The Alchemist

Alba Grembi (2020), Thesaurus.

 "The Soul of the World is nourished by people's happiness. And also by unhappiness, envy, and jealousy. To realize one's destiny is a person's only real obligation. All things are one. "And, when you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it."

-Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist

"When you are loved, you can do anything in creation. When you are loved, there's no need at all to understand what's happening, because everything happens within you, and even men can turn themselves into the wind. As long as the wind helps, of course." The wind was a proud being, and it was becoming irritated with what the boy was saying. It commenced to blow harder, raising the desert sands. But finally it had to recognize that, even making its way around the world, it didn't know how to turn a man into the wind. And it knew nothing about love.  

Alba Grembi (2020), Visuals.

"In my travels around the world, I've often seen people speaking of love and looking toward the heavens," the wind said, furious at having to acknowledge its own limitations. "Maybe it's better to ask heaven." "Well then, help me do that," the boy said. "Fill this place with a sandstorm so strong that it blots out the sun. Then I can look to heaven without blinding myself."

Alba Grembi (2020), Tranquility.

So the wind blew with all its strength, and the sky was filled with sand. The sun was turned into a golden disk. At the camp, it was difficult to see anything. The men of the desert were already familiar with that wind. They called it thesimum , and it was worse than a storm at sea. Their horses cried out, and all their weapons were filled with sand. On the heights, one of the commanders turned to the chief and said, "Maybe we had better end this!" 

They could barely see the boy. Their faces were covered with the blue cloths, and their eyes showed fear. "Let's stop this," another commander said. "I want to see the greatness of Allah," the chief said, with respect. "I want to see how a man turns himself into the wind." But he made a mental note of the names of the two men who had expressed their fear. As soon as the wind stopped, he was going to remove them from their commands, because true men of the desert are not afraid. 

Alba Grembi (2020), Painting.

"The wind told me that you know about love " the boy said to the sun. "If you know about love, you must also know about the Soul of the World, because it's made of love." "From where I am," the sun said, "I can see the Soul of the World. It communicates with my soul, and together we cause the plants to grow and the sheep to seek out shade. From where I am—and I'm a long way from the earth—I learned how to love. I know that if I came even a little bit closer to the earth, everything there would die, and the Soul of the World would no longer exist. So we contemplate each other, and we want each other, and I give it life and warmth, and it gives me my reason for living." 

Alba Grembi (2020), Journey.

"So you know about love," the boy said. "And I know the Soul of the World, because we have talked at great length to each other during this endless trip through the universe. It tells me that its greatest problem is that, up until now, only the minerals and vegetables understand that all things are one. That there's no need for iron to be the same as copper, or copper the same as gold. Each performs its own exact function as a unique being, and everything would be a symphony of peace if the hand that wrote all this had stopped on the fifth day of creation. "But there was a sixth day," the sun went on. "You are wise, because you observe everything from a distance," the boy said. "But you don't know about love. If there hadn't been a sixth day, man would not exist; copper would always be just copper, and lead just lead. It's true that everything has its destiny, but one day that destiny will be realized. So each thing has to transform itself into something better, and to acquire a new destiny, until, someday, the Soul of the World becomes one thing only." The sun thought about that, and decided to shine more brightly. The wind, which was enjoying the conversation, started to blow with greater force, so that the sun would not blind the boy.

Alba Grembi (2020), Giver.

-Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist