Be Heard. Be Recognized. 被听见！被认可！
"I read what seduces me, I write what perverts me. "
- Heather Cai -
First of all, big thank you to everyone for your kind, supportive and appreciative kudos! Every bit is dear to my heart.
首先，由衷感谢所有给予我赞赏和支持的人！
It took me about 8 months to complete this speech Be Heard. Be Recognized., and after the completion, I felt :
Red was the color of how I felt. I wore exactly the same dress for my very first post A Brief Exhibition Review: Frames of Mind, when I started building HeathersChamber. Over the year from June 2019 to June 2020, I had doubts, fear, uncertainty and hope, more often looking backward and inward. Now I look more outward, onward and homeward, feeling this is a complete circle.
红色是我当前内心的写照。当我开始建造阿太的密室时，我在第一篇文章《简短的展评：Frames of Mind》中穿了一模一样的红裙子。从2019年6月到2020年6月的这一年里，我有过怀疑，恐惧，不确定和小小希望，更多的是向后和向内看。现在我更偏向往外看，往前看和往家的方向看，感觉这是一个完整的圆。
Einstein said, If I had an hour to solve a problem and my life depended on it, I would use the first 55 minutes determining the proper questions to ask. So, what questions would you ask if you had only an hour to live?
I would ask, What questions do you fear the most to answer?
If you are starving, “Have you eaten?”
If you are broke, “Are you rich?”
If you are leftover, “Are you married?”
If you are sad, “Are you happy?”
If you are dying, “Have you lived enough?”
I am not afraid of answering all these questions. I am not even afraid of answering “Have you published your books yet?” Because it is natural for me not to get easily published. But over the years I have been afraid when people asked me, “Have you made any money from your writing?”
The answer is obviously no, no, no. However, think twice, “How could you earn money as a new writer by just burying your head in the desk?”
Isn’t it unnatural for a completely unknown author to be a sudden millionaire or billionaire? Especially for one who has nothing at all - no background, no connections, no money. I suppose the only way for me to start a writing career is to create a foundation, to show up in public, to be heard among people and to be recognized.
So, I came to build my now exactly 1-year-old HeathersChamber, growing from a personal space into a public service platform that will focus on literature, art, culture, philosophy and women’s issues in the world. It has brought me my first publication, my first exhibition, my first art project of THE WHO that puts my idea of becoming a curator into action of writing a proposal for a German artist, and my first year bonus of 1915rmb on writing.
Why “bonus”, not “salary”? Because I didn’t earn all of it. For instance, my latest article Traditions or Choices, I tried the newest feature of WeChat Accounts and let readers pay to read, I blindly set a goal, I had to ask some friends for help, I then reached the goal that had felt like building a pyramid. But of all the things done through HeathersChamber, I did earn my chance to co-organize this Café Philo China event.
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---PPT Presentation: Lessons Learned 2020.5.27-2020.7.29 |演讲PPT
And of all the lessons learned from creating this event, I found the hardest one is the very first one, putting an idea into action. Have you ever been wanting to do something but always felt not yet ready to do it? The idea is rooted in your head, but why are you never ready? Because we are not heard enough, we are not recognized enough, we are not confident enough, we are not certain enough, we are not brave enough. All in all, we think too much and we do too little.
Somehow the incident of me being hit by a car and being fine, gave me an insight into a new way of thinking - not trying everything but doing each small thing with the same urgency. I might never be that lucky again, but I cherish what I have and do what I do.
It doesn’t matter if, like me, you never become the best speaker. But it does matter if you can hear yourself in silence, recognize yourself in the crowds, and surprise yourself in wonder of others’ eyes.
So, if you want to be wonderful, be heard, be recognized, and be yourself.
