http://paulocoelhoblog.com/
The following link will take you to Coelho's personal blog--from what I can gleen from the site, he checks it on a pretty frequent basis, so write from your gut and let him know what you think of his book, ideas, writing, mode of living.
1] All men are different. And should do everything possible to continue to be so.
2] Each human being has been granted two courses of action: that of deed and that of contemplation. Both lead to the same place.
Write well.
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15 comments:
This is the link to the post that I responded to:
http://paulocoelhoblog.com/2008/10/13/quote-of-the-day-204/#comment-56662
Here is my response:
I definitely agree with this quote, especially after reading the Alchemist. But it can also be proven correct simply by examining our own lives. Whenever I have to make an important decision, it becomes a long process of trying to figure out what decision can benefit me the most, which choice has more pros than cons, what will be easiest, or what will further my growth as a person. Example A: My decision to go to Berwick Academy as a freshman was riddled with thoughts of pros and cons, and reason coming from both sides, yes and no, about why I should or should not attend a new school. Another great example is the college process for high schoolers, a process all my classmates and I are neck-deep in at this moment. All of us are trying to figure out which school has the best combination of pros for us, which school has the best program, which school can get us the best job afterwards, and it is quite possible that after all our deliberation we will choose incorrectly based on our rubric for judging the “rightness” of a school.
Although reason is meant to bring clarity and light to a situation by combining good judgment with logic, the basis of reason can be very subjective, as “good judgment” is very different in different people’s opinions. This is why using impulse and passion can provide a way to truly make the right decisions for ourselves.
Some, including myself, might be afraid of the words impulse and passion because their connotations are very emotionally strong. After all, who isn’t a little worried that if they act on impulse, a sudden urge, that they might make a decision that is right for them only in a certain moment or time. And passion, a powerful emotion of any kind, is frequently believed to blur our judgment. But again, this “judgment” spoken of is perhaps the issue rather than the impulse and passion themselves. I think that the toxic mix is the impulse and passion, which is intuitive, forcibly mixed with judgment and reason, which is a person’s attempt to justify their instinctive beliefs. Perhaps a decision is “right” even if we make it impulsively because as emphasized in the Alchemist, “life is the moment we’re living right now.” One can’t make decisions based on the anticipated future, because while the decision is being made, the future is not yet part of one’s life. Maybe living in the moment is the answer, and decisions should be made based on what will satisfy you in the present moment, and the future effects should be disregarded. How many times have we avoided something that we believed would cause us problems in the future only to regret not doing it or realize that not doing it provided more difficulty in the end? Reason has too many variables that keep us from using it to aid in decisions and too frequently it clouds our vision of what is right for us at a certain moment in time.
If one is to truly live in the moment, decisions must be made on impulse and passion, two emotions that deal with the present, the only moment that we’re living at any given time.
Such a true thought--especially given everything the caravan leader tells us about living in the present moment in order to ensure a better future.
http://paulocoelhoblog.com/2008/09/15/weekly-free-association-the-abyss/#comment-56667
Response:
The abyss is something that has no end. This never-ending abyss is the past and the future. Some say that the abyss is a bad place to be, a “bottomless pit” but only when you find yourself living in the future, in the what ifs, is when you enter this pit. The abyss can also be seen as a “state of regression” which would be returning to an earlier state or form, living in the past. It is important to live in the present because otherwise you find yourself living in this unhealthy abyss.
The abyss is what stands between your and your personal legend. The abyss is your future, what is to come in your life, on your quest to your personal legend. You can think and dream about your future but when you submerge yourself into it is when you become fearful, losing your ability to live in the present falling into a bottomless pit. Your personal legend is found on the horizon, though you are never able to reach that horizon you are only able to recreate your personal legend the farther you travel with the more knowledge you gain.
The abyss is also the past, an earlier period on your journey to your personal legend. Returning or reminiscing on past events allows you to beat yourself up about the wrong turns you have taken along your journey when you should be using those mistakes to learn and move on from. The abyss cannot be reversed but you have the ability to revisit and patch up relationships with people and recreate goals you may have had in the past. By taking the lesions you learned as well as the people you have met in the past you are able to move forward to live in the present.
