Jonathan Livingston Seagull

I did a Reading, yes, a Capital R Reading, of JLS with my magic friend Beena. For us, a Reading is a discernment, dissection, appreciation, extrapolation and unpacking of all the Moreness of a Read.
Here's Beena's TakeAway:
My Take-Away on Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach.
One of the early influential books in New Age conceptionality.

“To the real Jonathan Seagull, who lives within us all” - JLS Dedication
The power of cueing, in one line.

Another interesting read, another layered emphasis on learning and growing. Comparatively, it's a simple book. Ideas have been presented in a simple and direct manner. This simplicity becomes the first appealing motive for continuing to read JLS. What makes it interesting? It's a story of a seagull by a seagull, not narrated by any human character. Reading JLS, I was all excited and Receptive towards this story as I had no expectations but fun, what else could we expect from a bird autobiography. Having no expectations of any value other than fun became the very reason for my openness, became a leverage for not having any pre-existing calculative perceptions and pre-disposed perspectives.

Key Points:

Importance of time.
Richard emphasized the importance of how and where we spend our time. When JLS was alone and trying to figure out how he could improve flight, having no clue, still he invested every bit of energy in practice. This earnestness and dedication became his key to Moreness.

Hungry, happy learning.
For me, this, especially “happy,” is a representation of no indulgence - be deliberate in your living, in your learning, in your growth.

Wrong idea of being content.
Different people have different understandings of being content. JLS's tribe, they all were content and happy - access to food, feeling somewhat safe, no purpose other than survival. For JLS, it was not enough. He was looking for more in life, wanting to feel and experience what lies beyond boundaries and limitations, was determined to know what other high-flying birds feel and what perspectives they are able to acquire. This idea of going out of our comfort zone has been presented in a very simple and interesting way. JLS was keen to fly really high, with excellence, so he could see the world from an elevated perspective different from his flock on the shore.

The importance of Appropriate Ego. (Self)
Quest for Excellence, could mean being alone in your journey with no clear idea of your desired terminus. Appropriate ego or precise and accurate self-conception is what we need in this alone-journey, to protect us, to leverage our abilities to reach our desired stage..

Assumption of external conditioning as Inner voice.
In any situation where we have to make some choices, we mostly become caught up in lack of self-trust and our conscious/rational, and subconscious mind starts bringing up all the negative suggestions. Mostly those suggestions are either other people's perspective of us, or their own self-perceptions they might be projecting. It's crucial to understand who is playing the role of our inner-self? The question to ask ourselves: “Is it me, or external influence?”

How?
It doesn't make any difference at all whether we know how to get our objective or not. If we keep trying, keeping our focus intact and having trust that our determination, earnestness, and clarity of intent will push us forward in our journey then, sooner or later, we will figure it out. Or, we'll meet someone who can assist us in our journey.

Overall - I really liked the book.

27th of November 2021,