So I have finished savoring this novel by Paulo Coelho in less a week. I couldn’t wait to find out what where the story was going to take me. The booked spoke about a path of desire and a path of pain, which both enable one to feel closer to the higher consciousness — however you called it, God, Jesus, Mother Mary, Buddha, or… Bob, if you’d like. It seemed to me that the story had more than one message and interested topic of course, but ultimately the central ideas of this book make me rethink about the “norm,” this standardized society that we live in. Is this standardized beauty, intelligence and efficiency some kind of lies? If so what’s left after this? A string of unhappiness, guilt and frustration? It could be. Look at what is happening in the world right now, we can’t help but to admit that we do live in a crucial moment of the history. This led me ties back to the book, is this how we relate to each other sexually? Because when it comes down to it, sex is an expression of love, of how we relate to one another. Sex can be practiced as free love, conservative, contradictory, or a way of two bodies coming together as a manifestation.

Another interesting topic what Paulo was trying to convey is pain that is imposed by man can be addictive, it leads to pleasure and one may experience feeling more intimate to one another. Yet is it a path we want to go down with? What I am naming is very vague, I know, simply because I want it to be objective. We all know life is not easy and sometimes can be painful, with things that are out of our control. However, it is important that we ponder if we are using pain the right way. There must be some truth and beauty in the pain that life is trying to teach us, otherwise, what is the point of these pains we experience? What is life trying to teach us? We all know in some sort of way enjoyed the pain — the extremes, drunken nights, emotional enslavements, or being confronted by our dark sides.

Ralf, one of the main protagonists in the story said to Maria, “‘ You experienced pain yesterday and you discovered that it led to pleasure. You experienced it today and found peace. That’s why I am telling you: don’t get use to it, because it’s very easy to become habituated; it’s a very powerful drug. It’s in our daily lives, in our hidden suffering, in the sacrifices we make, blaming love for the destruction of our dreams. Pain is frightening when it shows its real face, but it’s seductive when it come disguised as sacrifice or self-denial. Or cowardice… True, no one wants to suffer, and yet nearly everyone seek out pain and sacrifice, and then they feel justified, pure, deserving of the respect of their children, husbands and neighbors… pain and suffering are used to justify the one thing that should bring only joy: love.'” (p. 201, 2004).

What Paulo was trying to convey is that, pain is only natural and good when it is imposed by nature and not by man. Us, human beings, however, over the century have created stories that we want people to hear, about how salvation is for the better of humanity, and a belief that clearly draw us separate. All we need to know is that “what makes the world round is not the search for pleasure, but the renunciation of all that is important.” It is easy to go down to the path because it is convenient, so don’t, exploit the choice you’ve got.

I believe a good story has a life of its own and that’s what makes it interesting. I am sure everyone has a way of relating to the story and perhaps, a different contemplation. Nonetheless, this is mine and I hope we can all grow stronger from the mistakes and not fall down into the spiral stairways.

Cheers.