Inspiration refers to an unconscious burst of creativity or breakthrough in an artistic, musical, or other intellectual endeavor.
灵感是一种无意识行为，是在艺术、音乐或其他智力活动中突然迸发的创造力或所取得的突破。
In Greek thought, inspiration meant that the poet or artist would go into ecstasy or furor poeticusy the divine frenzy or poetic madness. He or she would be transported beyond his own mind and given the gods’ or goddesses’ own thoughts to embody.
在希腊，人们认为灵感是表示诗人或者艺术家的心醉神迷、神圣的狂怒或诗意的疯狂。这时候 他的思想已经超越了自己，像是上帝和女神附身一般。
Inspiration is prior to consciousness and outside of skill. Technique and performance are independent of inspiration, and therefore it is possible for the non-poet to be inspired and for a poet or painter’s skill to be insufficient to the inspiration.
灵感在意识之上，是没有技巧可言的。方法和表现是独立于灵感之外的，所以有可能从来不写诗的人突然有了诗意,诗人突然写得很好,或者画家画出巨作。
In Christianity, inspiration is a gift of the Holy Spirit.
在基督教教义里，灵感是圣洁心灵的回报。
In northern societies, such as Old Norse, inspiration was likewise associated with a gift of the gods.
在北方社族里,像古诺尔斯，灵感同样是上帝的赏赐。
Archimedes had his eureka moment in the bath.
阿基米德在泡澡时灵感迸发。
Many writers would say that the best place for their inspiration to sprout was on a moving train. It was well-known to people that J. K. Rowling got her Harry Potter idea on a train to London.
许多作家都承认他们的灵感多来源于坐火车旅行的时候。最著 名的例子就是罗琳女士是在去往伦敦的火车上想到了哈利?波特 的故事。
Don’t be surprised, but in terms of inspiration, some others prefer a bath tub than a train ride. It was as if, when the tub was filled with warm water and fragrance bubbles, one’s mind was also filled with flowing and sparkling inspirations.
不要惊异,与火车旅行相比也有许多人更喜欢在洗澡的时候迸 发灵感。当温暖的洗澡水和幽香阵阵的泡泡包裹着一个人的时候， 他或她的大脑也仿佛同时充满了流动着的各种灵感。
For example, when a person takes a shower, s/he compiles mental to-do lists, composes paragraphs to a piece of work (if s/he is a writer) and works through thorny problems that have been nagging all day. There's something about the solitude, the sound and feel of the water and the fragrant lather of the shampoo and soap that help one’s mind achieve clarity.
举例而言，淋浴的时候,他或她会在脑海中列出要做的事情,或 为正在写的文章创作段落(如果他或她是位作家），或思考困扰了 一整天的棘手问题。独处的氛围.水的声音和触感、洗发水和香皂 的芳香泡沫帮助人们获得了淸醒的头脑。
Robert Lee Hotz wrote a “Science Journal” column about how our brains achieve insight and “a-ha” moments. Appntly, letting our minds wander and daydream helps us to achieve mental breakthroughs; our brains may be most actively engaged when our minds are wandering and we，ve actually lost track of our thoughts, a new brain-scanning study suggests. (This burst of mental clarity can be so powerful, Mr. Hotz writes, that, as legend would have it, Archimedes jumped out of his tub and ran naked through the streets, shouting to his startled neighbors: “Eureka! I’ve got it.’’）
罗伯特?李_霍兹在《科学杂志》上撰写了一篇关于人类大脑 如何获得洞察力和灵感的专栏文章。显然，任由思绪游走和做白日 梦可以让我们实现智力上的突破。一项新的大脑扫描研究显示，当 我们的思绪游走、实际上不知道自己在想些什么的时候,可能正是 我们的大脑思维最活跃的时候。（霍兹写道，这霎那间的头脑清醒 的力量可能非常强大，正如传说的那样。阿基米德跳出浴缸，在大街上裸奔，冲着目瞪口呆的街坊邻里大叫：“我找到了！我找到了！ ”）
The problem is, daily washing, according to dermatologists, hair professionals and the report on NPR, strips locks of beneficial oils and can damage our hair. (There are now even “dry shampoos”， which you spray or powder onto your hair, which are given a test-run here.) Water shortage and soaring expenses on drinking water also cuts back the hour spent on shower for most of the people. To make matters worse, the urge to more practical things such earning profits deprive people of their already shrinking leisure time, i.e. people must shower as quickly as possible (just like what the cliche says: ASAP!). Since the hustle and bustle life is a natural enemy to inspiration, it is doubtful that the sparkles will survive the quick-paced patterns of modernity.
但问题是，据皮肤科医生、头发护理专家和美国国家公共广播网(NPR)上的一篇报导，每天洗头 会把有益的皮脂洗掉，损伤头发。(现在甚至还出现了干洗的洗发水，把洗发水喷撒或抹在头发上。目 前这种产品正在试用中。）水资源短缺和饮用水价格飙升也让许多人不得不减少淋浴时间。更糟的 是,人们总是急匆匆地去做实际的事情，比如多挣钱，于是他们本来就在不断减少的休闲时间都被占 用殆尽。也就是说，人们必须尽快地洗完一次淋浴(就像一句常说的话:越快越好!)。忙碌喧嚣的日子 是灵感的天敌，我们不禁担心它是否会在快节奏的现代生活中彻底消失。
Unfortunately as well as shockingly, people cannot find a better and more productive way of being inspired than getting a shower up till now. One might think that doing house chores or jogging in a park or anything that involves only physically would help while his or her mind could wonder far away. But I’m sorry, it just didn’t. Not even a train or bus ride will give a person the same effect you get in a relaxing shower.
而且令人惊讶的是，人们到目前为止都找不到一个能替代淋浴激发灵感的好办法。人们可能 觉得做家务或慢跑这种只用体力不用脑力的事情也能使大脑放松并激发灵感。但是很遗憾地说, 这么做没有什么帮助。连坐火车或公车都不能像淋浴一样有效地激发灵感。
Readers, when do you find moments of clarity?
读者朋友们，你的，头脑清醒时刻是在什么时候呢？