Damien’s life was like a roller-coaster ride – slow grinding climbs to fast dizzying dives. He was a bum, a rebel, an ex-convict, a poet, who eventually became a famous novelist. He had the brains and the heart but did not use them. He became a drug addict only because he could not find his true spirit.
eastwind journals
‘True Tales’ Series – Volume 46
March 11, 2024 – Archives tr474
By Bernie V. Lopez, eastwindreplyctr@gmail.com
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One day, quite by accident, Damien stumbled on the famous Camino de Santiago pilgrimage, a 10-day 200-kilometer trek from Ponferrada to Santiago Compostela in Spain. He made the trek as an adventurer rather than a pilgrim. On the eighth day, he was struck by a ‘lightning’ that blinded him, in the form of an old man, Isko, a billionaire doing the trek on a wheel chair.
Damien – What’s up, granmps Isko? What are you trying to prove?
Isko – I am trying to prove to myself that my spirit is stronger than my body.
Damien – (Laughing teasingly.) What for?
Isko – In gratitude to a good God who has reversed my depression into elation. Look at the muscles of my arms. I challenge you to arm wrestling right now.
Damien accepted the challenge and in 5 seconds, Isko beats him.
Isko – You see, the spirit can make the body work for it. That’s how the blind can see. I can see that you are blind.
Damien – You noticed? You must be psychic. You can see through me. Tell me, gramps, what do you see?
They talked for 5 minutes and Damien instantly saw the light. He abandoned the trek and stayed for ten days atop a lonely hill overlooking the vast Compostela Valley below. There, he gathered his spirit into a storm. There, he scribbled 77 poems on the meaning of life, off the shoulder, without thinking. Then he knew he was a writer and a writer for the Lord who saved him from absurdity. He submitted his poems to a small publisher, which instantly rejected them at a quick glance.
Damien – No one wants to read my poems.
Isko – I did, and they are fantastic. Do you know the writer’s tenet – publish or perish? You are not a writer until you are read. If what you write is not read, you are not a writer, same as musicians and painters. No audience means no rapport. You are not an artist, no matter how good you are. So you must make people ready your poems. So, they must be good so they are touched. Great writers like Ernest Hemingway were rejected many times before one magic publisher accepted him to start an explosion.
Damien – Don’t compare me to Hemingway. I’m a nobody.
Damien wallowed in depression and went back into drugs and alcohol for one whole year. Then, he sought Isko once more.
Damien – I am not a writer. Publish or perish, remember?
Isko – You’re a nobody yet. Tell you what. I will ask a friend who has a big publishing firm if he will accept your poems on its merits, not as a favor for me.
Damien – Large publishers normally reject unknown writers. My poems will be buried in a heap of rejects.
Isko – No guts no glory, Damien. Always shoot for the stars. I will tell my friend you wrote the poems in ten days on a lonely hill. That will get his attention. He is a visionary. I will send him one of your poems, this one (he reads aloud) –
dream are funny
you imagine it in your mind
it is sensual
you can smell the cut grass
you can see the yellow clouds
you can feel the breeze
but you have to fulfill it
otherwise, they are nothing
and you are nobody
And so, the publisher friend of Isko agreed to publish a small thin pamphlet of Damein’s 77 poems, based on his gut feel. True enough, it became a best seller overnight.
Isko – Your poems were published not because the publisher is my friend. We don’t insult each other that way. He said the power of your poems were in their simplicity that touches people. You are now a real writer.
Damien – (Embracing Isko). I have this dream since I was a kid to write a book about the story of a young uneducated peasant boy who taught the son of a tycoon how to spend his million.
Isko – Shoot for the stars, Damien. I’m right behind you. Next time, don’t go into drugs after the first failure. Take it easy. Wait a bit before you go suicidal.
Damien – Yes. I am in deep gratitude, my mentor.
And so, the big publisher accepted Damien’s first mini-novel. It was easy to catapult him to the stars because his poems became an overnight best seller. Like his poems, it was the simplicity of the story coupled with a profound message which touched many readers a young uneducated peasant boy who taught the son of a tycoon how to spend his millions.
Damien – Wow. I am now a true novelist, gramps. I want to write my next novel soon, the story of ….