The abyss can be reversed, meaning that you can remove yourself from the bottomless pit either the past or the future to live in the present. It also means that whatever is pre-written for you, the idea of maktub can be altered or reversed. Your fate is what you make it; the choices that you make, how hard you work, what your dreams and aspirations all assist in who you become on your journey to your personal legend. It may seem that some of the events in your life predestined and perhaps they are, but the both the good and the bad that happen in your life can be reversed, you can dig yourself out of the bottomless pit to make something better for yourself.
When you live in the abyss of the past or the future you are unable to fully enjoy the present. You must learn to balance the lessons from the past, the thoughts of the future and the marvels of today. “Because I don’t live in either my past or my future. I’m interested in only the present. If you can concentrate always on the present, you’ll be a happy man. You’ll see that there is life in the desert, that there are starts in the heavens, and that tribesmen fight because they are part of the human race. Life will be a grand part for you, a grand festival, because life is the moment we’re living right now.” (page 85 The Alchemist)
http://paulocoelhoblog.com/2008/10/01/
First Quote:
“Those who never take risks can only see other people’s failures.”
(Eleven Minutes)
Many people, including myself can relate to this quote. There are many people in the world today that feel as though they are protected in their own bubble, and never sense the need to break out. They feel as though they are content in their lives because they are afraid of the unknown. However these people never learn what the rest of the world is like, and what is may offer. Because of this, people slowly become insecure over time and begin to look for other peoples faults to make themselves feel better. By picking on others, the spotlight is taken off of them and they feel relived knowing that people don’t know much about them.
However with risks come many experiences one can learn from. By taking risks one learns more about themselves and what they are truly capable without having to degrade someone else in the process. It is the risks in life that make an individual strong and free willed. One doesn’t feel the need to pick out other people’s failures once they know more about themselves and feel secure. It is these people that are able to walk in to a new place, like Santiago from The Alchemist, and find it to be a new place, not a strange one.
Second Quote: “When you are pursuing a dream, how do you know when you should keep working harder to overcome obstacles, or when you should give up and do something different with your life? In my case, I faced the obstacles. I suggest you to do the same.”
I would agree with this quote completely and the response you gave it. Fighting for any dream will present many challenging obstacles that are going to stand in one’s way. These, like the risks, are going to make you stronger than before. I would say one should know if they should keep fighting to overcome the obstacle themselves, it’s not anything you or I could answer. The individual should be able to look into themselves and see if the obstacles that are in their way are worth while and are helping them or degrading. It truly depends on the person and their own beliefs in their own personal dreams. However the obstacles do help in the long run and make you a tougher person when it comes to dealing with the more obstacles that will surely come your way.
I have to relate this to Santiago in The Alchemist because after all he went through many obstacles to find his own dream and personal legend. He struggled through the times when he had no money and when he believed there was no way of him crossing the desert. However by challenging these obstacles, he was not only able to cross the desert but be a stronger person while doing it.
The link I responded to:
http://paulocoelhoblog.com/2008/10/21/after-the-deluge/#comment-57097
Mankind looses site of this key point, and asks the question as Noah did, “Why create man if just to punish him?”. Through our everyday struggles mankind falls into the societal machine, and then simply asks this question of why? Why do we suffer? Why do we have such great hopes and aspirations of changing this world yet we suffer? Noah was filled with hope, but then was faced with a world outside of death and destruction. This world of death and destruction is necessary in order to realize the hope one has inside.
It is my hope that every person in this world has the hope; the inner desire to change this world for the better, although I have found this is not true. Not everyone shares the same dream of making this world a better place for all to live in. But it is because of this realization that I can realize those who do. How can one know the good without the bad? One cannot. One cannot see hope or feel hope, without feeling death or destruction.
