For the last 16 years, Nick Fahey has been living on an island in the San Juan 1)archipelago north of 2)Puget Sound, in Washington State, where his only full-time companion is a 26-year-old3)quarter horse. Mr. Fahey, 67, lives in a cabin on 100 wooded acres; it has no refrigerator, but there is electricity generated by solar panels, so he has light and can 4)charge his cell phone. There are few 5)amenities of the material kind, but his days are his own. With the exception of cutting wood for fuel and to support himself—occasionally he makes a trek to neighboring islands or the mainland, to sell the wood or buy groceries—he is free to do as he pleases. 在过去的16年里,尼克·费伊一直住在华盛顿州普吉特海湾北面圣胡安群岛中的一个小岛上,终日陪伴他的只有一匹26岁高龄的夸特马。现年67岁的费伊先生住在一间建于一片占地100英亩的林地里的小木屋中,屋里没有电冰箱,但可以借助太阳能电池板发电,所以他有电灯,也可以给手机充电。尽管物质条件不尽如人意,但费伊过得逍遥自在。平日里,费伊会砍些木头来生火,偶尔会长途跋涉到附近的岛屿或岛外的陆地上卖自己砍来的木头或是买些生活用品回来维持基本的生活,除此之外的时间他可以自由支配,随心所欲。
Getting away from it all: it’s a common fantasy. But for some people, fantasizing isn’t enough. For whatever reason, perhaps the desire for peace and quiet in an increasingly 6)frenetic world, an attempt to escape the intrusiveness of technology or the need for an isolated place to recover from heartbreak, they feel compelled to act out the fantasy, seeking the kind of solitude found only in the remotest locations. 抛开一切,远离尘嚣,这样的白日梦大家都做过。但对于某些人来说,光空想还不够。也许是想在愈渐狂躁的俗世中渴求一份平和与宁静,或者是妄图避开科技的侵扰,又或者需要躲在一处偏僻之地修复破碎的心,不论出于何种原因,他们迫切想要跳出空想,付诸行动,去寻求只能在杳无人烟之地才能寻求到的独居生活。
The compulsion to live in isolation can be attributed to any number of factors, said psychologist Elaine N. Aron. Some people might “really need their 7)downtime,” Dr. Aron said, and may seek out “isolation that avoids all social intercourse.” Others may have developed an “8)avoidant attachment style” in childhood, resulting in “a need to prove to themselves that they don’t need anybody,” she said. For many people, though, the desire for extreme solitude may have simpler roots, she noted: “It could be because they want a mystical experience. You can’t 9)pathologize that.”
心理学家伊莱恩·N·艾尔伦表示,有很多因素会导致人们迫切渴望过上独居的生活。艾尔伦博士说,有些人可能“真的需要停下手中的工作”,并可能会想“隐居起来,避开所有的社交活动”。还有一些人可能在童年时期就逐渐形成了一种“回避型的依恋模式”,结果导致以后“总要向自己证明他们不需要任何人的陪伴,”她说。然而对于大多数人来说,渴望彻底地独处可能是出于一种更简单的理由,艾尔伦指出:“可能是因为他们想要获得一种具有神秘感的体验,你不能将其视为一种病态。” In Mr. Fahey’s case, he moved to the island full time in 1994, several years after he divorced. Not because he was 10)traumatized, he said, but because he liked the “feeling of freedom when you’re by yourself. You don’t have to answer to anybody.” Once a week, though, he goes to Anacortes, a town on the mainland, 10 miles away by boat, to visit his 99-year-old father in an assisted-living home and to see his girlfriend, Deborah Martin, whom he has been dating for 15 years. Ms. Martin, 56, explained: “We are both pretty independent, and I imagine that’s partly why it works. We don’t have the same expectations that other couples might, like, ‘I need you to be here every night.’” 而费伊先生的情况是,他于1994年搬到这个小岛定居,当时他已离婚了好几年。据他所说,他隐居并非因为心灵受到创伤,而是因为他喜欢“独自一人时那种自由自在的感觉,你不需要迎合任何人。”然而每周,他都会乘船去一次阿纳科特斯——距离该岛10英里的大陆上的一个市镇,去看望他那住在一所护理院里的99岁的父亲以及女友黛博拉·马丁。他俩谈恋爱已经谈了15年。56岁的马丁女士说:“我们都很独立,我想这大概是我们的恋爱关系能持续如此久的部分原因吧。我们没有其他夫妻对伴侣的那些诸如‘我需要你每晚都呆在这里陪我’的期望。” |