The Alchemist

A dear friend gave me the book The Alchemist last Friday which supposedly be his Christmas present. But since it is a very popular book, we have difficulty owning a copy then. Luckily, he surprised me with one. Thanks dear!

Setting off for our dreams is a real tough and risky act. It entails courage, or even life itself. What is your Personal Legend? Were you able to communicate with the Soul of the World and the Language of the World? This is the theme of this book. The most popular, I think, aside from The Zahir of Paulo Coelho. (finished reading it by 4 hours) If this was the first book I read from Paulo, I would have shed tears like that of The Zahir. But I still find Zahir the best of all his works.

This is a story of a young boy named Santiago, a shepherd boy who lives in Andalusia and constantly dreams of a treasure. But everytime a location of that treasure is about to be revealed, it is always interrupted. While on his journey flocking sheep to Tangier to sell wool, he seeks the Gypsy from Tarifa for an interpretation. The King of Salem whom he also met in the plaza told him that he will find the treasures in the Pyramids of Egypt. That he must make his Personal Legend.

He sold his sheep to find the treasures. On his journey, he lost his money to a thief and worked as assistant to the crystal merchant. When he has enough savings to cross the Sahara desert toward Egypt, he traveled with the Englishman seeking the alchemist to learn how to turn lead into gold, met Fatima the desert woman in the oasis whom he fell inlove with, and guided by the Alchemist to fulfill his Personal Legend, learn the Language of the World, and find the treasure.

Did Santiago find his treasure? Was he able to return to his love?

We set our hearts and minds to the path that leads us to our Treasure and leave the things that are part of us. When we reached the end, it brought us back to the beginning where the treasure just lies.

What do we risk in order to achieve what we wanted? The possessions we have, the love we have found, and the life we live. Are we ready to sacrifice these for the sake of our dreams? ambitions? How has life taught us to become while in the midst of achieving them?

'Paulo once said that alchemy is all about pursuing our spiritual quest in the physical world as it was given to us. It is the art of transmuting the reality into something sacred, of mixing the sacred and the profane.'

Setting off for our dreams is never easy. We take some and lose some. But most importantly, on the path to fulfilling our dreams are a bunch of lessons in life. The more we challenge ourselves, the more we become confident and wiser in life. So never stop hoping, dreaming, and living. Be an Alchemist in your own.