Will I love Jonathan Livingston Seagull?

This 1970 novella transported me into a world of seagulls, how they live and how they fly, and one, Jonathan, who decides to be different, to defy conformity, to go further and faster, like my own striving for something more, for experiences beyond the mundane.

I never thought I’d identify with a seagull, but this wonderful bird’s world view is exactly the same as that of anyone who sees more than what’s just in front of them.

I think this is one of the most wonderfully whimsical and beautiful books. I love the message of hope and strength you get from it, and I also love the deeper meanings given through allegory.

I enjoyed this book’s breadth, but incredible spiritual depth and it also made me look at his other books. I also liked that it’s not necessarily a happy ending, and yet, on another level, it is. I learnt a lot from this book and I know others who say the same.

This book is about taking the physical path to spiritual freedom, without the need for any religion. It inspired me to cross oceans under sail, to complete ultra-distance multi-disciplinary sports events, and to build my own faith in the divineness of the natural world. Would you believe it helped me win bike races?

And I love that it does all this through the lens of a beautiful feathered sea being. This non-human viewpoint released the author from the prison of human arrogance. Glorious. And it inspired some wonderful music. 

I wish I had read this book when I was younger, back when I was foolishly trying desperately to “fit in”. So, now I recommend everyone read Jonathan Livingston Seagull (especially teenagers) because we all need reminders not to follow the masses (because the “m” is sometimes silent). This book is a celebration of trailblazing, living your own truth without excuses, and experiencing true liberation.

The brave little seagull who dreams of flying higher and faster than any seagull has before… then does! Defying his genetics, family, the world, failing and failing and failing until he soars, and then, (spoiler) actually coming home to teach others how to do it. This is not a children’s book. This is a manifesto for those who believe that only they decide who they want to be.

One of the greatest books for finding liberation through seeing the universe and reality for what they are, merely our own perceptions. How we choose to do that determines whether we’re happy or not. To quote the character Chiang who vanishes and then returns in an instant by way of demonstrating to Jonathan that any number (including speed) is merely a limit, “It’s kind of fun.” While not a Buddhist book per se, it is one of the most timeless guides one can find. And it’s kind of fun.

A seagull’s unrelenting quest to fly higher and faster than ever imagined takes him on a perilous yet meaningful journey to discover true freedom and flight. The book is a sublime unveiling of the flight we can all take when freed from the inner shackles of anger, fear and the opinions of others, and through the constant pursuit of personal excellence.