Daily Archive for May 7th, 2008

Evento en Asturias/ Conference in Asturias

Como probablemente Uds. lo han visto en mi calendario: en el 29 y el 30 de Mayo, estaré celebrando los veinte anos de mi libro El Alquimista.

He decidido hacer-lo en un local simbólico, Avilés, una pequeña ciudad en Asturias, España. Me gustaría así invitar algunos de Uds. para el acto de conmemoración del libro que será a las 20h en el Teatro Palacio Valdés, C/ Palacio Valdés, 985 549 658, Avilés, Asturias

Estamos en el proceso de chequear las posibilidades de transmitir esta conferencia en directo gracias a la tecnología de Seesmic. Estamos trabajando duro para que esto funcione, pero dependemos de la conexión Internet del teatro. Si logramos instalar todo, Paula empezara a pedir-les que manden sus videos a partir de la próxima semana, así que os veremos en un telón en la escena, y os responderé.
Castellano será la lengua del evento así que os invito a dejar sus preguntas en esta.

El día siguiente también podremos visitar una exposición dedicada al libro en el
Palacio Valdecarzana, C/ El Sol s/n , 985 510 667, Avilés, Asturias

Si UD. quiere venir, iremos elegir los primeros que manden su confirmación a este mail : pilar_piedra@hotmail.com
Por favor no olvide de poner en el mail su link de su blog.

Esta invitación se limita a estos dos eventos – todos los gastos del viaje deben ser cubiertos por los que desean venir.

Con amor
Paulo
 
 
As you may have noticed in my Calendar : on the 29th and on the 30th of May I will be celebrating the 20th anniversary of my book The Alchemist. I decided to do it in a very symbolical place, Aviles, a small town in Asturias, Spain.

I would like then to invite some of you to attend the conference/event on the 29th of May at 20h in Teatro Palacio Valdés, C/ Palacio Valdés, 985 549 658, Avilés, Asturias

We are in the process of checking the possibilities to broadcast it live via web thanks to the technology of Seesmic. We are working hard to make it work, but we depend on the local high speed connection. If we manage, Paula will start asking you to send video questions from next week on, so we will see you in a screen placed on the stage, and I will answer them. Spanish will be the language of the event, therefore the questions should be in Spanish.

The following day, we will be able to also visit the exhibition dedicated to the book in
Palacio Valdecarzana, C/ El Sol, 985 510 667, Avilés, Asturias

If you want to come, we will proceed on the basis of “first come, first served” - therefore please write to the following email address (don’t forget to send us your blog link!) : pilar_piedra@hotmail.com

Please also note that I am only inviting you to attend these events - all costs are to be taken care of by those who wish to come.

Love
Paulo

Quote of the Day

The Lord only demands of us
what is within our capabilities.
(The Fifth Mountain)

My Keynote Message for the Meeting on Youth@the Crossroads - a future without violent radicalization

Dear readers,
Below you may find a text that I wrote recently for the Unesco about the radicalization of Youth.

When I was invited by the Director-General of UNESCO (…) I felt a great deal of responsibility and, I will not hide it, grief.

(…)

Even before sitting at my desk to write this text, sad images started to crowd my mind. I could see an army of children, bare foot, walking down a dusty path that would lead them to their certain death. I could see some of them actually smiling, holding carelessly their light AK-47s, and heading towards war.

(…)

I keep on seeing these images and the feeling of powerlessness grips me. What can one do against a rising number of children soldiers? Of children slaves?

(…)

To read the integrality of this discourse : please go here

The cracked jar

An Indian legend tells of a man who carried water to his village every day, in two large jars tied to the ends of a wooden pole, which he balanced on his back.

One of the jars was older than the other, and had some small cracks; every time the man covered the distance to his house, half of the water was lost.

For two years, the man made the same journey. The younger jar was always very proud of its performance, safe in the knowledge that it was up to the mission it had been made for, while the other jar was mortified with shame at only fulfilling half of its allotted task, even though it knew that those cracks were the result of many years hard work.

It was so ashamed that one day, while the man got ready to fetch water from the well, it decided to speak to him:

- I want to apologize, but because of the many years of service, you are only able to deliver half of my load, and quench half of the thirst which awaits you at your home.

The man smiled, and said:

- When we return, observe carefully the path.

And so it did. And the jar noticed that, on its side, many flowers and plants grew.

- See how nature is more lovely on your side? - commented the man. - I always knew you were cracked, and decided to make use of this fact. I planted flowers and vegetables, and you have always watered them. I have picked many roses to decorate my house with, I have fed my children with lettuce, cabbage and onions. If you were not as you are, how could I have done that?

“All of us, at some point, grow old and start to acquire other qualities. We can always make the most of each one of these new qualities and obtain a good result.”

Today’s Question by Aart Hilal

In your book Pilgrimage you described 3 possible different meaning for love: Eros, Philos and agape. Does eternal love exist according to you?

Love itself is eternal ” we are made of Love. However, the manifestations may be ephemerous ” it is like a tree, that may have some different leaves in this summer, and totally different leaves in the next summer. Love is the tree, the manifestation of love are the leaves.