How a seagull inspired me

Return to site

How a seagull inspired me

what I learned from the book "Jonathan Livingston Seagull"

I have wanted to talk about Jonathan Livingston Seagull for a long, long time. Now I find that I don’t know how to even begin talking about this wonderful creature.

How he inspired me to stay close to my beliefs and passions, even if it means the rest of the world doesn’t understand you at first (well, it wasn’t that bad for me).

How pursuing your passions and perfecting your craft is actually the most practical thing in your life, just like how his high speed dives rewarded him with rare and tasty deep-sea fishes!

How his story speaks so powerfully and succinctly about everything in this world is only limited by our own thoughts.

Your whole body, from wingtip to wingtip… is nothing more than your thought itself, in a form that you can see. Break the chains of your thought, and you break the chains of your body too.” His mentor, Chiang, also said “You will begin to touch heaven, Jonathan, in the moment that you touch perfect speed…. Perfect speed, my son, is being there.

How his love for sharing led him to train a small group of young enthusiastic seagulls, and eventually inspired one of them to become the next leader, thus passing on the legacy to the next generation.

How he so very graciously shatters the illusion of the hero,

Don’t let them spread silly rumors about me, or make me a god. O.K. Fletch? I’m a seagull. I like to fly, maybe…

And how when you meet resistance, you meet it with love.

I don’t understand how you manage to love a mob of birds that has just tried to kill you.
Oh, Fletch, you don’t love that! You don’t love hatred and evil, of course. You have to practice and see the real gull, the good in every one of them, and to help them see it in themselves. That’s what I mean by love. It’s fun, when you get the knack of it.

I hope this gives you a short glimpse into the wonderful life of Jonathan Livingston Seagull, and I really hope that you can read the whole story yourself. :-)