The Seed of My Awakening- The Alchemist

The Book, "The Alchemist" by Paulo Coelho was the book that was the seed of my spiritual awakening. I can still remember when and where I picked this book up in 2005 at Barnes and Nobles in Union Square, NYC and it was in the Best Sellers table. The book was first published in 1988 in Portuguese, but Harpers Collins translated the book in 2005 and quickly became a best seller. This book is an allegory of a young Andalusian shepherd named Santiago in his journey to Egypt, after having a recurring dream of finding treasure there. 
So, why did this book have such an effect on me? It was the first time words like Paulo's resonated with me. The backbone of the story was inspiring, empowering, spiritual, freeing and refreshing. It was refreshing because I was never exposed to this kind of thinking before. “Intuition is really a sudden immersion of the soul into the universal current of life.” When I read words such as these they struck me like I was a gong.. boooooong! Yes, it was that intense. I'm a choosey reader, I don't read that many books, but this book fell into my lap and I know it was for a reason. I was then going through a breakup and the book was exactly what I was looking for. I remember I even bought my ex a copy. 

The book made me look at life differently. It stayed with me for many years, all the way till I started my social network, ValSecrets in 2009. For me, the words were transformative in which allowed me to tap into something that I never touched on before. I felt liberated.  So, in 2005 "The Alchemist" was the seed to so many beautiful experiences of which allowed me to get closer to Universal truths. The book touches on many wonderful universal truths and it may be an eye opener but it's not the absolute final layer of the awakening.

I leave you with this “To realize one's destiny is a person's only obligation.” Paulo Coelho

Love,
Val