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刘 鹏、朱一童 译

Do you spend part of your time working on and worrying about “self improvement”? If so, it is important to not inadvertently stamp out your uniqueness, in favor of a mass produced version of “perfection.” Here’s a story to illustrate my point.

On a recent afternoon I went to a pottery shop outside of Tokyo, and happened to meet the potter who had stopped in to check on her staff.

After looking around the shop I invited the owner over and we chatted. The first thing she talked about was how a potter never knew what was going to wind up coming out of the kiln. Each kiln opening she said, was somewhat like Christmas morning. Sometimes you got many wonderful gifts, and sometimes you wound up with coal in your stocking when most of the pieces explode in the kiln due to severe changes in atmospheric weather conditions. It is the serendipity she said, that makes the work so magical. “It helps you to stay humble, and you learn to surrender to and accept the unknown,” she said.

Next, she talked to me about design and functionality. Topic is important to most potters. “No sense in having a good looking piece that is awkward to use, and no sense having a boring looking piece that is highly functional.” she said.

Since I was definitely going to buy something, I picked out six pieces to choose from, set them on the counter, and asked the lady to tell me a bit about each piece.

“Let me share with you how I recognize the hoped for imperfections in my work,” she said, “By talking about three of the pieces you have interest in.”

“Notice with this first piece how the glaze is not of consistent thickness over the inside surface. I tried the best I could to smooth out the glaze,” she said, “But this is a very tough glaze to work with.”

“Nonetheless, for me, it is the inconsistency of the glaze that makes this piece so interesting.” she said. “It is the inconsistency that makes for the range of color that the glaze exhibits in this piece.”

“With this next piece you notice that the bowl is not fully round in shape. I am a small woman, and this is a large piece for me to throw on the wheel. In fact it is the biggest piece I am currently able to throw. I love making some at this size, because these bowls really test my limits. There is a certain tension present when the shape goes out of being fully round, and this is what draws me to this piece.”

“Finally,” she said, “With this third piece you will notice that the price is considerably less than the other pieces.”

“It is a good piece of work,” she said, “but I feel it is a bit ‘too good’ and thus looks like it could have been machine made. That is why the price is considerably cheaper.”

“The shape is perfectly round, and the glaze flows evenly over the entire pot, and thus the piece does not have a sense of uniqueness. I have stopped making this shape and size because I know how to make them all too well. When they come out this perfect, I feel like the soul of the pots left in the kiln.”（责编：张楚武）

你是否花费时间为“自我完善”而忙碌、而忧虑？如果是这样，可要注意，不要为了随处可见的“完美”而扼杀了自己的个性。用下面这个故事证明我的观点。

最近，一天下午，我走进东京郊外的一家陶器店，碰巧遇见一个制陶工，停下手里的活，在检查产品质量。

我在店里转了转，然后请出店主，和她攀谈起来。店主告诉我的第一件事是制陶工根本无法预料窑里的陶器烧出来是什么样。她说，每次开窑的感觉有点像圣诞节的早晨：有时候能收获很多精美的礼物；有时候大气压的剧烈变化导致窑内多数陶器爆裂，因此只能收获一窑炉灰。烧制陶器的迷人之处就在于无法预测结果，又会有意外的惊喜。店主说：“制陶会让人保持谦恭，学会顺从并接受未知事物。”

接下来，她给我讲陶器的设计和功能。对大多数制陶工来说，主题很重要。她说：“好看不好用的陶器没有意义，好用不好看的陶器也没有意义。”

我既然确定要买，于是挑选出6件陶器，摆上柜台，请店主逐一评点。

她说：“通过你感兴趣的3件陶器，让我告诉你我是如何从陶器的瑕疵中找到意想不到的收获。”

“请看第一件，釉料厚度内外不均匀。我尝试用各种办法进行抛光，可惜釉料太硬了，效果不理想。”

“然而，正是釉料的不均匀使得这件陶器极富情趣，色彩富于层次变化。”

“接下来这只碗形状并不完全圆润。我身材瘦小，在旋盘上做这么大陶坯可不是件容易事。其实这是我目前能做的最大陶器。我喜欢做一些这种规格的陶器，这些碗可以测出我的极限到底能做多大的陶器。制作过程中碗变得不圆润当然会让我紧张，而这正是这件陶器吸引我的地方。”

“最后，你会发现第三件陶器要比前两件便宜得多。”

“这件陶器做工精美，可是我觉得有点‘太完美了’，看上去像是机器做出来的。因此价格便宜很多。”

“这个壶造型圆润，无可挑剔，釉料均匀遍布整个壶身，却因此失去了与众不同的独特之处。我太熟悉这种壶的做法了，所以已经不再制作这种形状和规格的陶器了。这些壶完美无缺地摆在面前，我会觉得壶的灵魂已经丢在了窑里。”