photo credit: Amazon.com

The Alchemist

This summer I am re-reading some of my favorite books from my library, especially the books that make me smile when I see the title.  They are like old friends with special messages just for me.

The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho is one of those treasures.

I love Coelho’s introduction where he talks about his dream becoming a reality in writing this book and then gaining worldwide readership.  It’s a journey similar to his main character, Santiago.

The story is about Santiago’s journey to discover treasure near the Pyramids of Egypt.  This Coelho is his Personal Legend.  You are  an invited guest to travel along with Santiago experiencing his lessons, loves, fears and successes.

The Messages

The messages of The Alchemist run deep no matter where you are in your journey.  The phrases I underlined several years ago are now part of my history.  What I noted this time will guide me along my current path.  I believe this book can be read throughout a lifetime and always teach something new.

When a book of mine becomes dogeared and marked up, you know it’s a favorite.  I highly recommend The Alchemist as part of your journey too.

photo credit: Amazon.com

I’d not been measuring time.  I’d been living it. ~ Alice Steinbach

Imagine taking nearly a year off to live in Paris and London then travel through Italy.  Sounded like a dream come true when I read the jack of Alice Steinbach’s personal memoir, Without Reservations: The Travels of an Independent Woman.

When I go on vacation, I love reading about other people’s travels.  You think I would want to save them for an escape while at home.  Maybe it’s my own breaking of routine that makes me reach for others doing the same.

This summer I searched for titles guaranteed to take me away.  Alice’s journey promised to do just that.

I’d decided to take a chance and temporarily jump ship, so to speak, from the life I’d fashioned for myself. ~ Alice

Alice was a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist for the Baltimore Sun.  In 1999 she took leave from her career for her European adventure.

Without Reservations is not only the title of the book, but the philosophy of how she traveled.  Without a structured itinerary, she left herself open, without reservations, to experience each adventure through the people she met and the places she explored.

Alice describes her trip in enough detail to draw you in, but not enough to slow the pace of the book.   You feel what it’s like to wander through the Venetian maze of streets at sunset, get lost in the English Cotswalds, waltz with an unlikely Fred Astaire, and fall in love while standing in the light of Saint-Chapelle.

The only regret I have is Alice Steinbach died in March of 2012.  After sharing her adventures, I teared up reading her obituary.  I felt as if I’d lost a dear friend.

It was time to go. I took one last look in the direction of fog-shrouded Venice… ~ Alice

If you enjoy vicarious travel, I highly recommend Without Reservations.  It’s a perfect summer read by the pool or cuddled up by the fire on a cold winter’s night.

And now here is my secret, a very simple secret.  It is only with the heart that one can see rightly.  What is essential is invisible to the eye.  Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, The Little Prince

Whenever PBS has pledge month, I look forward to listening to Wayne Dyer.  Each show inspires me.  I love his guests.  Their stories always bring life to his words.

In his latest program Wishes Fulfilled, his guest is Anita Moorjani.  Her story is about her battle with cancer and the near death experience that changed her life.

I loved the way she spoke about her experience.  She was so loving and peaceful.  I wanted to read her book, Dying To Be Me to learn more.  I signed up for Hay House’s Book Nook and they sent me the book free and in return for a review.  I was happy to comply.

Anita begins the book talking about her life before cancer.  Like many of you, she talks about growing up never feeling as if she fit in.  This uneasiness turned into fear.  She wanted to do things “right,” but always felt out of place.

This fear spread to other areas in her life.  She began to fear cancer because she watched a friend wither away from it’s effects.  When she was diagnosed with cancer, she feared treatment.  On February 2, 2006, she let go of all her fears and died.

She details her near death experience with such clarity.  She describes how her awareness expanded in all directions.  She could connect with her father and friend who had died before, as well as, listen to what the doctors were saying.  She could sense when a nurse had given up on her and what her brother was thinking on the way to the hospital.

Here’s how she described her initial experience:

It didn’t feel as though I’d physically gone somewhere else – it was more as though I’d awakened…Love, joy, ecstasy and awe poured into me, through me and engulfed me.  I was swallowed up and enveloped in more love than I ever knew existed.  I felt more free and live than I ever had…The feeling of complete, pure, unconditional love was unlike anything I’d known before…I didn’t have to do anything to deserve it, nor did I need to prove myself to earn it.

In her choice to come back, she knew she would be healed.  Her message was to live her life fearlessly.  As I read those words, I attached my own definition to fearlessly.  I took it to mean of courageously or adventurously.

It wasn’t until Part 3 – What I Learned From My Experience that I fully understood the message.  Fear is something you create.  It doesn’t exist.  To live without fear means to live in joy.  It’s a simple message.  Let the fear go and replace it with joy.

I’ve already recommended this book to friends and family.  It’s message is pure.  Whether you’re dealing with illness, death or more importantly want to make shifts in your life, this book has something for you.  I know I’ll be reading it several times to absorb Anita’s lessons.

The quote from The Little Prince spoke to me about Anita.  Through her experience she now can see with her heart what is essential.  It’s something we can all learn.