How many times have you heard the expression: “It’s written in the stars?” What does this mean exactly? And by what power is fate written for each and every one of us? How can that be?
So are we all a little starry eyed when it comes to our destiny? Is it written down somewhere what we’re destined to do or to be? This timeless question has puzzled many great philosophers down through the ages and quite a few authors.
In Paulo Coelho’s, lyrical fable, The Alchemist, he tells the tale a young Andalusian shepherd boy, Santiago, who falls asleep in an abandoned, ruined church where an enormous sycamore tree grows. He tends his sheep during the day and at night he reads
books. He dreams a recurring dream. He’s dreamt the same dream week after week but wakes each time, before the end of the dream. In this dream, he dreams that if he travels to the pyramids of Egypt, he will find his fortune.
So Santiago sets off on a journey to discover his personal legend.
Along the way he encounters many mysterious and magical people, surprising twists and turns, and omens and obstacles await Santiago on his quest. He meets a gypsy woman who tells him he must go forward on his journey to fulfil his destiny. He meets an old King, who tells Santiago to never stop dreaming and follow the omens and pursue his dream.
He buys a ticket to Tangier, but is robbed of all of his money when he gets there and so he must work for a Crystal Merchant who teaches the young boy about patience - following through and not giving up on his mission, his dream.
The girl of his dreams, he finds in the desert at an oasis and falls in love at first sight. He meets an Alchemist, rumoured to be 200 years old, who gives just the right amount of direction and encouragement to allow Santiago to find his Personal Legend on his own.
As he nears the end of his journey at the pyramids and digs, Santiago finds, in an ironic twist, that the treasure isn't what or where he thought it was. It was in fact back at home in the ruined church where he first began his quest. Life’s often like that, don’t you think? – you never know where you’ll find your treasure.
So are we all a little starry eyed when it comes to our destiny? Is it written down somewhere what we’re destined to do or to be? This timeless question has puzzled many great philosophers down through the ages and quite a few authors.
In Paulo Coelho’s, lyrical fable, The Alchemist, he tells the tale a young Andalusian shepherd boy, Santiago, who falls asleep in an abandoned, ruined church where an enormous sycamore tree grows. He tends his sheep during the day and at night he reads
books. He dreams a recurring dream. He’s dreamt the same dream week after week but wakes each time, before the end of the dream. In this dream, he dreams that if he travels to the pyramids of Egypt, he will find his fortune.So Santiago sets off on a journey to discover his personal legend.
Along the way he encounters many mysterious and magical people, surprising twists and turns, and omens and obstacles await Santiago on his quest. He meets a gypsy woman who tells him he must go forward on his journey to fulfil his destiny. He meets an old King, who tells Santiago to never stop dreaming and follow the omens and pursue his dream.
He buys a ticket to Tangier, but is robbed of all of his money when he gets there and so he must work for a Crystal Merchant who teaches the young boy about patience - following through and not giving up on his mission, his dream.
The girl of his dreams, he finds in the desert at an oasis and falls in love at first sight. He meets an Alchemist, rumoured to be 200 years old, who gives just the right amount of direction and encouragement to allow Santiago to find his Personal Legend on his own.
As he nears the end of his journey at the pyramids and digs, Santiago finds, in an ironic twist, that the treasure isn't what or where he thought it was. It was in fact back at home in the ruined church where he first began his quest. Life’s often like that, don’t you think? – you never know where you’ll find your treasure.
Have you ever dreamed of finding some long lost treasure? Yes? I did too. As a child I wanted to be an archaeologist to go exploring exotic places in the world, digging for never before seen ancient treasure – just like Indianna Jones in Raiders of the Lost Ark. I’m not sure at what point I changed my mind. It may have been when my father pointed out to me that: “Archaeologists are underpaid publicity agents for deceased royalty.”
If nothing else my dad was pragmatic…. Not unlike Indianna Jones, come to think of it. Remember Indianna’s great line to his newly arrived, starry eyed archaeology students:
“Archaeology is the search for fact. Not truth. If it's truth you're interested in, Doctor Tyree's Philosophy class is right down the hall. So forget any ideas you've got about lost cities, exotic travel, and digging up the world. We do not follow maps to buried treasure, and 'X' never, ever marks the spot. Seventy percent of all archaeology is done in the library. Research and Reading.” And he’s right you know.
Treasure is not always buried. Sometimes it’s right under our noses. Don’t believe me? Imagine the surprise of an English brother and sister cleaning out their late parent’s house and happened upon a beautiful vase. Inquisitive as to its value, they took the vase to an antique auctioneer in London, only to be told that it was in fact a rare 18th century Chinese porcelain vase marked with the Imperial seal and was valued at $800,000. At the auction held last week, a fast and furious bidding war commenced and in less than 30 minutes the vase had sold to the shocked pair for $83 million!
I can see it in your eyes now – you’re thinking - If only I could have been that person…..but in a sense we are that person. We do have treasure right under our noses and sometimes we just don’t even see it. There’s a saying that ‘familiarity breeds contempt’ and I think this is true to some extent. We don’t value what treasure we have around us, and unfortunately, we find out too late, the value of something that we’ve lost or something that is gone forever.
For students, the treasure of your home and family life are things that you can take for granted. The one true thing I have learned in this life is that it can change in the blink of an eye. Treasure your parents. Respect your teachers and make the most of every opportunity to learn. Don’t leave it too late, don’t have regrets later in life that you didn’t make the most of the opportunities that you have at Caloundra City Private School.