God presents his reasonings, as seen above, for this death and destruction. He states man is only, “ rebuilding a world which came from nothing”. We must all share the work and the consequences and we must all be responsible. How could we citizens of this world appreciate and be thankful for the time to live upon it if we had no comprehension of how it was built. How it came from nothing and is what it is today. We all must take responsibility for our actions in building and damaging the world. Now this concept is apparent with global warming. Mankind has all realized the damage we have placed upon this plant Earth, and we realize the work it is going to take to rebuild it. Generations preceding this youth generation took for granted the Ozone layer, and now my generation is faced with skin cancer. It will be my generation that will rebuild the destruction, but only then will we have the ability to have hope for generations to come. If we can accomplish this great task of saving the world, then we can have hope in our children. We are all responsible; therefore it gives us all the responsibility to take a part in fixing the problems of today.
God shows Noah, one must know destruction and death to realize hope, and we all have the responsibility for the place we live today. I want to change this world and better it for all those around me. That is what I want to die knowing I did. I cannot achieve this until I myself suffer, until I myself feel unhappiness, until I myself feel death. I must feel all these things before I can feel hope, happiness, and life; before I can be thankful for all those things and realize I too have responsibility in this place I call home.
tr"All men are different. And should do everything possible to continue to be so."
Uniqueness defines the meaning of life. Each person has his or her own personal legend like Santiago of The Alchemist. To continue our human existence, it is imperative we maintain our individuality. Failing to do so means destruction of the human race. It means that we will all be the same, all souls acting in one manner. Nothing could be right and nothing wrong. There could be no comparisons for comparisons require contrast. Our world would have no balance, as there would be nothing to balance; there would only be one thing, one point of view, and one belief. No need for individual countries or even government. Students would be trained rather than taught and the world would be lead speedily towards everlasting success or failure. In either case, there would no longer be any point to life. Individuality makes us special because we are different. To risk life to save uniqueness is worth the price. Die for your own beliefs, your own morals, for there is no better cause. By conforming to the ways of others, you kill yourself internally. Your soul burns for freedom and demands you be different from your family, your friends, and, above all, society. Try your utmost to be different and remain different.
http://paulocoelhoblog.com/2008/10/21/quote-of-the-day-210/#comment-57103
Each of us faces two roads : action and contemplation. Both lead to the same point.
(Statutes for Life)
I believe in life there are two paths to be traveled: the path of my own desire and the path I currently travel. Society would have me believe that these two roads are one in the same. This ultimate path, for me now, is only a dream.
Presently I act, as Santiago of The Alchemist acts, and tend to my sheep to pass the time, to keep me occupied, to please those around me. My daily routine demands of me little thought as each night I refuel half way with only minimal sleep. When I rest my worn limbs each night (usually), I find I am too tired to think. When I awake the following morning, I discover once again that I cannot not think, at least of nothing but sleep. By the time I am awake enough to perform mental process, I am already busy at work repeating yesterday’s motions.
Today, however, I rebelled. When I make use of the word “rebel”, I do not speak of the militant Weatherman approach or even the musical protest of Bob Dylan. My form of rebellion was against myself, within myself. I simply sat in my Jeep Cherokee for five minutes. Five minutes! The action was passive and ultimately I lost yet I prided myself in trying again. Listening to the drops of rain collide with my roof, I closed my eyes and was at peace. I forced myself, as I often must, to forget my life. Forget my girlfriends 18th birthday today, the grill session I received from my coach when I trapped a ball poorly, my fragile ankle structured like a cracked glass, and above all the homework that would undoubtedly reduce my sleep to a few hours. I was living in the present. It was rare event and a valuable one.
For five minutes I thought of nothing but me; I was delighted. It was during these limited minutes I remembered a discovery I made long ago. I, like many, if not most, students, have accepted my mechanical life and even come to believe in its purpose. There is no purpose for me in my current though I remembered today. For a few minutes I contemplated the path of my own desire. I faced the cobb-webbed road scarcely visited and wondered, what if?
And although I volunteered to return to my routine path, I know I will ultimately leave and then clean out the cobb-webbs blocking a better life, one of purpose, one of my desire. I believe my path will converge to the same point in time as I convert my inner desires into outer realities. I will use my contemplated road to guide my road of action and only then will these words be true.
