I read The Alchemist again while here.
And yes, I know. Some people think it’s cliché. Some people think it’s overrated. But reading it as again hits differently.
The whole book is basically about following your “Personal Legend.” Which sounds dramatic. But when you’re living in another country, slightly unstable, slightly unsure about your future, it feels very real.
Desert landscapes. The sun. Alchemy symbols. Wind. Gold. It reads almost like a storyboard. Every scene feels like it could be translated into a poster or a visual identity system.
The idea of transformation — turning metal into gold — is such a powerful metaphor for creative work. We take raw ideas, messy sketches, doubts, and somehow refine them into something valuable.
But the book also talks about fear. Fear of failure. Fear of success. Fear of leaving comfort behind.
Erasmus feels like that too. You leave your known environment. You step into uncertainty. And you trust that something meaningful will come from it.
From a design perspective, I love how simple the narrative is. It’s almost minimal. No excessive complexity. And yet it resonates globally. That’s a lesson: clarity doesn’t mean superficial.
Sometimes the most powerful concepts are archetypal and universal.
Reading it here in Graz, sitting in cafés with my sketchbook, I felt strangely aligned with Santiago wandering the desert. Not literally — Austria is very green — but metaphorically.
Being an artist is a bit like being an alchemist. You chase invisible things. You trust intuition. You turn experience into form.
And maybe that’s the real gold.
Book info: https://paulocoelho.com/the-alchemist
