Seeking My Personal Legend

Lessons From The Alchemist

And, when you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you achieve it. -Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist

I recently returned to the tale of finding your personal legend. I had previously read The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho, but that was nearly ten years ago, and I felt called to read it once again and re-immerse myself in its simple wisdom. I was right. It was exactly what I needed.

*Spoiler alert: If you haven’t read it and want to, you may want to read the book first, and then come back to this article*

The Alchemist was first published in 1988 in Portuguese. It was then later translated into English and became hugely popular. Like many others who cherish this book, I have identified with Santiago’s quest and the lessons he learned en route.

One of the main themes of the book is that everyone has a personal legend. Santiago has a recurring dream that a child tells him to seek a treasure at the foot of the Egyptian pyramids. After having his dream interpreted by an old Gypsy woman who tells him to go to Egypt to find his treasure, Santiago leaves home to find his treasure.

And so Santiago is off in search of his treasure. The fact Santiago’s quest involves him travelling from Spain to Egypt in a time when travelling was extremely difficult and expensive immediately captured my attention and resonated with me. Granted, it was not the same sort of difficult, but I have spent my youth exploring the globe.

I’m not sure where this desire originated, but I know that it was deep within me. I remember devouring National Geographic magazines with a keen desire to go to all of the places photographed. I remember imagining myself strutting the streets of cities featured in movies. I knew from early on that I wanted to immerse myself in the world, all of it, not just my small section.

So, when Santiago felt compelled to leave behind his shepherd life, and sold his flock to go after his personal legend, I got it. I totally understand that my personal path hasn’t been quite as daring, and that I have the privilege and safety net of having a supportive family who always allowed me to return home after my adventures. However, I spent over a decade working and travelling all over the world while my friends back home built their settled lives. There was some risk in setting out my path in a different direction.

The more I travelled and had these adventures, however, the farther away I deviated from my personal legend. So much of my identity had become intertwined with travel. And while, I credit these experiences with enhancing my confidence and intercultural competence, I also realise now after some reflection and reading The Alchemist for the second time that I began to understand how living on the move had distracted me from recognising my personal legend.

The thing is, there is something scary about realising your personal legend. Realising your purpose here on Earth can feel incredibly daunting. Those questions of “what if I fail?” “What will others think of me?” pulse through your subconscious. And so, without even realising it, you push those dreams aside.

This was also touched on in The Alchemist. Santiago meets a baker who actually wanted to be a shepherd. He was drawn to the life of a baker, however, because of the steady and more respected path it provided. How true is this today in a world that still gives preference to certain career paths in terms of respect. How many people have entered career paths such as law or medicine because of the status and respect it would bring them and their families, only to later discover in life that it’s really not what they want? And then, how many of these people have felt able to leave these jobs and pursue the lives they truly want? In The Alchemist, the baker was not one of these people. No, he represented those who stay, those who stay in steady and safe lives.

Santiago’s luck takes a turn for the worse when he is robbed, but he is resilient and works with a crystal merchant and within no time the two become wealthy from the new sales Santiago brings in. Santiago then decides to cash in his earnings and join a caravan en route to Egypt. He meets a beautiful woman with whom he falls in love and then an alchemist.

Another lesson I derived from these parts is the meaning and lessons that can be derived from steering off the course of your personal legend. Even if we are not fulfilling our purpose, there are still lessons to be learned. Throughout his quest to find his treasure, Santiago learned about the universal language of love, the art of sales, and found a partner.

For me, when I think about my travels and all the things I have done which initially I thought did not correspond with my own personal legend, but now I am starting to see the connection. Not only have I jetted across the world, but I have also bounced between career and education paths, all in the pursuit of trying to find my way in this world.

I have had moments where I wondered if it was worth it all. I wondered if I had put all that energy into just one thing where I would be. But, ultimately I know that I wouldn’t have developed into the person I am today, and I also wonder if I would have figured out my personal legend.

