（注：中文在英文下面）
I AM NOBODY
One of my all time favorite poets is Emily Dickinson. One of my favorite poems by her is I AM NOBODY –
I’m Nobody! Who are you?
Are you – Nobody – too?
Then there’s a pair of us?
Don’t tell! They’d banish us – you know!
How dreary – to be – Somebody!
How public – like a Frog –
To tell one’s name – the livelong June –
To an admiring Bog!
Dickinson and this poet by her reminds me of many ancient Chinese poets, who yearned for a life with the freedom of being NOBODY, yet could not really afford it for complicated reasons. Some led a life of a NOBODY, yet yearned to be a SOMEBODY secretly.
I sometimes wonder: did Emily Dickinson really enjoy a life as a NOBODY? Or – though she was too shy to be a SOMEBODY, she might still sometimes yearn to be known, at least as a poet?
Often, NOBODY is the opposite of SOMEBODY, who is famous, or notorious or important to the public – those celebrities, you know. In this sense, I am absolutely a NOBODY, and I am happy about this, because I have the freedom that a SOMEBODY doesn’t or cannot have.
There is something ironic about this NODODY-SOMEBODY relationship. A lot of times, you may have to become a SOMEBODY so as to genuinely enjoy a life as an absolute NOBODY. This is because being a SOMEBODY could earn you enough resources that a NOBODY couldn’t access. Only after accumulating enough resources as a SOMEBODY can a NOBOBY escape the sufferings from lack of resources, which is typical in a NOBODY’S life. Only then can a NOBODY enjoy the real freedom of being a NOBODY.
Unfortunately, in real life, few can make that happen. And few celebrities want to become a NOBODY.
What can I, a NOBOYD, do then?
Well, I guess, I just have to try to get the most out of a life of being a NODODY. That’s why I start this photo journal of a NOBODY.
Today is the first visual journal of NOBODY.
She is wearing a huge magnolia, sniffing the fragrance, listening to her favorite music – from a sea shell. It’s a peaceful morning she cherishes very much.
我向来喜欢艾米莉·狄金森（Emily Dickinson；1830－1886），还有她的诗歌。她那首《我是无名之辈》，我十多年前读过一次，就能背诵，至今不能忘却：
我是无名之辈！你是谁？
你——是无名之辈？
那咱俩就成了一对——可别声张！
他们会把咱们挤兑——要小心啊！
赫赫显要的人－多无聊！
多招摇－像只青蛙
向仰慕你的泥沼
整日聒噪－炫耀自己的名号。
生于19世纪的这位美国女诗人，总披一袭白衣，几乎足不出户，连邻居都不认识她。她若出门了，邻居小孩会以为撞见鬼－－因为她过于脱俗。她总让我想起中国古代文人的遁世情怀，让我想起陶渊明的“采菊东篱下，悠然见南山”。自然，也会想起他们不能遁世的复杂原因或不得不遁世的难言之隐。她的诗其实富有中国诗词的禅意。
今天，她又让我想起冰心祖父的家训：知足知不足，有为有不为。多么简单的文字，多么高深的哲理，又是多么难实现的理想！
狄金森这首诗和冰心祖父的家训有异曲同工之妙：简单的文字表达着高深的哲理和几乎可望不可及理想生活状态。
无名之辈，常常是显赫人物的对立。无名之辈没有显赫人物的光彩，但拥有显赫人物所不可能享受的自由。可是，很讽刺的是，要想真正、实在、充分保持并享受无名之辈的自由，经常需要借助显赫人物的权力，要首先通过显赫之名之权之力，获取充足的资源，而后才可安乐遁世。不过，极少显赫人物能放弃他们的风光、权力和丰富的物质资源，选择遁世。
无论是谁，都不能不食人间烟火。 现实中，让烟火日日升腾的资源，往往是掌握在显赫人物的手中，而非无名之辈的手里。为了让炊烟每天从你家的烟窗飘出，有时候不折腰还不行。前天，我读了关于李白的一篇文章。据那篇文章，大笔写下“安能摧眉折腰事权贵，使我不得开心颜”的这位诗仙，其实就曾几次折腰，入赘贵族之门。如果李白过着天天都饿肚子的生活，他的诗歌风格大概会很不一样。我有时还怀疑，他会不会饿着肚子写诗呢？
其实，对某些人来说，能稍微折腰，还是幸运的。更多人是连折腰的机会都没有，比如，咱们中国的农民伯伯。还有人，没什么折腰的机会，也不太敢折腰，只好将就。我是不是属于这类人呢？
不管怎样，将就就将就吧，但也不要忘记取点小乐。所以，我今天开始做无名之辈的视觉日记。 细想想，这其实有悖于无名之辈的遁世心理：既然遁世了，又搞什么视觉日记？可是，再想想，人生不就是那么矛盾的吗？
今日的无名之辈，遛狗的时候，忍不住偷了一朵木兰花，回家后就迫不及待地戴上。她头戴木兰花，在花香里安然倾听——发自海螺的音乐。无名之辈的这个周六早晨，简单而温馨。