The Alchemist | Paulo Coelho

“Remember that wherever your heart is, there you will find your treasure.”

Yes, yes, this post is late. Really, really late. When I came up with this brilliant idea of writing two blog posts a week (and thus reading at least two books in that same span of time) I imagined it to be a fair and reasonable time frame. It was a great proposition, and the fact that I'd have to post about it on the internet -- and would thus be held accountable -- meant that there would be no skimping and lazing around. You may not know, but being lazy is something I am wont to do.

Alas, the arrival of September meant that I was going to work again - as school had started - and that my time was limited. On top of it all, I was subbing another teacher the whole week, so my workload was much bigger and I was much more tired when I came back home that I usually am. So, here we are. It's Sunday, I read only one of the books allotted for this week and am writing this post at almost 5 pm. Way to keep on schedule. But, I did start reading the next book on the list today, so maybe something will come of it by Wednesday. *fingers crossed*

“When you possess great treasures within you, and try to tell others of them, seldom are you believed.”

The book I've been reading is, as you know by the title, Paulo Coelho's masterpiece “The Alchemist.” I've heard so many amazing things about it and was told on many occasions that it was a book one simply must read. This is where my weariness of classic - and this ought to be considered one - reared its head and I simply put it off. I just don't have a great relationship with many classics, I'm sorry.

This novel tells the story of a boy, a dreamer, who goes on a journey to realize his Personal Legend. This is something that we all have, and we are all aware of as children, but as we grow older and more world-weary we simply give up on our dreams and forget about our mission in life. To kids everything is possible and they sure not afraid to dream, they know exactly what they want out of life.

The boy is a Spanish shepherd who chose that vocation over the one of a priest because he wanted o travel. He'd always wanted to see the world and so he never went down the same road twice. Lately though, he'd been having the same dream and it begun to bother him. But one day, a kind old king approached him and told him all about the Personal Legend and the Soul of the World. He told they boy a great treasure awaited him by the Pyramids in Egypt, so he should go there to find it. Afraid, but excited, to boy sold his sheep and set off toward the unknown sands of northern Africa.

“People are afraid to pursue their most important dreams, because they feel that they don't deserve them, or that they'll never be able to achieve them.”

The boy encountered many people along the way. His path was not easy and the beginner's luck that made him excited soon ebbed away and left him alone, depending only on himself. He encountered many people and learn something from all of them. He learned the Language of the World and his soul accustomed to reading the omens in everything. He feel in love with the woman of the desert and met a famed alchemist. 

What struck me the most was that, even though he made a good life for himself on several occasions, he risked it all time and again in order to pursue his dream, and see his journey through to the end. He learned that he is a part of the Soul of the World, a part of God himself and that he resides in him - in all of us. He learned to listen to his heart, to let it bolster him but not to deter him when faced with fear: "Tell your heart that the fear of suffering is worse than the suffering itself." There were so many passages that made me stop and think, that just made sense. I recognized myself and the limitations I've put on my own potential, my own life too many times. This is a book that will make you examine everything you know, that will make you re-evaluate your priorities and try to remember what your dreams truly are. I'd recommend this to everyone.

“At a certain point in our lives, we lose control of what's happening to us, and our lives become controlled by fate. That's the world's greatest lie.”