My sister bought me this book for Christmas. "It changed my life," she claimed. She tends to read very philosophical and spiritual books, and The Alchemist is no different. It has the air of The Little Prince, not only from the subject matter (a boy on a quest), but reading it in English when it is originally in another language (Portuguese for Alchemist, French for Prince). But the literary merits are neither here nor there, because the spiritual matters are superb.

The book bases itself on the idea that every person has their own Personal Legend and that the journey to the goal is acting in the will of God (and Goddess). Essentially, everyone has something they want to do more than anything in the world and pursuing that dream is in line with the Soul of the World. My favorite lesson from the book is the piece about Fatima. Santiago (the main character, and the narrator of the tale) makes it to an oasis on his way to the Pyramids of Egypt. His journey is delayed there due to tribal warfare in the desert. He meets a young woman named Fatima and falls in love with her. She tells him, though, that he should not stay at the oasis, but pursue his dream of treasure. Santiago is distressed about this, but she assures him that she loves him, but she is a woman of the desert and able to wait for him to return. So he continues on his quest and finds his treasure, and, we are to extrapolate, returns to Fatima.

I think it's true, that we don't follow our Personal Legends, because we worry those we love will become angry or resentful of our dreams, since it takes us away from them. But those who truly love us will make us, force us, to follow our journeys to their conclusion. And that's just true love.

I also love the concept of the Personal Legend and that we have a duty to the Soul of the World to live our legends and the Soul of the World will give us omens to push us along. When you start, you have "beginner's luck" and are able to complete things easily. At the end of your quest, you will be tested, so it only gets harder, but it's because that way, the Soul of the World will know that you want it.

I already know my Personal Legend. I will write stories. And I have always felt that being a writer is how I fit into the world, how the world makes sense. I believe that it is my duty to be a writer, serving the Soul of the World, and myself. And the reason I have grown cynical and negative in my life is because I am turning away from it, every moment I do not hunt down my Personal Legend.

Now I know why I am sad. All I have to do is change.