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When I was a very young person, I began my career as an actress.
我在青年时期便开始了自己的演艺生涯。
Whenever my mother wasn’t free to drive me into Manhattan for auditions, I would take the train from suburban New Jersey and meet my father
每当我母亲无法抽出时间开车送我去曼哈顿试镜的时候。我就会从新泽西的郊区坐火车去找我的父亲。
-- who would have left his desk at the law office where he worked -- and we would meet under the Upper Platform Arrival(s) and Departure(s) sign in Penn Station.
他会从律所办公室繁忙的工作中抽身，我们约在宾州车站高台下“出发到达”的标志下见面。
We would then get on the subway together and when we surfaced, he would ask me, “Which way is north?”
之后，我俩会一起去搭地铁，当我们走出地铁站，他总是问我哪个方向是北边。
I wasn’t very good at finding north in the beginning, but I auditioned fair amount and so my Dad kept asking me, “Which way is north?”
刚开始，我一点儿也不擅长寻找方位。后来我的试镜经历越来越多，而我的父亲也一直问我哪里才是北。
Over time, I got better at finding it.
慢慢的我开始有了方向感。
I was struck by that memory yesterday while boarding the plane to come here -- not just by how far my life has come since then, but by how meaningful that seemingly small lesson has been.
昨天上飞机的时候，我突然想起这段回忆，感触良多。不仅是因为从那以后，我的人生开始转变，而是因为这堂看似毫不起眼的课却意义非凡。
When I was still a child, my father developed my sense of direction and now, as an adult, I trust my ability to navigate space.
那时我还是个孩子，是我父亲教导我辨别方向。而现在作为成年人，我坚信自己进行探索的能力。
My father helped give me the confidence to guide myself through the world.
是父亲给了我信心，我开始引导着自己探索这个世界。
In late March, last year, 2016, I became a parent for the first time.
2016年3月底，我第一次成为了母亲。
I remember the indescribable -- and as I understand it pretty universal -- experience of holding my week-old son and feeling my priorities change on a cellular level.
这种感觉无法用语言形容。据我了解，妈妈们都有这种感受：当你捧着几周大的儿子，其他所有头等大事，都开始变得渺小。
I remember I experienced a shift in consciousness that gave me the ability to maintain my love of career and also cherish something else, someone else, so much, much more.
我记得连自己的思想也开始转变。成为母亲，不仅让我更热爱自己的事业，同时也更珍惜身边的人和事，还有其他很多很多。
Like so many parents, I wondered how I was going to balance my work with my new role as a parent, and in that moment, I remember that the statistic for the US’s policy on maternity leave flashed in my mind.
正如许多父母一样，我也想知道，到底该如何平衡工作和母亲这个角色。记得那一刻，有关美国产假的政策现状，在我脑海中一闪而过。
American women are currently entitled to 12 weeks unpaid leave. American men are entitled to nothing.
目前，美国女性享有12周的无薪产假，而美国父亲连一天假期都没有。
That information landed differently for me when one week after my son’s birth, I could barely walk.
得知此信息，我的心中五味杂陈。儿子出生后的一周，我几乎无法走路。
That information landed differently when I was getting to know a human who was completely dependent on my husband and I for everything.
当我开始逐渐了解这个小小的新生命，这个必须完完全全依赖于我和我丈夫的小生命。
When I was dependent on my husband for most things, and when we were relearning everything we thought we knew about our family and our relationship. It landed differently.
而我呢，大多数事情也得依靠我的丈夫。我们本以为对家庭和夫妻关系非常了解，如今却有了新的认知，这让我们的感受完全不同。
Somehow, we and every American parent were expected to be “back to normal” in under three months. Without income?
我们和其他每一位美国父母都被期待着在短短3个月内，就“回归常态”。3个月没有薪水？
I remember thinking to myself, “If the practical reality of pregnancy is another mouth to feed in your home,
我也曾扪心自问，“如果怀孕的实际结果，就是家里多了一张嘴要去喂养。
and America is a country where most people are living paycheck to paycheck, how does 12 weeks unpaid leave economically work?”
而在美国这个国度，几乎人人都是“月光族”。12周的无薪产假，在经济上怎么可行呢？”
The truth is: for too many people, it doesn’t.
事实上，对许多人来说，这的确不可行。
