The last Cafe Parlez for 2008 and we’ve got delicious yummies coming out of our ears!! Fruit, cheese, crackers, Moroccan soup, chocolate, cranberry nut bread – excellent! There is a paperback swap, and door prizes.
MC brought a photo album from a trip to Morocco, and sand, shells, and pot shards from the Sahara desert.
The point is brought up that the message was fine; it was the way it was presented. Some people didn’t care for the book, some people thought it was the best book ever. The gold was a bonus; the treasure was the learning process. Every time he got near the “treasure”, something happened to stop him. His Personal Journey was to find the treasure, which he interpreted as gold. MTR thinks the main character was a little self-centered.
What would have been a better Personal Legend for “The Boy”? Why can’t his PL be riches? The treasure was the end result, but the lesson was his journey. You wish he was looking for something other than money, but he did promise the Gypsy that he’d give her a tenth of his treasure.
What was the difference between the Englishman and the Alchemist? The Englishman was just focused on the gold, and the Alchemist was interested in the process and the achievement of enlightenment.
Which payment The Boy made is “false hope”? You have to pay a price to take a risk, so the Gypsy gave him false hopes by raising his expectations that he would win the treasure. The Old Man was more helpful, taking his sheep, giving him good advice.
While working for the crystal merchant, The Boy learned that he was better off following his dream, rather than sitting, waiting, afraid to follow the dream. The Merchant seemed rather sad, but maybe that was his Personal Legend. However, one of the obstacles to achieving your goal is the Fear of Succeeding.
How do you know your Personal Legend? People rush around too much. They’re never still enough to listen to their heart, to set a goal. Can a person be happy without a goal? People like their ruts, but life throws you curve balls. It’s at the end, when you look back, can you be content with where you’ve been and with the person you’ve become? LM thinks people aren’t quiet enough to listen to themselves.
That’s all for this month! See you on January 29 to discuss The Widow’s War, by Sally Gunning.
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