Until then I trudge a life of duality as many of this world do. We all have aspirations and most of us work hard to keep them only dreams. It will only be when I summon the courage needed that I will burn my high school diploma and spit on my college applications. Then I will know I am no longer a person of duality but rather a complete person, one who wholly values a life of thought and action, one who has reach the point of accomplishing my “Personal Legend”.
http://paulocoelhoblog.com/2008/10/23/quote-of-the-day-212/#comments
Every person on this world has the capacity to become a “Warrior of Light.” A “Warrior of Light” is an individual who has been awoken through their own personal journeys. They are the men and women who understand the role they must play in this world. They are the men and women who, through their own inner quests to find their true “personal legends”, have finally understood the universal language, love.
I wish I could call myself a “Warrior of Light” but I would be implying that I am more enlightened with my own inner being than I truly am. I have had experiences which I believe have molded me into finding my personal legend and steered me on my own path. I have already stared fear in the eyes, like when I fell off a ski lift or was 130 feet underwater. Through these fear by being place away from my own comfort zone I have realized the greater message about this world, that I was put on it just as everyone else for a purpose. I have stared for 30 minutes at a coral reef, watched sharks swim by me and experienced what I thought was death when my appendix ruptured.
I would like to believe that through my own experiences I have in my own way become more enlightened about the world, but the truth is I have only begun my journey to find my personal legend. I believe that within my conscious there is a “Warrior of Light” waiting to be released. I like to believe that my inner warrior steers me away from wrong judgments and allows me to contemplate an action before I make it. I believe that this inner warrior mediates all the jealously, rage and resentment I have by forcing me to reflect on my own ambitions. I can not count the amount of times I have been jealous of my friends, sometimes it’s about who scored better on a test, or who went faster in the pool but I always find myself remember the universal theme in the Alchemist, that I must walk my own path and find where my own personal legend guides me.
I believe that within all of us, citizens of the world, there is an inner battle. Not fought with guns, bombs or men it is fought with doubts, fears and insecurities. This inner battle is what truly determines if a human is a “Warrior of Light”. They, the enlightened members of this world, have the ability to clam that inner storm and to recognize the silence and reflect. They have the power to reflect about the actions they will make. They have the power to recognize when that inner battle is coming and to be able to plan which course they will take.
I am not trying to play myself up through this post, I am simply trying to convey a message, that I believe is true. I am trying to be able to allow others who want to discover their own personal legends’ the opportunity that I have had thought my experiences and through the lessons I have learned while reading the Alchemist. I hope that you take these messages to heart for if you can truly listen to your heart, just as Santiago did, then you too will become a “Warrior of Light” and be of the few on this world who understands what their greater purpose is.
Thank you.
http://paulocoelhoblog.com/2008/10/20/weekly-free-association-diamonds/#comments
I was born in late April, so diamonds are my glittering birthstone. For many years, I thought that the cubic zirconium jewelry I was given from time to time was the real thing, simply because it looked as though it was. Once, I remember, I tried to test my diamond ring to see if it was as strong as everyone said it would be, and it chipped, and I wondered if it was as valuable as I’d always believed.
Diamonds are perhaps the most precious gem, but even they have faults. You mentioned that diamonds “stop wars, strike, and… protect us from any poison or temptations” but it could definitely be said that diamonds hurt as much as they help. Things that glitter and have the beauty that diamonds do seem in our minds like the key to happiness, but wars are started over the wealth of diamonds constantly. As Santiago realizes in The Alchemist, sometimes the greatest treasures are not the ones that can be held in the hand. When he finds his treasure in Spain he is overjoyed, but he is just as thrilled about returning to Fatima as he is about finding a trunk of gold and gems.
Another piece of jewelry I had in my younger years was a “ring of power”. I found it at the bottom of a cereal box, and t was a gaudy, plastic piece of junk. In my mind, this ring made me invisible, protected me when I was alone, and generally served the same purpose as the diamond in your description. Though it was not made of crushed carbon, maybe this ring was a diamond ring simply because I believed it was and because it gave me the strength and security that a diamond is supposed to provide.
