Embracing the Journey: How I Became Paul’s Fan by Gary Gauthier

Welcome to another Life List Club Friday, where there’s more fun and goal-getting than you can shake a taco at…

Today, I’m thrilled to be hosting fellow writer and blogger, Gary Gauthier for the first time. You can find me at the wonderful David N. Walker’s blog. And then keep on bopping to all the fantastic Life List Club blogs (see the sidebar for linky-type things).

And now take it away, Gary!

Embracing the Journey
How I Became Paul’s Fan

I became acquainted with Paul a few years ago, but it was just last year I learned the rest of his story. For a variety of reasons, Paul’s story resonates with me. You see, Paul is a writer, a very successful writer. Paul’s success has an untold story behind it like all other instances of success. Although we intuitively understand that all personal transformations involve a unique and uncharted journey, sometimes it’s good to be reminded. Paul’s story is such a journey. While a brief blog post may not do it full justice, his is a story that has the potential to inspire.

As a teenager, Paul wanted to become a writer but was discouraged by his parents. His father was an engineer, a man of science, a logical, clear-thinking man. What clear-thinking parent with a logical vision of the world would want his young child to aspire to become a writer?

Paul was a very introverted young man; and whether this condition conspired with life’s circumstances and caused his family to misunderstand him, we can only speculate. A point of fact, known for sure, is that Paul, at age 16, was committed to a mental institution. Paul escaped three times and remained institutionalized until the age of 20.

Following his parents’ advice, Paul put aside his dream of becoming a writer. He enrolled in law school and dropped out a year later. Paul found work as a song writer and became involved in a protest movement. He dabbled as a journalist, actor and theater director. Along the way, Paul was arrested and charged as a left-wing subversive.

Luckily for Paul, his dream of becoming a writer never died. Paul began to submit his manuscripts for publication in the early 1980’s. In 1987, at the age of 40, Paul published what was to become his most successful book. After the initial run of 900 copies, the title was abandoned. After exposure due to the publication of his next book, the previously abandoned work began its march to become one of the best-selling books in history. It has sold more than 65 million copies. It is in the Guinness Book of World Records as the book translated into the most (71) languages by a living author. The book that holds this lofty distinction is The Alchemist. Ironically, it is an allegory of personal transformation. It reads like a fable.

The formerly disaffected young man, today, is known to the world as Paul Coelho. He has sold over 100 million books in 150 countries. I became a fan of Paul Coelho, sometime ago, when I read that he actively supports pirating his books so that people can try them out. He took this up after finding out, by accident, that the illegal distribution of digital copies of his books has the unintended effect of boosting sales.

And now, you know the rest of the story.

We all, inevitably, face difficulties, obstacles and rejection in our personal lives and in our careers. It would be a great mistake to let them define you as a person. Do you sometimes allow past events to dominate your thinking and prevent you from embracing your journey?

Gary is working on his first novel, a crime thriller set in New Orleans just before Hurricane Katrina’s landfall. His blog, Literary Snippets, gives him an opportunity to express and share his appreciation for art and literature. He occasionally posts articles as well. Some of his favorite writers are Thomas Hardy, Charles Dickens, George Eliot, Nathaniel Hawthorne and Edgar Allan Poe. But this changes from time to time. Stay tuned! Follow him on Twitter and Google Plus.