Isko – (Interrupting.) Warning, Damien. Don’t let this get into your head. Ego is your enemy. It is the writing not the writer, the song not the singer, the painting not the painter, which are extolled. Eventually, when Ernest Hemingway realized he could no longer write, he put a shotgun into his mouth.
Damien – Shattered ego?
Isko – Partly, but more of absurdity of life.
Damien – No suicide for me. I would probably go into hallucinogens to escape depression but not suicide.
The critics pounced on Damien’s book because they discovered that he was a former drug addict and convict. They berated him and tried to destroy him. But the more they tried, the more readers read his writings out of curiosity. Eventually, his book exploded – translated into 48 languages worldwide.
Isko – The Lord pedestalled you because he wants you to write for him. Don’t you forget that.
Damien – Gramps, I knew that the moment I wrote my poems overlooking Compostela Valley. I am his pen. He will write using me. I am not the author, a mere pen at his disposal.
Isko – Damein, here is another poem you wrote, I mean, the Lord wrote using you as the pen –
Lord, grant me the gift of inner peace
when people scream, make me whisper
when people grab, make me give
when people destroy, make me build
when the traffic stresses, make me sing
teach me your love amidst hatred
your gentleness amidst cruelty
your serenity amidst frenzy
your wisdom amidst confusion
this I ask through the intercession
of your Mother Mary . Amen.
And so Damien became an overnight millionaire.
Isko – So, how are you planning to spend your millions. That decision will make or break your life.
Damien – I don’t know yet. It will come to me. $7 million is not that big. The Lord will decide for me. I have to think hard before I make the biggest dive of my life. Let us arm-wrestle. It’s about time I beat you. I have been practicing.
They arm-wrestle and struggle for an excruciating 3 minutes. Damien slams his arm against Isko’s.
Isko – I’m getting old, Damien.
Damien – Let’s brainstorm, gramps.
Damien – So, what do we do with my millions?
Isko – Okay. How about we build a school and publishing house for young talented kids on the rise but have no money, like you.
Damien – I have money now. Good idea, Project no. 1. More ideas. How about a wheel chair college focusing on sports.
Isko – Wow. Awesome. Project no. 2. A sports school for wheel chairers.
Damien – Let’s stop right there. Brainstorming done. Let’s do projects 1 and 2.
Isko – Wait, wait, kid. Your 7 million is not enough.
Damien – As a tycoon, how much do you think we need?
Isko – About $700 million for starters.
Damien – What? My 7 million is nothing?
Isko – I will donate $350 million, and ask a friend to donate another $350 million. With your $7 million, we have $707 million, a nice lucky number. That should do. Let me call Josephine. She is the famous lady tycoon who built a network of homes for elderlies across Asia. She doesn’t know what to do with her filthy money. We can help her spend her money. (He calls her on the spot.) Hi Josephine, this is lover boy. I need your help.
Josephine – (Voice Over, Isko turns on the volume so Damien can hear). Hi, lover boy. I miss you. What can I do for you?
Isko – I am building a wheel chair school and a school and publishing firm for kids with talent. I need a partner.
Josephine – (Voice over). Just up my alley. As long as it is for kids and old folks, I’m with you. How much do you need?
Isko – $350 million each, you and me, and $7 million from my friend Damien here who just wrote two best sellers. Peanuts compared to your projects.
Josephine – (Voice over). You know I can’t refuse an idol. Come over, help me spend my millions, lover boy.
Isko winks at Damien.
And so, Damien and the Isko setup a school for kids who were budding writers attached to a publishing house, and a wheel chair sports school. The millions vanished rapidly. The projects were a success but they ran out of money.
Isko – I need your help again, lover girl.
Josephine – I know. We just ran out of funds. Another $350 each?
Isko – How can I refuse the love of my life?
Josepine – Tell Damien to write another best seller please, for me.
And so Damien wrote the biography of Josephine, and guess what? It was another best seller. Damien wrote three books, all best sellers.
Read about Paulo Coelho, whose life inspired this article = https://eastwindjournals.com/2023/03/23/from-ex-addict-ex-con-to-best-seller-writer-true-tales-volume-13/
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More Inspirational Articles – eastwindjournals.com.
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