Paulo Coelho

Stories & Reflections

Today’s Question by Aart Hilal

Author: Paulo Coelho

You are now known as "the magician of words". Why your debut was at the age of forty? What was the incident that motivated you?

It’s true, it took me almost 40 years for me to become a writer. Before that I always dreamt of becoming a writer, but I never dared to take the necessary steps.
I did the pilgrimage to Santiago in 1986 but met my master in Amsterdam in 1982. He told me things back then that enabled my soul to slowly awaken and it was through a series of rituals that I was able, four years later, to embark on my pilgrimage.

Yet, it was only during my pilgrimage that it became increasingly apparent that I wasn’t happy and I had to do something about it – stop making excuses. I realized that you don’t have jump through a series of complicated hoops to achieve a goal. You can just look at a mountain and get a connection with God, you don’t have to understand the mountain to feel that.

When I first got back from the trip it was an anti-climax. I found it hard to acclimatize to my normal life and I was impatient to change my life immediately. But changes happen when you’re ready. It took a few months to realize that I must solely concentrate on writing a book, rather than trying to fill various roles as I had before. The pilgrimage was to be my subject and as I started I took my first step towards my dream.

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