Zion Narrows
I always wanted to hike the narrows all the way to the Wall Street – inside the narrows. Wow! These massively, ominous cliffs/walls provided quite the adventure.
— Elaine Breinholt Street
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Posts Tagged ‘adventure’
Land of Gods
August 11, 2010The Quest of the Sword is over!
February 8, 2010
Quest of the Sword
“Enigma is over. Winner arrived one hour ago.” — Paulo Coelho
The Quest of the Sword is over! Last night Paulo Coelho reported that the Quest of the Sword was over.
Twenty years ago through arrogance, Paulo Coelho lost the sword that he thought was rightfully his. To regain his sword he had to walk El Camino de Santiago, an ancient medieval pilgrim’s route. Paulo Coelho recounts the story in The Pilgrimage.
Twenty years on Paulo Coelho wondered in a world of virtual reality do we still have a sense of adventure? He set an Enigma. I have to admit that I did not have a clue. Solving the Enigma was a necessary but not sufficient condition. Real places had to visited, real people spoken to, real tasks carried out. Awaiting the lucky person who was first to complete the journey, lying close to the Greenwich Meridian, was a real sword given to Paulo Coelho on his sixtieth birthday.
Sunday evening Paul Coelho reported that the Quest of the Sword was over!
Synchronicity: Sunday afternoon my lovely friend Sian and I attended an organ recital at a Benedictine Abbey. At the entrance to the Abbey grounds was the sign of the scallop shell, the sign of El Camino de Santiago!
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Quest of the Sword
January 20, 2010
Quest of the Sword
“On 30 December 2009 I stood next to a Celtic monument, pondering over the decade about to come to an end. And I thought: to what extent has virtual reality replaced the taste for adventure?” — Paulo Coelho
More than 20 years ago Brazilian writer Paulo Coelho embarked on a pilgrimage to recover a sword, a sword that he thought was his but he lost through his arrogance.
It was a task set by his master J. He was to follow El Camino de Santiago, an ancient medieval pilgrims’ route.
January 2010, Paulo Coelho set a quest for his readers. Lying less than a kilometre from the Greenwich Meridian in a manger was a sword awaiting whoever was able to meet the challenge he had set. It was to be no easy challenge. Solve an enigma: Twelve cryptic clues giving locations, 1,500 km to travel. Naming the location was not sufficient, you had to go there, collect evidence that you had been there, locate and meet real individuals at each location. Then armed with all this information, locate the manger and answer a question posed by the Guardian of the Sword.
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Fear
January 20, 2010Fear holds us and binds us and keeps us from growing. It kills a small piece of us each day. It holds us to what we know and keeps us from what’s possible, and it is our worst enemy. Fear doesn’t announce itself; it’s disguised, and it’s subtle. It’s choosing the safe course; most of us feel we have “rational” reasons to avoid taking risks. The brave man is not the one without fear, but the one who does what he must despite being afraid. To succeed, you must be willing to risk total failure; you must learn this. Then you will succeed.
— George Bernard Shaw
@santiagosdream posted these thoughts on fear on a blog as he embarked on the Quest for the Sword, an adventure devised by Brazilian writer Paulo Coelho.
Quest for the Sword: Lying less than a kilometre from the Greenwich meridian was a sword. Only someone worthy of the quest was worthy of the sword.
Why Santiago’s dream? In The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho, Santiago was a Andalusian shepherd boy who conquered his fears to follow his dreams. He saw it as the start of a great new adventure.
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