For our graduating Year 12s, the class of 2010….
You have a wonderful new adventure ahead of you, just like Santiago. This journey may seem daunting to you now – wondering about your OP, or the university or a future career. You will have trials and tribulations along the way for sure but you only have one life. Follow your dreams to the nth degree. Don’t give up believing in yourself and what you can achieve. Dig deep when you need to and be courageous ; be bold. Reach for the stars – and as someone once quipped: if your boat doesn’t come into shore, swim out to meet it!
Seize the day. Carpe Diem.
For Parents
Continue to support your sons and daughters as they reach for the stars. We at the School will do all in our power to help these dreams come true.
For our school as a whole, we’re on a journey too. A journey to great achievements and great deeds. Thank you for your loyalty to the School. Thank you for your trust in us to help your sons and daughters grow and develop into young people of good character and it is our mission and our dream to allow every student to shine.
Paulo Coelho’s lyrical tale “The Alchemist” is a fable about following one's dreams, listening to one's heart. Coelho shows how easy it is to give up ever attaining one's dreams due to complacency - or not wanting to move out of one's comfort zone. "People are afraid to pursue their most important dreams, because they feel that they don't deserve them, or that they'll be unable to achieve them." "There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: the fear of failure."
Yet Santiago does want to pursue his dream of finding his treasure and yes, at times we see and feel his fear, but along his journey, he has learned to listen to his heart and to trust what his heart teaches him.
Santiago learns about love along the way and helps others to face their fears as well. Coelho states, "And that's where the power of love comes in. Because when we love, we always strive to become better than we are." Yes we do.
I would like to share this beautiful passage from Marianne Williamson’s “Return to Love”:
“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be?.... Your playing small does not serve the world well at all.
There’s nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. … It is not just in some of us; it is in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others. "
If nothing else my dad was pragmatic…. Not unlike Indianna Jones, come to think of it. Remember Indianna’s great line to his newly arrived, starry eyed archaeology students:
“Archaeology is the search for fact. Not truth. If it's truth you're interested in, Doctor Tyree's Philosophy class is right down the hall. So forget any ideas you've got about lost cities, exotic travel, and digging up the world. We do not follow maps to buried treasure, and 'X' never, ever marks the spot. Seventy percent of all archaeology is done in the library. Research and Reading.” And he’s right you know.
Treasure is not always buried. Sometimes it’s right under our noses. Don’t believe me? Imagine the surprise of an English brother and sister cleaning out their late parent’s house and happened upon a beautiful vase. Inquisitive as to its value, they took the vase to an antique auctioneer in London, only to be told that it was in fact a rare 18th century Chinese porcelain vase marked with the Imperial seal and was valued at $800,000. At the auction held last week, a fast and furious bidding war commenced and in less than 30 minutes the vase had sold to the shocked pair for $83 million!
I can see it in your eyes now – you’re thinking - If only I could have been that person…..but in a sense we are that person. We do have treasure right under our noses and sometimes we just don’t even see it. There’s a saying that ‘familiarity breeds contempt’ and I think this is true to some extent. We don’t value what treasure we have around us, and unfortunately, we find out too late, the value of something that we’ve lost or something that is gone forever.
For students, the treasure of your home and family life are things that you can take for granted. The one true thing I have learned in this life is that it can change in the blink of an eye. Treasure your parents. Respect your teachers and make the most of every opportunity to learn. Don’t leave it too late, don’t have regrets later in life that you didn’t make the most of the opportunities that you have at Caloundra City Private School.
For our graduating Year 12s, the class of 2010….
You have a wonderful new adventure ahead of you, just like Santiago. This journey may seem daunting to you now – wondering about your OP, or the university or a future career. You will have trials and tribulations along the way for sure but you only have one life. Follow your dreams to the nth degree. Don’t give up believing in yourself and what you can achieve. Dig deep when you need to and be courageous ; be bold. Reach for the stars – and as someone once quipped: if your boat doesn’t come into shore, swim out to meet it!
Seize the day. Carpe Diem.
For Parents
Continue to support your sons and daughters as they reach for the stars. We at the School will do all in our power to help these dreams come true.
For our school as a whole, we’re on a journey too. A journey to great achievements and great deeds. Thank you for your loyalty to the School. Thank you for your trust in us to help your sons and daughters grow and develop into young people of good character and it is our mission and our dream to allow every student to shine.
Paulo Coelho’s lyrical tale “The Alchemist” is a fable about following one's dreams, listening to one's heart. Coelho shows how easy it is to give up ever attaining one's dreams due to complacency - or not wanting to move out of one's comfort zone. "People are afraid to pursue their most important dreams, because they feel that they don't deserve them, or that they'll be unable to achieve them." "There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: the fear of failure."
Yet Santiago does want to pursue his dream of finding his treasure and yes, at times we see and feel his fear, but along his journey, he has learned to listen to his heart and to trust what his heart teaches him.
Santiago learns about love along the way and helps others to face their fears as well. Coelho states, "And that's where the power of love comes in. Because when we love, we always strive to become better than we are." Yes we do.
I would like to share this beautiful passage from Marianne Williamson’s “Return to Love”:
“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be?.... Your playing small does not serve the world well at all.
There’s nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. … It is not just in some of us; it is in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others. "
It's the possibility of having a dream come true that makes life interesting.
Never stop dreaming.
Reach for the stars every single day.
Never stop dreaming.
Reach for the stars every single day.
Karon Graham
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