{"id":6325,"date":"2007-05-04T08:26:10","date_gmt":"2007-05-04T12:26:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/?p=6325"},"modified":"2025-09-25T18:36:06","modified_gmt":"2025-09-25T22:36:06","slug":"the-books-jonathan-livingston-seagull-richard-bach","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/?p=6325","title":{"rendered":"The Books: \u201cJonathan Livingston Seagull\u201d (Richard Bach)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jonathan Livingston Seagull<\/a>\"\"<\/i> – by Richard Bach.<\/p>\n

I have a complicated long-term relationship with Richard Bach. For those of you who are new to me, I wrote this whole series of essays on soulmates. There’s more to be said on this topic, but I shy away from it, because it’s a loaded issue for me.<\/p>\n

If you’re into it, here are my soulmates posts:<\/p>\n

Soulmates: An Overview<\/a> (check out the comment to that post from “JLS” – uhm – Jonathan Livingston Seagull commented on my post. Check out its snotty tone which completely proved my own point about the whole soulmates industry)<\/p>\n

Soulmates: An Introduction to Richard Bach<\/a><\/p>\n

Soulmates: The Timeline<\/a><\/p>\n

A small tangent about my blog: One of the issues I have with the way some people comment on blogs (especially those who spend most of their time reading political blogs, and then come to visit me: they bring a judgey rigid tone HERE. It’s like that’s the only way they know how to speak, even though I’m posting about Mae West and not the Republican debates). People are in the habit of being positional, judgmental, and rigid, and everything – even personal posts – are read as though they need to be debated. I am not interested in having black and white conversations, even if I DID post about politics. I don’t read blogs featuring that tone, and I don’t want THE spill-over here) To be fair, people who are consistently judgey and rigid don’t last long here. I don’t tolerate it, because it ruins my fun. One of the issues I have with this kind of commenter is it makes for a boring conversation. It’s too positional. As in: Richard Bach = BAD. People who love Richard Bach = STUPID. I’m not interested in having a political-type audience, whose main attitude appears to be: “What in the hell is wrong with everybody except me? Why can’t everybody be as smart as I am??” You know the type. This type of attitude is geared towards ENDING conversation, rather than continuing them. It is a hope of mine that we can continue to TALK about things. But “what is wrong with everyone? Such and such is BAD and that’s final” has no place here.<\/p>\n

When I “take on” Richard Bach, I do so from the stance of having been an enormous fan at one point. I do so from the position of having once loved him, and looked to him for answers. I don’t anymore but I don’t roll my eyes at my younger self for having been into him. I don’t roll my eyes at those who still think he’s an inspiration. I would hope people could express themselves about it without being snotty, because it is an interesting topic, touching on things that are personal for many of us. Is there only ONE person out there for everybody? Can you have MULTIPLE soulmates? Etc. I am not interested in a kneejerk response to those questions. I prefer contemplation, discussion, back and forth … I am saying this because Bach is a sensitive subject and people take him personally. I did once too. I have changed my mind, drastically, and that’s what my soulmate essays are about. <\/p>\n

I think the first book I read of his was Illusions<\/i> and I came back to Jonathan Livingston Seagull<\/i> later. You can read it in about 20 minutes. It was his first major book. He had been writing articles and essays on aviation for many years. He was a barnstorming pilot, a veteran, and his writing on aviation is poetic and beautiful. Not as good as St. Ex., but you can feel St. Ex’s influence. In Jonathan Livingston Seagull<\/i> Bach goes into the realm of metaphor to explore his themes: breaking through barriers, mind over matter, standing alone, being apart from the crowd, unafraid of being different – it’s all here.<\/p>\n

I chose this excerpt because of my strong reaction to it this morning. It makes me realize I should probably re-open the soulmates conversation. I am not done with Richard Bach. I still have a bone to pick with that man.<\/p>\n

Wat’s interesting to me is how I USED to look at him. I thought he had the key. But now, reading this excerpt, what I see are his flaws, his humanity – and this makes him even more interesting.<\/p>\n

He wants to transcend being human. Sometimes I want that myself. But he doesn’t seem aware of his own avoidance techniques, his own desire to feel nothing<\/em>, to be ABOVE others ….<\/p>\n

