生命的悠長，有時候讓人感到非常的懊惱。松浦彌太郎在《松浦彌太郎說：假如我現在25歲，最想做的50件事》一書中寫到：「基本上，周遭與社會是不會改變的，但你卻可以改變自己。因此，若想改變一切，就必須從改變自己做起。或許是從頭開始的浩大工程，但總有一天一定能改變的。」抱著這種信念同時，總是帶一點疑問：如何改變自己呢？有人透過印度古老的「內觀」方法，自我觀察然後自我轉化；有人會尋找一些輔助工具，讓自己更輕易地自我覺察，以及學懂面對人生中各式各樣的難題。
Life can be so long that sometimes it gets frustrating. In Says Yataro Matsuura, the 50 Things I Would Like To Do If I Were 25 Years Old, Matsuura wrote, “Your surroundings and the society basically wouldn’t change, but you can change yourself. If you would like to see changes, you have to take the first move. This may sound like a massive project, but it’s bound to happen someday.” It is a faith that we strive to hold on to, but there is always doubt about what does it take to change ourselves? Some would seek to observe and thence change themselves by performing the Theravada Vipassana meditation. Some others would use tools to train themselves to be more alert and to learn to deal with the challenges they face.
The School of Life是由英國作家Alain de Botton在2009年創立，透過不同的課程、活動、個人咨詢、書本和產品等來探討工作、愛情、自我的生活課題，為人生遇到的各種課題提供了解決的線索。「即使成品無關創意，但是怎樣才能使工作的過程變得更富創造性？」、「你同意『生命的意義是由你的工作來定義』的說法嗎？」，一個個沒有標準答案的問題，從哲學、心理學、文學和藝術等人文學科中，找尋全新的觀點，成為一張張讓人反思的卡紙。無論是與伴侶、朋友或工作伙伴一起玩，或是一個人的自我反思，都能發掘關係裡的盲點和生活的靈感，而且過程充滿樂趣。
The School of Life is an education company founded by the British writer Alain de Botton in 2009. Through a variety of courses, events, personal consultation, books, and other products, The School of Life aims at exploring life issues related to career, relationships, and self-development. “The end product may have nothing to do with creativity, but how can we make the work process more creative?” “Do you agree with the saying that one’s value is dependent on one’s career?” There are no standard answers to these questions, but humanity subjects like philosophy, psychology, literature, and arts can provide a brand new perspective for one to have an introspection. The self-reflection process can be done together with your partner, friends or coworkers. Solo or teamwork exploration can both be a joyful way to discover things overlooked in daily life and to get motivating inspirations.
即使心中有千百樣的疑問，也不用焦急尋找讓人滿意的答案，因為在尋找途中，問題也不斷在改變，更何況不是所有問題都存在答案。The School of Life設計的遊戲卡以輕鬆淺白的方式讓人一步步尋找屬於自己的答案，與其說是功能卡，倒不如說是提示卡更為貼切，提醒人們別忘了內心的聲音和當下微小而真實的美好。
Despite the countless doubts, we shall not fret over looking for a satisfying answer. Some questions would evolve themselves during our search for an answer, not to mention some questions would never have an answer. The card game designed by The School of Life assists players in a journey of getting closer to the answers to their questions. These prompt cards are the perfect tools to remind people of their inner self and to appreciate the easily neglected happiness in our seemingly repetitive days.
Lane Crawford Level one, 88 Queensway, Admiralty, Hong Kong 2118 2288