爱因斯坦说，如果我有一个小时来解决一个生死攸关的问题，我会用前面55分钟的时间来确立要问的合适问题。那如果你生命的漏斗仅剩一个小时，你会问什么问题？
我会问，你最害怕回答什么问题？
如果你饿了，“你吃过了吗？”
如果你破产了，“你有钱吗？”
如果你是剩女，“你结婚了吗？”
如果你很难过，“你开心吗？”
如果你快要死，“你活够了吗？”
所有这些问题，我都不怕回答。我甚至不怕回答：“你的书出版了吗？”因为第一部小说不容易出版对我来说是一件很自然的事。但这些年来，我一直很害怕人们问我：“你从你的写作中有赚到什么钱了吗？”
答案显然是没，没，没。然而，仔细想想：“作为一名刚刚起步的作家，你整天埋头苦写，怎么能赚钱呢？”
一个完全不知名的作家突然成为百万富翁或亿万富翁是不是很不可信？尤其是对于一个一无所有的人——没有背景，没有关系，没有钱。这样，想必我开始写作生涯的唯一出路就是开创一个属于自己的平台，在公共场合露面，在人群中被听到，被认可。
因此，我花了整整一年时间努力打造阿太的密室，从个人空间逐渐拓展为集文学、艺术、文化、哲学和世界女性的公共服务平台。它给我创造机会实现了我的第一次出版，我的第一个画展，我的第一个“谁‘系列艺术项目，使我有可能成为一名策展人的想法付诸行动，为一位德国艺术家拟写一份展览策划书，还给我雪中送炭让我感觉”似乎可以稍微犒劳一下自己“的第一笔年终写作奖金1915元人民币。
为什么是“奖金”，而不是“薪资”？因为我没有赚到所有的钱。例如，我最近发表的文章《传统还是选择》，我尝试了公众号的最新功能，让读者付费阅读，我盲目地设定了一个目标，我不得不向一些朋友寻求帮助，最后达成目标我却仍感觉像是在建一个金字塔。但通过阿太的密室所做的一切，确实让我有幸与一位意大利朋友合作，共同组织这个中国咖啡哲学活动。
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---PPT Presentation: Lessons Learned 2020.5.27-2020.7.29 |演讲PPT
在组织这个活动获取的所有经验中，我发现最难的是第一个，把想法付诸行动。你有没有想过要做某件事，但总是觉得还没有准备好去做？这个想法植根在你的脑海深处，但你为什么从来都没有准备好？因为我们不够被听见，我们不够被认可，我们不够自信，我们不够肯定，我们不够勇敢。总之，我们想得太多，做得太少。
不知怎的，我被车撞了，安然无恙，给了我一种新的洞察力思维方式——不是去尝试做每一件事，而是以同样的紧迫感做好每一件小事。我可能再也不会那么走运，但我珍惜我所拥有的，做我所做的。
如果你和我一样，永远不会成为最好的演讲者，这并不重要。重要的是，如果你能在沉默中听见自己内心的声音，在茫茫人海中认出自己，并在别人好奇的眼光中为自己感到惊讶。
所以，如果你想活得更精彩，尽可能让自己被听见，被认可，完善自我。
- Evaluator 评估师: Larry Schuster
---From Zero to Hero: a 10-year Journey from journalist to speech coach | 头马十年
---“Do you like it?", 2019.12.25 | ”你喜欢吗？“
Larry Schuster, founder of The Storytelling Company, a former journalist, an award-winning TED Talk speaker and coach. His mission is to help the world's most boring speakers (and everyone else) deliver engaging messages, spreadable ideas, and irresistible stories. Click "Read More" in the bottom to know him better.
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Heather is the daughter of a subsistence rice farmer from Fujian Province, China. She tells stories from her experience as one of the poorest. She writes her dream to share with the world, a very personal place. She has now written two English literary novels and is looking to being published in the UK. Her passion is a splendid cocktail or milkshake of word, image, music and art. She likes collecting books, DVDs, papers, stones, shells and leaves. She desires for all forms of natural beauty. She is currently working for Shanghai Taichi Center.
希瑟·蔡太莲是福建一个自给自足稻农的女儿。她作为穷人的穷人之一，讲述的故事来自最底层的仰望。她写就她的梦想与世界分享一些个人独特的亲身经历。她完成了两本英文文学小说，喜欢收集树叶、书本、影碟、贝壳和剪报，向往各种自然美。目前在上海从事太极文化行业，也在努力打造“阿太的密室”，集文学、艺术、文化、哲学和世界女性于一体的个人公共服务平台。
Copyright © 2019-2020 Heather Cai. All Rights Reserved. 所有版权归作者蔡太莲所有