The line “keep working on love” makes me want to weep. My response to Richard Bach is so primal that it borders on muscle memory. Intellectually, I reject him and his message. But when he comes out with a line like “keep working on love” … I fall in love with him all over again.<\/p>\n

Bastard.<\/p>\n

Excerpt from Jonathan Livingston Seagull<\/a>\"\"<\/i> – by Richard Bach.<\/b><\/p>\n

A month went by, or something that felt about like a month, and Jonathan learned at a tremendous rate. He always had learned quickly from ordinary experience, and now, the special student of the Elder Himself, he took in new ideas like a streamlined feathered computer.<\/p>\n

But then the day came that Chiang vanished. He had been talking quietly with them all, exhorting them never to stop their learning and their practicing and their striving to understand more of the perfect invisible principle of all life. Then, as he spoke, his feathers went brighter and brighter and at last turned so brilliant that no gull could look upon him.<\/p>\n

“Jonathan,” he said, and these were the last words that he spoke, “keep working on love.”<\/p>\n

When they could see again, Chiang was gone.<\/p>\n

As the days went past, Jonathan found himself thinking time and again of the Earth from which he had come. If he had known there just a tenth, just a hundredth, of what he knew here, how much more life would have meant! He stood on the sand and fell to wondering if there was a gull back there who might be struggling to break out of his limits, to see the meaning of flight beyond a way of travel to get a breadcrumb from a rowboat. Perhaps there might even have been one made Outcast for speaking his truth in the fact of the Flock. And the more Jonathan practiced his kindness lessons, and the more he worked to know the nature of love, the more he wanted to go back to Earth. For in spite of his lonely past, Jonathan Seagull was born to be an instructor, and his own way of demonstrating love was to give something of the truth that he had seen to a gull who asked only a chance to see truth for himself.<\/p>\n

Sullivan, adept now at thought-speed flight and helping the others to learn, was doubtful.<\/p>\n

“Jon, you were Outcast once. Why do you think that any of the gulls in your old time would listen to you now? You know the proverb, and it’s true: The gull sees farthest who flies highest.<\/i> Those gulls where you came from are standing on the ground, squawking and fighting among themselves. They’re a thousand miles from heaven – and you say you want to show them heaven from where they stand! Jon, they can’t see their own wingtips! Stay here. Help the new gulls here, the ones who are high enough to see what you have to tell them.” He was quiet for a moment, and then he said, “What if Chiang had gone back to his<\/i> old worlds? Where would you have been today?”<\/p>\n

The last point was the telling one, and Sullivan was right. The gull sees farthest who flies highest<\/i>.<\/p>\n

Jonathan stayed and worked with the new birds coming in, who were all very bright and quick with their lessons. But the old feeling came back, and he couldn’t help but think that there might be one or two gulls back on Earth who would be able to learn, too. How much more would he have known by now if Chiang had come to him on the day that he was Outcast!<\/p>\n

“Sully, I must go back,” he said at last. “Your students are doing well. They can help you bring the newcomers along.”<\/p>\n

Sullivan sighed, but he did not argue. “I think I’ll miss you, Jonathan,” was all he said.<\/p>\n

“Sully, for shame!” Jonathan said in reproach, “and don’t be foolish! What are we trying to practice every day? If our friendship depends on things like space and time, then when we finally overcome space and time, we’ve destroyed our own brotherhood! But overcome space, and all we have left is Here. Overcome time, and all we have left is Now. And in the middle of Here and Now, don’t you think that we might see each other once or twice?”<\/p>\n

Sullivan Seagull laughed in spite of himself. “You crazy bird!” he said kindly. “If anybody can show someone on the ground how to see a thousand miles, it will be Jonathan Livingston Seagull.” He looked at the sand. “Good-bye, Jon, my friend.”<\/p>\n

“Good-bye, Sully. We’ll meet again.” And with that, Jonathan held in thought an image of the great gull-flocks on the shore of another time, and he knew with practiced ease that he was not bone and feather but a perfect idea of freedom and flight, limited by nothing at all.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jonathan Livingston Seagull – by Richard Bach. I have a complicated long-term relationship with Richard Bach. For those of you who are new to me, I wrote this whole series of essays on soulmates. There’s more to be said on … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[15],"tags":[75,1048],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6325"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6325"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6325\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":201228,"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6325\/revisions\/201228"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6325"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6325"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6325"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}