Remember this one?* – The Alchemist

March 3, 2021

I know you will allow me some latitude in sharing “Remember this one?” posts as I navigate through the death of my beloved dad from thousands of miles away and during a pandemic.

Today, I am sharing the final post in a series on The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho but hope you will read parts 1-3 first by following the links provided below. This seems the easiest way to give all the links to the entire series.

As I went back over the posts this morning, I couldn’t believe I found enough material in this little book to create four full posts — but indeed, I did!

I hope you will enjoy my … uh… excavation… and that’s what it was!… of this classic.

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This is the final post in a Four-Part Series.

Part 1 covered the Introduction. Part 2 covered the Prologue and Part 1 of the book. Part 3 covered the first half of Part 2 of the book. This post will finish the end of the second section and the Epilogue of the book.

“One is loved because one is loved. No reason is needed for loving.” Fatima to Santiago in The Alchemist.

Of course, I want you to read this book for yourself. I don’t want to give away the whole thing… although, in a way, I already have. <<< If you’ve been reading with your eyes, head and heart, you’ll know what I mean. 

We remember that Santiago loved a girl? That we weren’t sure he would ever make it back to her? Ah, yes, he does, and her name is Fatima. The oasis I mentioned at the end of yesterday’s post includes her. His life is complete.

Ah, except… there is that pesky personal legend… that darned treasure he seeks at the foot of the pyramids.

Can I just say that this book makes me want to sway with it? There is something very lyrical and poetic about it. It doesn’t hurt that it’s deep, yet so very simple.

One is loved because one is loved. How much simpler could that be? And yet, we make it so difficult.

I love you because… you’re my parent, my child, my friend, my partner, my spouse, my pet.

I love you because… you belonged to my grandmother, you taste good, you make me laugh, you bring me pleasure.

I love you because… you loved me first.

Or is it?… I love you because… I’m supposed to, I should, I’m afraid not to.

Love. Such a convoluted mystery. It doesn’t have to be. I love you. Period. End of story. ENTIRE story. Ah, sweet love. Very important to this story.

And yet, Santiago bids farewell to the girl he loves… to cross the desert and find the pyramids and his treasure. And in the desert, he meets the Alchemist.

Short digression: ABOUT FREAKING TIME! 

The Alchemist says many wise things but I also appreciate what he does NOT say. Much of their journey together is spent in silence. To me, blessed. But I do not live or travel in a desert devoid of human interaction.

The Alchemist to Santiago: “…before a dream is realized, the Soul of the World tests everything that was learned along the way. It does this not because it is evil, but so that we can, in addition to realizing our dreams, master the lessons we’ve learned as we’ve moved toward that dream. That’s the point at which most people give up. It’s the point at which, as we say in the language of the desert, one ‘dies of thirst just when the palm trees have appeared on the horizon.’”

Yes, part 3 (yesterday’s post, linked above) talked about this, too. I called it “self sabotage”… the Alchemist calls it “the language of the desert,” which sounds… lovely, like it’s floating on a breeze.

As I’ve mentioned, I lived in the desert for fifteen years before I moved to Canada. The desert (indeed!) has a language all its own… and it comes with the winds. When we first moved there, it wasn’t the jumpin’ place it is now. People were just figuring out that the high desert of California was the place to go if you wanted clear skies, clean living, low crime, dry heat and less crowding. There were no Starbucks, let’s put it that way. (gasp!)

Every day, around 3pm, the winds came. As the area built up, the winds may have come, but they went around us. Is that even possible? But it’s true!

So, the winds… yes… and with them, came lessons. I could stop here and tell my Midnight Blue story. It’s long, actually, and I don’t want to take away from the book. I’ll save it for another day.

Now, where was I? Oh yes, the wind. It blows throughout the rest of this book.

As I said, I do not want to give the whole thing away. I want you to read it for yourself. But as I finished the final sentences in the book, I want you to know that I was smiling to myself. I am alone in my house, my eyes strained because it was light when I began reading and dark when I finished. All by myself, I sat here and smiled. I’m still smiling!

Let’s just say… it ends with the language of the wind. And when you read it, you won’t be angry with me… it will feel familiar… but not spoiled.

“If what you found was made from pure matter, it will never spoil.” 

*Originally written by me for this blog on November 12, 2018