应《现代装饰·家居》、广州国际设计周联合举办的“非凡室内设计中国行”活动之邀，美国知名室内设计师、室内配饰师、专业演说家、作家梅丽莎·高特于2009年4月初来华，以“你在中国，我在美国，协同完成项目的解决方案”为主题进行巡回演讲，与中国设计师展开交流。中国装饰排行榜对此次活动进行了全程报道。
在公众眼中，梅丽莎·高特总和她显赫的家族史联系在一起。不过，作为一名成熟而且成功的商人，梅丽莎已不再避讳这些。她的朋友对她有哪些评价呢？
梅丽莎·高特（Melissa Galt）
Chris Muise
朋友
1.What kind of person is Melissa?
Melissa is a personal dynamo. She pours her all into everything she does. She challenges, probes, pushes, and pulls. All with my best interest in mind. She dives right in and gets to know you. She diagnoses quickly, then formulates a plan in real-time. She is obviously a serious student of life and its challenges and weaves together a workable plan with breathtaking speed and cogent grace. She is unselfish, sensitive, astute, and a terrific diagnostician.
记者：梅丽莎是怎样的一个人？
朋友：梅丽莎就像一台永远充满活力的发电机。她为她所做的每一件事倾注所有的能量。 她直面挑战、勇于探索、运筹帷幄。在与我展开合作时，她会以我最大的利益为导向。她能很快明白你所想所要，快速诊断形势并同步做出计划。她态度严谨，能将生活与挑战完美结合，并以惊人的速度和令人叹服的优雅制定出切实可行的计划。她无私、敏感、机敏，是一名不可多得的诊断专家。
2. Have you ever read her book? Attended her seminars? What is of greatest interest for you?
Melissa''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''s book is filled with cool tidbits, life lessons, and sage wisdom. Of special interest is her focus on health and the importance of living every day to its fullest. I finished the book with a new-found approach to what was my every day grind because I had allowed my life to become just that. Now, every morning I challenge myself to get the most and the best out of every day. Thanks, Melissa, for getting me to focus on and celebrate the many positive things in my life that were always there but went unnoticed.
记者：你听过她的演讲、看过她的书么？对她说的哪一点最感兴趣？
朋友：梅丽莎的书中充满了花絮、生活课堂和圣贤般的智慧，真是酷毙了。我最感兴趣的是书中关于健康和倡导将每一天的生活过到极致的理念。看完她的书，我找到了一种全新的方式来摒弃我过去单调的生活。现在每天早上，我都会以要完美地过每一天来挑战自我。真的很感谢梅丽莎，是她使我将注意力转向曾被我忽视的积极事物上，欢庆生活中的每一天。
3. Do you live your life by the design Melissa advocates?
My life has been transformed by Melissa. She challenged me with a simple question: Where do you want to be in five years? While initially borderline defensive if not tacitly indignant, I quickly let go of my own self-imposed limits and took her question to heart. The result: I''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''ve been motivated to mine the latent ingenuity that I knew I always had and have convinced a group of seasoned professionals to join me in a business venture that has the opportunity to create an income stream the likes of which I had only dreamed before I met Melissa. She truly is the reason I found my season. I''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''m now shining because of her.
记者：你按照她说的建议去实践过吗？
朋友：梅丽莎改变了我的生活方式。她以一个简单的问题向我提出了挑战：在未来的五年中，你想要达到什么样的生活境界？我将这一问题铭记于心，跳出了过去的固步自封。其结果是：我激发了自我潜在的创造力——我一直坚信我有这样一股潜在的能量。如今，我已成功说服了一群资深的专业人士与我共创事业，共拓财源。而这一切在我遇到梅丽莎之前是不可想见的。是她使我枯木逢春，焕发光彩。
Dixie and Larry Brock
业主，好友
1.What kind of person is Melissa?
