Jonathan Livingston Seagull
Richard Bach

The novel Jonathan Livingston Seagull is a very fantastic novel. I have judged this novel very wrongly because I really thought that’s it’s all just about a dump of boring seagulls that search for enlightenment and predictably ends finding it. But it wasn’t! It suddenly became one of my favorite novels of all time. Living in this world full of people, pretending to be something they’re not, I realized that every one of us is trying to fit in. For me, this novel will really help out those people who fear to be uncovered and I should know.

This novel is all about creativity and individuality. To stand up for something you strongly believe in is really brave indeed. Creativity, I should say, makes us smarter. Routine living dulls our mind. Creative expression gives our brain a workout, activating new circuits in our grey matter. Creativity does not necessarily require an act of will or sweat on the brow. It’s about getting beyond logic and to see more than meets the eye. Creativity asks us to change the way we live our lives, to turn away from the “normal” way of doing things and express individuality. Conformity isn’t creative. Neither is routine. Jonathan did exactly the same. He turned away from the norm and started up all on his own as an outcast. Later, he found out the true meaning of life which is to touch perfection and show it forth. All this he learned in a very dramatic way. He meets this powerful seagull, Chiang, and gained friends who became his great teachers and taught him many things about love and kindness.

The very key learning in this novel for me is COMMUNICATION. We communicate when there is mutual understanding of the message and meanings. Unless you have been understood, you have not yet communicated. Communication is the transfer and sharing of meanings. It is not merely the