A Personal Legend

My Personal Legend. According to Paul Coelho's THE ALCHEMIST, it is the thing I live my life to accomplish. "When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it," the Old King tells Santiago. But as I studied that book and Antoine de St. Exupery's THE LITTLE PRINCE (a book that should be taught in a companion unit), I realized something. What you experience on the journey to your Personal Legend is sometimes more important than the legend itself.

Okay. Anyone who knows me knows that I've been working to become a published novelist for over a decade. When everything seems to be looking up, that mythical gold ring on the carousel of life eludes me. With the perserverence that came when I realized I had discovered my Personal Legend, I brush off the disappointment and keep moving forward.

What I missed, though, was the fact that I am happy. As I travel the sands of this desert searching for my treasure chest of Spanish dubloons, I have found the soul mate who makes the trip worthwhile. I have realized that my sons are amazing boys-becoming-men. I have admitted that I love teaching and giving my students a chance to succeed in their own Personal Journeys. And I have learned to push my body to new physical goals like running (and finishing) races.

I am not the same writer I was ten years ago -- I don't even recognize her anymore! I grow every time I take a class or finish a manuscript. When I'm revising, I readily dump passages that don't work anymore because I know there's more where those words came from. And I can't remember the last time I had mind-numbing, finger-freezing writer's block. The words are always flowing -- onto my journals, my Facebook essays, this blog, or into my works in progress.

I have made wonderful friends and met great people along this writing journey. I would never change a moment of this trip. Some of my good friends are the most magical writers in publishing today, and that circle keeps growing. Rarely, jealousy rears its ugly head, but I rein it in knowing one day my day may come.

But if my day doesn't come, I'm okay with that, too. See this has been a great journey. Sometimes I made mistakes that threatened the stability of my world, but I've learned how to find that distant star I've been following throughout this journey. I train my compass on North and continue searching. As long as I can see my Personal Legend shining in the distance I know this trip will have been worth every step.