In the book "Understanding Creativity" by John Dacey and Kathleen Lennon,
the ten traits of creativity are discussed - Melissa certainly has many of those traits.Flexibility (open to the world, open to change, and prepared to bring about change); Functional Freedom (imagines how objects can be usedfor different purposes than originally intended; Tolerance of Ambiguity (the inclination to find strangeness interesting or exciting rather than frightening; Risk Taking (willingness to take risks and chances, to depart from a sense of security); and Courage (passionately pursuing a creative endeavor regardless of consequences).
Melissa is a creative genius with a warm heart and highly intelligent mind.
记者：梅丽莎是怎样的一个人？
好友：在John Dacey and Kathleen Lennon的大作《理解创造力》中提到了十项创造力特质，梅丽莎无疑具备了其中多项：灵活性（对整个世界敞开大门，欢迎改变并随时准备制造“改变”）；功能自由（常想事物在原本功能外的各种其他用途）；容忍不确定（对陌生事物的反应是感兴趣与兴奋，而非恐惧）；爱冒险（喜欢冒险与投机，不喜欢过分安定与一成不变）；有勇气（总是热情满满地去追求创意，不顾后果）。
梅丽莎是个创意天才，同时又有一颗温暖的心，以及一个非常聪明的头脑。
2．Have you ever read her book? Attended her seminars? What is of greatest interest for you?
Have read the book and attended seminars. Actually took my first class in 1990, and was so impressed, tracked her down in 1992 when my husband and I were at an impasse as to how to design our home. He prefers white & gray; I prefer color everywhere. Melissa miraculously pulled it together and made us both happy. When we purchased another home, we asked Melissa to guide us, from the initial color choices of paint and flooring, to furniture, rugs and art.
Our home is warm, inviting and comfortable.
记者：你听过她的演讲、看过她的书么？对她说的哪一点最感兴趣？
好友：看过书，也听过演讲。实际上早在1990年我第一次认识她，她就给我非常深刻的印象。1992年正当我与丈夫在如何设计我们的家这个问题上陷入僵局时，我找到了她。我丈夫喜欢白与灰的风格，而我呢，希望家中处处色彩斑斓。梅丽莎真是不可思议，她居然将这两种风格杂糅在一起创造出一种新的风格，令我们两人都很满意。后来我们购入另一处房产，依然请Melissa来当顾问，从涂料颜色的选择，到地板、家具甚至小垫子和艺术品，她都能给出合适的建议。我们的家非常温馨而舒适。
3. Do you live your life by the design Melissa advocates?
Melissa''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''s book encourages many behavior patterns we should all endorse
exercise, eat right, get enough rest, make time for friends, give yourself
space for your own creative outlet . . . not only does she write about these things, offering creative options to get them accomplished, but she actually lives this lifestyle herself. Personally, I could do better!
记者：你按照她说的建议去实践过吗？
好友：梅丽莎的书中有许多生活方式值得我们遵循。经常运动，营养均衡，保证足够的休息，留出时间给朋友，留出空间给自己的创意，等等。她不但提出这些观点并提供有创意的实现方式，更重要的是，她是以身作则、身体力行的。而其实……我可以做得更好！
后记：
从这些描述、议论和感慨中，我们发现了美国主流价值观的可爱之处：不可动摇的自信、率真地表达自我、对于改变和未知永远保持浓厚的兴趣。这些积极向上的论调，其实这就是梅丽莎反复强调的核心内容。
通常说来，一个人的设计观点总与其阅历、性格不无相关。梅丽莎是坚定而聪颖的。对于家庭背景，她的态度举重若轻。坦然地谈论那些响亮的名字，充满了感激，但从没忘记强调自我；她羡慕中国传统的家庭观念，始终流露着对于亲人的眷念，让我们丝毫不怀疑她会终身投入这项关于“家”的事业；同时，一点也不遮遮掩掩，确认自己的商人身份，在中国设计圈内看来是少见的直率，宣讲精明的商业头脑、冷静逻辑的判断以及市场敏锐力。她想传达的，她的受众感触最深的，或许并非是设计，而是通往心灵、走向幸福的钥匙。
编辑∕黄颖、魏兰、陈珺 采访∕唐青 摄影∕小林、余思佳、陈勇
