He's the singer-songwriter behind one of the biggest hits of the past decade. 他是在過去十年間一首暢銷金曲的創作歌手。
It was this catchy tune that in 2008 catapulted Jason Mraz to international stardom. 二○○八年這首讓人琅琅上口的歌曲把傑森‧瑪耶茲一舉推上國際巨星之列。
But this was not sudden success. 不過，他的成功可不是一夕之間得來的。
The American singer had been building a following for nearly a decade. 這位美國歌手慢慢累積歌迷已有將近十年的時間。
Now at age 35, Mraz is busy crisscrossing the globe, promoting a new album and talking about some of the causes close to his heart. 現在，三十五歲的瑪耶茲忙著穿梭全球各地，宣傳新專輯以及談論他所重視的若干理念。
Let me ask you about when you did leave Virginia. 我要問你離開維吉尼亞州那時的情形。
I read that you packed up your stuff, and you got in the car, and you headed to California. What was that like? 我讀到報導說你打包了行李，跳上車，就前往加州去。那是什麼感覺？
Oh, it was the scariest thing I've ever done in my life, because it was the second time I was dropping out of school. 喔，那是我這輩子做過最令人害怕的事，因為那是我第二次輟學。
It was... I was leaving everything, my job, everything behind that was secure and going to this unknown coast. 那……我拋下了一切，包括我的工作，還有一切穩定的事物，前往這個未知的海岸。
I had no contacts. I had no idea what was gonna happen in the industry. I had, you know, one friend that was gonna let me live on her couch, you know, and that was it. 我沒有熟人，不曉得在這個業界裡會發生什麼事。只有一個朋友會讓我睡在她的沙發上，就這樣而已。
And... but something, it was like a magnet, something out there in California was really calling me. 而……不過有個東西，就像磁鐵一樣，加州那兒有某種特質深深吸引著我。
And it... I just thought it was going to be experience. In fact, that's what it has been -- experience. 那……我認為這反正就是一個體驗。實際上，重點就在於體驗。
I just wanted to go and have something stimulate all of my emotions and senses so that I could write something great. 我只想到那裡去，讓某些東西刺激我所有的情感與感官，才能寫出傑出的作品。
And I thought it would be a short trip. And it turned out to be, you know, a lifetime. 我本來以為只會是一場短短的旅行。結果，卻成了一輩子的事情。
All of us, for some reason, I don't know what it is, but that song gets stuck in your head and will not leave. 我們所有人，因為某種原因，我不曉得是什麼原因，可是那首歌就是會留在腦海裡揮之不去。
Is there an art to that? 那曲是不是有什麼特殊技巧呢？
Yeah. I call that "sacred geometry," when everything's just right and it feels really balanced, 是啊，我稱之為「神聖幾何」，也就是一切都恰到好處，感覺非常平衡，
so that when it unfolds to the next part, you feel totally familiar and at ease within the song. 所以進展到下一個部分的時候，你會覺得對這首歌非常熟悉而自在。
I don't yet know exactly how to do it every time, even though you can look and see there's a formula to it, 我還不了解如何每次都做到這一點，儘管你可以看出其中有一套公式，
but I think it's also a message of right place in the right time when a song like that connects with, you know, either an individual or, obviously, the masses. 但我認為像那樣的一首歌不管是引起個人或是，顯然地，大眾的共鳴，重點也在於其中的訊息符合天時地利。
What are some of the causes that you have? Did you go to the Antarctic with Al Gore? 你支持哪些理念呢？你是不是和高爾一起去了南極？
I did. I met Al Gore. He and I were both on a talk show, and I met him, and I shook his hand, 是的。我見到了高爾。他和我都參加了一個談話節目，所以我認識了他，我和他握手，
and [I said], "I love your work, I love your presentation. If you ever need, you know, a musician to help you rally anything, let me know." 對他說：「我喜歡你的作品、我喜歡你的演講。如果你需要一個音樂人幫你號召什麼，請跟我說。」
And sure enough, I got a call about six months later. He was taking a trip to Antarctica 果真我在大約六個月後接到了一通電話。他要去一趟南極
-- his first return since he was a senator in 1988 -- ——這是自從他擔任參議員在一九八八年造訪南極之後第一次回去——
to show 150 entrepreneurs, entertainers, scientists, researchers firsthand the stark realities of climate change. 要讓一百五十位企業家、演藝人員、科學家與研究人員親眼目睹氣候變遷赤裸裸的真相。
It was enlightenment, but of the dark kind. 那是一趟啟發之旅，不過是黑暗面的那一種。
So I came home, and I worked with my team to start a tree-planting project, 所以我回家之後，就和我的團隊發起了一項種樹計畫，
so, in an effort to raise awareness about our impact on the planet and do my best to sequester and offset our carbon. 致力於換起大眾體認我們對地球造成的衝擊，並且盡力吸存和抵償我們排放的碳。
I don't think I'd ever met a real hero until I came here. 我想，在我來到這裡之前，我從來不曾見過真正的英雄。
And I got to work alongside real heroes, real modern-day abolitionists, real modern, real activists, 結果我竟然得以和真正的英雄、真正的現代廢奴主義者、真正的現代人、真正的社會運動人士一起合作，
doing the work for antislavery. 推行反奴役工作。
Is that a sort of a shocking thing to you that in 2012, that this still goes on? Slavery still exists? 在二○一二年竟然還存在這種現象，竟然還存在著奴役，這是不是讓你挺震驚的？
Yeah. Incredibly shocking, which is why I make it one of the beneficiaries of my foundation, that issue, 沒錯，相當震驚。所以我才會把這個議題納入我的基金會的捐助對象之一，
to raise awareness and to help provide resources for those who are actually working on the ground. 以提高眾人對這種現象的認知，並且協助提供資源給那些實際上在第一線從事工作的人員。
And after seeing that and learning about this issue, 看到那樣的情形，了解這個問題之後，
I felt that we can make a huge difference using the powerful tools that we have through Internet and television today. 我覺得我們可以透過當今的網路與電視，利用我們擁有的強大工具帶來極大的改變。
When you think about, you know, sort of, other people kind of coming up in the business, 想想其他剛在這個業界裡起步的人，
is there anything that you would say to an aspiring singer or songwriter as a bit of advice or a bit of experience from someone who's sort of done it and been there? 身為曾經走過這段經歷的過來人，你想跟那些滿懷抱負的歌手或創作人說些什麼建議或是經驗嗎？
I always tell people to sing their own story, sing their own truth, because each of us are born unique and are going to have our own experiences. 我總是告訴大家，要唱自己的故事，唱自己的真心話，因為我們每個人天生都是獨特的，也擁有各自的體驗。
And when we speak our truths and reveal our vulnerability and we allow ourselves to be transparent in front of an audience, 我們訴說出自己的真心話，吐露自己的脆弱，就是讓自己透明呈現在聽眾面前，
that audience gets to see themselves in the work. 於是聽眾也就會在作品中看見他們自己。
And then if you're really beginning a journey through the business, don't wait for the business to find you, I would say. 還有，如果你真的展開了進入這個行業的旅程，我會建議不要等待業界去發掘你。