Ramblings on Personal Legend

Paul Coelho’s best-selling novel, The Alchemist, reminds us to be true to ourselves and to seek out our ‘personal legend’. A king advises Santiago, the chief protagonist, that, “when you really want something to happen, the whole universe conspires so that your wish comes true.”.] This in itself is an uplifting prospect. In spite of this the various realities and sufferings happening around the world on a daily basis demonstrate that this is, all too often, far from the truth. A line that I read in Albert Camus’ The Plague emboldened this for me. “To the day I die I shall refuse to love this creation in which children are tortured.” The so-called ‘lost generation’ of Syrian children serves as a case in point. How can an individual best serve humanity in the modern age while staying true to oneself?

One might argue that the 21st century is one of pragmatism, that with a growing population and consumption of both our land and resources, administering to ‘the self’ is fundamentally unjust. The concept of pilgrimage serves as a suitable allegory. People have travelled for centuries, yearning to absorb and utilise as much of our natural world as possible by searching for inner unity and insight. The modern irony is that, when travelling, we actively tarnish the world around us (through travel on planes, trains etc.). Even the pursuit of knowledge via modern channels impinges on the planet (laptops, tablets etc. require both plastic and rare earth metals).

This might be perceived to be a negative take on things. The pursuit of knowledge has yielded dividends for humanity as a whole. Particle physics demonstrates that, as we continue to strip layers from the fabric of the universe, there will always be more surprises awaiting us. Modern medicine has extended our life span. Freedom of information undermines inequality. These revelations share the common thread of our humanity in an imperfect world. To my mind Coelho hit the nail on the head in a 2005 New York Times interview, “I believe enlightenment or revelation comes in daily life. I look for joy, the peace of action. You need action.”

In brief, it could be argued that, in searching for our personal legend in the 21st century, we affect (for better or worse) humanity’s collective legend. We cannot turn back. Our sphere of existence is what it is. Each one of us will do as we always have and administer to ourselves. Who knows? The world may change for the better by doing so.