Diamonds are tough, and are difficult to come by. Santiago, over the course of his travels, comes across several influential characters who provide him with proverbial diamonds. These solid nuggets of advice save him and protect him when he is in danger. People, too, can be diamonds. If “the devil sees in this stone its enemy, since it resists to all his endeavors” than anything (anyone, rather) who possesses a pure, incorruptible soul is a diamond in human form. Santiago finds great wealth and prosperity in his relationships with people like the King, Fatima, and the alchemist, and perhaps what these people taught him is more valuable than any piece of stone.
The ring I wear now is the one my grandfather wore in high school, and I consider it to resemble a diamond more than any piece of chipped cubic zirconium. It casts away bad spirits, brings me as much perfection and purity as I’ll ever need, and keeps my body free of poison and temptation. It is made of gold, not crushed carbon, but it represents love and I will wear it always and consider it a diamond. In the final lines of the The Alchemist, “the wind began to blow again” and it brought him “a kiss that came from far away, slowly, slowly, until it rested on his lips” (167). That kiss is more valuable to Santiago than his actual treasure. That kiss is the one item of value among a heap of useless things, and the physical treasure is negligible in comparison. That kiss is his diamond.
Free Association: Diamonds
To me, diamonds are a symbol of immortality; they are Time’s best friends. An industrial strength, nature made material that possesses the power to embody the very definition of beauty. Its influence is mysterious yet unavoidable, casting a dazzling stupor over all. Whether you possess it or not, there is a subconscious desire for its touch, no one can deny a diamond.
Born out of carbon; components of the underground, diamonds create a pristine definition of transformation. Beginning as something coarse and depthless, it can be pressured into a clear, unending trail of dimensions. Taking on spectacular colors, shapes and sizes, the diamond is adored unconditionally. Its significance to the beholder is equally diverse; it is the amulet of beauty, forever, and love, the ultimate token. It may be purely a treasure found under a sycamore tree, a tangible port key to a world of undeniable value and prosperity. Therefore, there is no argument that its purity calls for a price that cannot be rivaled by even the shrewdest of imposters; its purchase is an instant implication of high class. The diamond is sought after across the globe, and although it is becoming easier to find, particularly around all major holidays, it will never lose its appeal.
You cannot shatter a diamond; it cheats death and endures forever. Remaining largely unchanged, its youth and memories are always preserved. A diamond is the Alchemist, a being that holds the truths of the universe, and acting as though under the influence of the Philosopher’s Stone or the Elixir of Life. It possesses its own inhuman properties and grants its knowledge only to those considered by its former owner to deserve. The Alchemist “invoked” Santiago’s inner comprehension, much like a diamond can stir up an internal knowledge. By receiving the gift of a diamond, the recipient is capable of acknowledging and validating an emotion or thought that they might have been skeptical about, or unaware of before. A diamond is the Alchemists existence because it will never fade away; it can only continue to be given, its knowledge spread ever further.
Tradition, evolution, and passion can be found within diamonds. The passion between two people can be shared through this object, whether it is shared or a gift, it is a commitment. The parties involved are agreeing to compare their combined Personal Legends with the everlasting life of the diamond, knowing this means their love is not meant to cease. A diamond is Fatima’s womanhood and her love for Santiago. Fatima will always be a woman of the desert, “but above all, [she] is a woman”, no test of time, location, or companionship will change this, and her beauty and love will remain the same.
Santiago’s journey is a diamond. Like a diamond, whose many edges direct light, Santiago takes control of his fate, pointing his vision in his desired direction. His use of free will combined with fate, represented by the pre-created form of the diamond, lead him to a life so beautiful, his appreciation for it will live forever amongst the diamonds.
