異性好友展開的一場40天約會實驗
Two friends. She is a hopeless romantic who jumps into relationships quickly. He is afraid of commitment and tends to date many women at the same time.
一對好友。她是位無可救藥的浪漫主義者，總是輕易就陷入情網。而他則懼怕承諾，是位喜歡腳踏多隻船的花花公子。What would happen if the two decided to be together as a couple — for 40 days?
如果這對好友決定做40天的情侶，結果會怎樣呢？Sound like the plot from a Hollywood movie? Actually, it’s a real-life experiment carried out by two young people in New York City.
聽起來是不是很像好萊塢電影中的情節？事實上，這是一對來自紐約的年輕男女的親身實驗。
Jessica Walsh, 26, is a partner at a design firm. Timothy Goodman, 32, is an independent designer and illustrator. The two have been close platonic friends since 2008. While on a trip to Miami last year — Goodman was seeing several people at the time and Walsh was heartbroken over a breakup — they thought it might be interesting to confront their own relationship issues by analyzing their behavior while dating each other.
26歲的傑西卡?沃爾什是一家設計公司的合夥人。32歲的蒂莫西?古德曼則是一位獨立設計師兼插畫家。兩人相識於2008年，從此便成為精神上的知己。在去年的一次邁阿密之旅中，古德曼豔遇不斷，而沃爾什則為失戀心碎不已，兩人突然有了一個有趣的想法：為何彼此之間不談一場戀愛，通過行為分析來直面個人的感情問題。Why 40 days? The explanation can be found on their website : “It’s been said that it takes 40 days to change a bad habit. In an attempt to explore and hopefully overcome their fears and inadequacies, Tim and Jessica will go through the motions of a relationship for the next 40 days: the commitment, time, companionship, joys and frustrations.”
為何要約定40天呢？在二人開設的“FortyDaysOfDating”網站上你可以找到答案：“據說40天你會改掉一個壞習慣。為了發掘內心恐懼與自身的弱點，並有望將其克服，蒂莫西和傑西卡將在接下來的40天裡履行戀愛公事：承諾、時間、陪伴、得意與失意。”Although they were certain both of them would learn something from the project, they had mixed feelings about how it would end: Would they fall in love with each other and have a real, serious relationship? And if that was not the case, could they still be friends?
儘管確信彼此都會從這場戀愛實驗中有所收穫，但對於這場戀愛的最終歸宿，他們心中還是百感交集：他們會愛上彼此，然後認真談一場戀愛嗎？或者結局並非“皆大歡喜”的話，他們的友情還能繼續嗎？They started the project in March, but Walsh and Goodman only began uploading regular posts on July 10 after their experiment had ended.
儘管早在三月這項“約會計劃”便已啟動，但直到7月10日他們的實驗截止後，沃爾什和古德曼才定期地釋出文章。Their website is attracting between 200,000 to 300,000 visitors every day, according to Canadian newspaper The Globe and Mail. It’s not only because the two write well, the website itself is a piece of design artwork, including graphic illustrations, photos, and embedded videos.
據加拿大《環球郵報》報道稱，他們的網站的日訪問量高達20-30萬。這不僅僅因為兩人的文筆可圈可點，該網站本身就是一件設計精良的藝術品，上面有插畫、照片和視訊。will inspire other people, but we would highly recommend it,” the pair said in an e-mail to The Huffington Post. “The experiment and the self-examination was very insightful. We came out learning an incredible amount about ourselves, and have both made positive changes in our lives. It’s important that we all find some time to work or reflect on our habits and fears.”
這對實驗情侶在寫給《赫芬頓郵報》的郵件中表示：“我們不知道這次（約會計劃）能否給他人帶來啟示，但我們非常願意推薦給所有人。這次實驗加自省的過程非常深刻。最終我們瞭解到不可思議的自身價值，同時我們都在生活中做出積極改變。關鍵在於我們都要花時間來研究和反思自己的習慣和恐懼。”Walsh and Goodman are keeping it a secret of what happened after the project ended. But in an interview with CNN, Goodman said: “I will say that I feel forever linked to her. I have this kinship with her because of it, regardless of what happened or if we’re together or we’re not.”
沃爾什和古德曼對於實驗截止後所發生的事絕口不提。但在接受CNN採訪時，古德曼說：“我只想說我和她永遠都是心靈相通的。正因為這點，我們的關係才會親密無間，無論發生什麼，不管我們是否終成眷屬，都是如此。”
