From what I managed to read today, it reminds me a bit of my favourite of all time, The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. This book was such an amazing journey for me. To this day, I can’t remember where I was when I read it, know I was on a plane going somewhere (definitely not home, which at that time was Gothenburg or London), I had about five hours on me, and I took my time and read the whole book. I can’t remember the story and have not read it again yet (SQB is giving me a copy which I’ll read after the Prophet), but I recommend it to everyone.
I think I recommend it because of how I felt after finishing the book, which, luckily I still remember. It was a sort of Eureka moment, wow, life can be so easy if we just go with the flow and try to live with nature, embrace the simple life. Sounds very flower-power now, but I’m sure those who have read the Alchemist know the feeling I am trying to describe. Once I got back to London(?) I made two decisions very easily, decisions I had previously gone back and forth on.
I think The Prophet may have a similar impact on me. My favourite line from today was in the chapter ‘on marriage’, a topic that we’ve been discussing a lot lately (had a discussion with Ruby and her workmate about it just yesterday). The Prophet says:
Love one another, but make not a bond of love:
Let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls.
What a fitting quote for an ocean lover like me! And what a beautiful way to capture how we change as people in life and therefore our love cannot be a solid, tangible thing but rather something so abstract that is always in transition.