I own one pair of diamond earrings; a gift for my sixteenth birthday. Upon receiving them my mom said that she was so excited to “be there when you receive your first diamonds.” It is a treasure I will always keep, one I remain conscious about never losing, and a reminder of my family’s love for me.
http://paulocoelhoblog.com/2008/10/24/image-of-the-day-moving-stones/#comment-57187
This image reminds me of my own life. Right now I am going through the college application process and I am feeling full of self doubt. This doubt has been weighing me down from the beginning of the college search. What if I don’t get in to my first choice school? Or even my second or third? These thoughts, though relevant, rest heavily on my mind; these thoughts are the walls that have lately been keeping me in place for so long. These walls have been there for such a long time, it seems that I will never have a chance to move out of their confines. This image, however, strikes me in a powerful way. It reminds me that even the heaviest of rocks, the ones on which gravity’s powers have the most force, still move.
This image also reminds me of Santiago’s journey in The Alchemist . When he is in Tangier, working for the crystal merchant, he is even weighed down by the doubts and expectations of others. One passage that particularly speaks to this idea and struck me in a forceful way is this: “The merchant laughed. ‘Even if you cleaned my crcystal for an entire year… even if you earned a good commission selling every piece, you would still have to borrow money to get to Egypt. There are thousands of kilometers of desert between here and there.’ There was a moment of silence so profound that it seemed the city was asleep. No sound from the bazaars, no arguments among the merchants, no men climbing to the towers to chant. No hope, no adventure, no old kings or Personal Legends, no treasure, and no Pyramids. It was as if the world had fallen silent because the boy’s soul had. He sat there, staring blankly through the door of the café, wishing that he had died, and that everything would end forever at that moment.” (47 The Alchemist) Although at this moment, he is stripped of all hope and weighed down by his own doubt and the expectations of the merchant, he still has the power within himself to move and is able to do so. He is still able to travel to seek the treasure of his own dreams.
In the college application process, I too am weighed down by my own doubt and the expectations of others. My parents haven’t been blatantly pressuring me to get in to the “right” school, but I know they have been hoping I would. My first choice school is one of the most selective schools in the country, because of it, so many of my teachers and classmates have expressed their own doubt that I will get in. Like Santiago, I cannot allow myself to be weighed down by these thoughts, because even the heaviest of rocks out in the abyss of the desert still move on. Although I have been feeling a little bit sedentary myself, like Santiago, I will never lose sight of my treasure and what I hope my own Personal Legend will be. And with the power of my dreams, I too will be able to move through the desert that is the college application process even though I am feeling a weighed down by external and internal forces.
This is my respondse to "Fairytale not a gospel"
I disagree with your crictisms on Coelho’s The alchemist. With all do respect , I think you were too broad and you didn’t defend your argument with examples. Why isn’t Coelho as revered as Hemmimgway and Dickins? That is a matter of opinion. Take Hemmingway’s Old man and the Sea, that is a short and simple book. The only way I reader can appreciate the book though is through their additude towards it. J.D Salinger is another example of a classic aurthor whose writing is simple but great. For example, The catcher in the Rye is about Holden, a struggling boy, who is stuck between innocence and growing up. Some people may read the book and over look the symbols in the story such as the lake freezing over (hell freezing over) and the birds flying away in the winter (where do you go when things get rough in life). The same can be said for F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsbey. Some readers simply see the tale as a romatic tradjety between Gatsby and Daisy Buchanan. They neglect to see the deeper meaning, how loving someone unconditionally has its flaws, how society damages eachother.
What I am trying to say is everything is a matter of opinion. It is too bad that you couldn’t rise above the fairytale and see the true magnitude of the story. It is more diffult then you realize to weave a tale of such simplicty that encourages us to find our greater legened. I could write a wordy and complicated tale preaching the same lesson. But would you be able to understand it? No, then why bother?
And this book does not tell you to follow your dreams. Nobody can tell you how to follow your dreams. The point of the Alchemist is to find your personal ledgened and the role of fate. Not how to follow your dreams. If anything it in encourages you to find your dreams.
Lastly, shame on the people that were dissappointed by the book because they had such great expectations. You should never come into reading a book with great expectations. Instead, I would encourage an open mind. Nobody, not even Hemmingway , wrote the perfect book. What is the perfect book..?
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