This has been the best week of the year. For the first time this year, I’m just sitting back and doing absolutely nothing and to be honest it feels really good. I have no submission date hanging over my head or any test to stress about. So, this week I get to do what I like most: reading.

I’ve just finished reading The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho and I’m so inspired by the book that I actually want to say something about it. When Linda suggested that I read the book I wasn’t very keen on the idea. For one, I haven’t read anything by Paulo Coelho – or any Brazilian literature for that matter. But Linda insisted…

So, I borrowed the book in part to get her off my back. I didn’t have much expectation on it. It was just a book like any other book in the many books you find in a library. Little did I know that what I had in my hands was not just a book it was gold in the form of a book.

This is not a book review. So, I won’t say anything about the plot or the writing style or anything of that sort. I’ll only talk about how the book touched me. I once read something on a magazine or poetry anthology – I can’t remember exactly where – but it said something about how when people stop dreaming their lives become like a “broken-winged bird”.

That’s what the book made me think of: my dreams and whether I’m serving my purpose on this world or whether I’ve done enough to pursue my dreams. We all have dreams. I know I sometimes doubt my dreams. I sometimes sit up at night and wonder if I’ll ever be the investigative journalist I’ve always wanted to be. If my dreams are worth it? If I am not wasting my time by studying this course… if it’s all going to be worth it in the end.

That’s one thing that people don’t know about me. Not my mom. Not my dad. Nor my friends. No one knows that the energy and enthusiasm I put up every time my course is mentioned is just a mask for shielding away the fear that lies underneath it. The past four weeks have been very testing weeks. I had so much on my plate that at times I felt as if I was losing my mind.

I guess that’s why I am so happy to be doing something not school related for a change and the book – The Alchemist – has been a blessing from the word go. It has revived my faith in my dreams. It has made me believe once again that if the mind can dream it then I can do it. And everything else that is beyond my control will be taken care of by the universe.

I do my best, the universe does the rest. The book is well written and if you’re going through a time in your life where you question your dreams, this is the book that you should read. It’ll take you from the fields in Spain and transport you to Africa and then you’ll hear the Great Pyramids laughing at Santiago – the main character.

ZZ xxx

Dish it: what are you doing for the holidays?

Let’s catch up on Facebook.