【非文青N周一文】Further thoughts on the Alchemist

Yesterday, after seeing NewVoice’s comments, I reflected on why I didn’t quite like the book as much as I had wanted.
Last year, a previous co-worker, who is from El Salvador and has a writer friend, recommended this book to me after hearing me talk about the shift of my interest from my current job to something that, though unclear yet, could be writing, public speaking, or something totally new.  NewVoice mentioned this book to me earlier this year and that triggered me to order the book and read it last weekend. Thank you, Sis, for recommending the book. My previous review might have implied that reading the book was not a good use of my time, but it is not the case at all. It was a book worth reading and rereading. I was completely engrossed in it, so much so that my husband complained that he and the kids missed me and started a spat over whether we should read books or use electronic devices during our family time. 

Come to think of it, the main reason that I didn’t like the book is that I can’t identify with the hero of the story.  Instead, I think I am more like the Englishman in the story, who read a lot of books and wanted to become an alchemist and turn stone into gold.  In their caravan, the English had all the books in his luggage, heavy for the camel, and heavy for his eyes too because he was reading books all the time during the trip. The boy, on the other hand, was so fascinated by the desert and was listening to the Language of the World.  As the story unfolded, we know that the boy became the alchemist’s apprentice but not the Englishman whose dream was to become one. When the Englishman asked the Alchemist what he should do to achieve his dream, the answer he got is basically the Nike slogan: Just do it! He actually needed to start the thing from scratch, by setting up the furnace and the fire.  Both the Englishman and the boy were looking for a universal language understood by everybody.  The Englishman was barking up the wrong tree by looking for an answer in the books, oblivious to the world around him, and deaf to the sound of the desert.

Maybe that’s the message from the book I should take away with me. Instead of reading a book on writing, I should just “Go and try” as the alchemist told the Englishman.  Moreover, when the boy was a shepherd, like I am now, not in the ideal situation or not living the dream, he still learned the Language of the Universe by “conversing” with his flocks. He was a successful shepherd because he understood the sheep's language.  What does this tell me?  I think it’s telling me, instead of ranting about my job and the unfairness of the corporate setting, I should learn something that’s shared by my current job and my dream job. Instead of whining about being a corporate victim, I could learn something like a Universal Language for success and work on things to prepare myself for my future career. After all, without the money from selling his sheep, the boy wouldn’t have had the money to start the first step of his journey, to go to Africa on the other side of the strait. It's through being a shepherd, the boy learned there is a Language of the World that is understood by the sheep, later by people of different nationalities, eventually, by the wind and the sun because he sees the Soul of the World.

To end this essay on a positive note, it does not matter what banal or mundane or tedious (or fill in whatever big words you like here) work you are doing now. What matters is: Are you listening and learning the Language of the World?