartered wheat for tools. 当地人用小麦换取工具。
- They bartered farm products for machinery. 他们用农产品交换机器。 来自《简明英汉词典》
15 jaw
n.颚,颌,说教,流言蜚语;v.喋喋不休,教训
- He delivered a right hook to his opponent's jaw.他给了对方下巴一记右钩拳。
- A strong square jaw is a sign of firm character.强健的方下巴是刚毅性格的标志。
16 affinity
n.亲和力,密切关系
- I felt a great affinity with the people of the Highlands.我被苏格兰高地人民深深地吸引。
- It's important that you share an affinity with your husband.和丈夫有共同的爱好是十分重要的。
17 apparently
adv.显然地;表面上,似乎
- An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽,豁然开朗。
- He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。
18 appreciative
adj.有鉴赏力的,有眼力的;感激的
- She was deeply appreciative of your help.她对你的帮助深表感激。
- We are very appreciative of their support in this respect.我们十分感谢他们在这方面的支持。
19 consultant
n.顾问;会诊医师,专科医生
- He is a consultant on law affairs to the mayor.他是市长的一个法律顾问。
- Originally,Gar had agreed to come up as a consultant.原来,加尔只答应来充当我们的顾问。