Then there’s the fact that my personal legend (the same as Coelho’s) is to write, and that all of these experiences have undoubtedly enhanced my writing. I have had the privilege of meeting so many captivating people throughout my travels, and I have found myself in some interesting and sometimes hairy situations which not only have contributed to my personal growth, but this has also provided me with experiences and knowledge that I find layered in my writing.

And like Santiago, I too returned home to carry out my personal legend. In The Alchemist, when Santiago reaches the foot of the pyramids, he is beaten by two men who later ask him what he is doing. When Santiago tells them about his dream, one of the men tells him that he too had a dream about a treasure buried beneath a church in Spain. This was the very spot that Santiago had left.

He realised that everything he was looking for, he already had, and it was home. I too have realised that everything I needed to write I have within me, and as vast and beautiful as the world is as a whole, I felt called to write a novel that paid homage to the beauty of my home. This was the aspect of the novel that resonated with me the most-that he had everything he needed to find his treasure all along.

And for me, this is also the case. I felt my call to write and create from a very young age. As a little girl, whenever I drew, I was speaking for the characters, creating stories. As I continued to grow, I had stacks of notebooks in which I wrote short stories and novellas. In junior high school, when asked what I wanted to be when I grew up, I always said screenwriter (pretty close).

So, what happened in between all of that? Along the way, I became the baker. I became consumed with trying to find a path that seemed practical and respectable. And when that didn’t work out, I set out on my own adventure, travelling and working abroad in pursuit of “figuring it out.”

This was me surviving in the scarcity mindset. I was seeking that respectable, safe “baker life.” One summer I even studied for the LSAT. I laugh when I think back to that time and how confused I was. No disrespect to lawyers, but I know now that the lack of creativity and regimented structure of the profession would not suit me at all. But, this is the scarcity mindset at play. It drives you to believe that your options are limited, and you need to act quickly and competitively, or you’ll get left behind.

Whereas, in contrast, when I finally started to function from an abundance mindset, I was able to dig deep, and ask myself- what is it that you really want to do, Lauren? And when the answer was write, instead of believing that it’s not possible, or that I will never make it, I started to believe that there was space for me.

But like most things in life, it wasn’t so simple. It wasn’t so simple of figuring out that I wanted to write and then just making it happen. In fact, I hadn’t even dug deep enough to realise what kind of writing I wanted to do. Initially, after realising that I wanted to pursue a career in writing, I was accepted into a journalism fellowship, and I was excited. It was with a very well known university and would connect me with some big players in the media industry. It was a big opportunity, but ultimately, it wasn’t the right opportunity for me. About a month into the program, I experienced panic attacks, and decided to listen to myself, and left the fellowship. It was heartbreaking because I knew how big of a deal this fellowship was, and I was walking away from it.

However, in time I realised that it wasn’t the right fit for me. I also realised that the “baker complex” had been creeping in yet again, and that the seriousness and respectability of journalism was appealing to me, when what I really wanted to do was write a novel.

And eventually, that is exactly what I did. After I left the fellowship, I began a yoga teacher training program that was so much more than executing the proper poses. One of the leaders of the program was deeply devoted to meditation, and he led us on a meditative walk. Prior to our meditative walk, we did a journaling activity which involved us asking ourselves some questions surrounding what we are seeking in our path to happiness. He told us that during our meditative walk we may find that the answer comes to us. I didn’t really think much of it, but there I was staring intently at a pond, and the answer to my question (when will I find a partner?) was when I write. And somehow without even articulating it, I knew that that meant a novel. It didn’t happen immediately, but by spring I applied to a mentorship program and now I am working with a mentor, and writing my first novel.

And while going for this dream is thrilling and fulfilling, it too hasn’t been without its challenges. Again, I resonate with one of the main themes of the books, that fear is a bigger obstacle than the obstacle itself. Indeed, finding my mentor, being accepted to the program, researching and writing have not been too challenging. I have been able to handle all of this, no problem. It’s the fear of failure that has crippled me at times, and it is a fear of which I am aware, and I am ready to tackle once and for all. I am ready to find my treasure because I know that it means coming home to myself, coming home to that little girl who was always creating stories.

Peace and love, my friends!

Lauren

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