It's Never Too Late To Start
The Alchemist later became a mega-success. It’s been translated from Portuguese into 80+ languages and it’s spent a record-breaking 400 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list.
But Paulo Coelho’s bleak first-experience as a published writer gives me so much hope for not-yet possibilities in my own life now (particularly as someone who writes things).
One of my favorite authors (one of the most influential authors of my time! an author who’s been interviewed by Oprah!) was “forty-one and desperate” before he published his first book; and it was massively unsuccessful and generally ignored for years before anyone started reading it.
That didn’t stop him from writing it or publishing it (twice).
At least once every year I read The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. Usually it’s during a time in my life when I’m craving divine connection to Something Bigger Than Me. (Lately, and throughout the pandemic, it’s all I want to read.)
The Alchemist is the story of Santiago, a shepherd boy, who pursues his Personal Legend across the desert and home again.
The “25th Anniversary Edition” is my favorite, because its Forward begins like this:
“When The Alchemist was first published twenty-five years ago in my native Brazil, no one noticed. A bookseller in the northeast corner of the country told me that only one person purchased a copy the first week of its release. It took another six months for the bookseller to unload a second copy–and that was to the same person who bought the first! And who knows how long it took to sell a third.
By the end of the year, it was clear to everyone that The Alchemist wasn’t working. My original publisher decided to cut me loose and cancelled our contract. They wiped their hands of the project and let me take the book with me. I was forty-one and desperate.”
The Alchemist later became a mega-success. It’s been translated from Portuguese into 80+ languages and it’s spent a record-breaking 400 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list.
But Paulo Coelho’s bleak first-experience as a published writer gives me so much hope for not-yet possibilities in my own life now (particularly as someone who writes things).
One of my favorite authors (one of the most influential authors of my time! an author who’s been interviewed by Oprah!) was “forty-one and desperate” before he published his first book; and it was massively unsuccessful and generally ignored for years before anyone started reading it.
That didn’t stop him from writing it or publishing it (twice).
Paulo Coelho says that’s because the story is HIM: “I never lost faith or wavered in my vision. Why? Because it was me in there, all of me, heart and soul.”
And, because “[t]he story of one person is the story of everyone, and one [wo]man’s quest is the quest of all humanity,” we’re still reading and relating to his words decades later.
I think, too, it’s because he was writing from a place of Inspired Trust In Something Big.
His heart speaks to my heart (speaks to your heart) because we’re inspired by the same Energy That Connects Us.
And that energy never runs out or goes away completely. Even if it takes awhile… Paulo Coelho demonstrates, over and over again, that it’s never too late to get started.
until next week, alycia buenger
How To Create In Alignment With Your Cycle
Your creative energy ebbs and flows, right? But it's (likely) not random.
There's a pattern, a rhythm.
And it starts with the body, and her natural creative cycle: menstruation is like WINTER; ovulation is like SUMMER.
Your creative energy ebbs and flows, right? But it's (likely) not random.
There's a pattern, a rhythm.
And it starts with the body, and her natural creative cycle:
menstruation is like WINTER,
the follicular phase is like SPRING,
ovulation is like SUMMER,
the luteal phase is like FALL.
Watch the video (above) for a full explanation - and then share your thoughts in the comments below!
xx, alycia buenger
The Other Side Of Abundance (let's talk about collective wealth)
Our abundance conversation should forever consider what's necessary for the collective.
By which I mean, the global breakdown of wealth is, at the very least UNFAIR - but also deeply + intentionally OPPRESSIVE.
We've created this "value" system that says the more money you have, the more valuable you are to society - but also you have zero rights to a basic standard of living, whether or not you work (and I haven't even touched the conversation of whether or not people *can* work, or what's considered "work" worth pay to our current world).
ABUNDANCE is a hot topic in the world of online business (for better, and worse).
If you consider SEO keywords for even a second: anything to do with money gets all kinds of clicks. Because people want more of it!
And many of us need more.
BUT/AND.
It cannot only be about financial abundance for individuals.
Our abundance conversation should forever consider what's necessary for the collective.
By which I mean, the global breakdown of wealth is, at the very least UNFAIR - but also deeply + intentionally OPPRESSIVE.
We've created this "value" system that says the more money you have, the more valuable you are to society - but also you have zero rights to a basic standard of living, whether or not you work (and I haven't even touched the conversation of whether or not people *can* work, or what's considered "work" worth pay to our current world).
AND, to say one person is "worth" more than another? That my work is "worth" a different amount than yours?
Or to say that each person's ABUNDANCE is simply a matter of working harder, manifesting more intentionally, etc.
That's the unfair and oppressive system at work - one we've also imposed on ourselves + each other.
Changing this system starts, I think, with envisioning abundance on a micro-level: What amount of money do you need, and WHY? What does that money provide for you and your family?
(This is the difference between, “I want to make X amount” + “I want to afford ballet lessons for my daughter, date night dinners, and worry-free trips to the grocery-store.” The more specific the better!)
If you can envision your abundance first (which, for many oppressed groups is the opposite of familiar), you can also envision abundance for the collective; and that's the real work.