Jonathan Livingston Seagull: A Response Essay

15 and still off wandering; that’s me. I know that my quest in completing this puzzling puzzle called LIFE has just begun and I am yet to pick up and fill in the disarranged pieces of my l-i-f-e. But I’ll tell you one thing I’m pretty sure of, “Wanting to be someone else is a waste of who you are.”

The greatest thing I learned to become popular, sociable and all that is to plaster that word called “perfectness” in you aka precisely being like the “perfect ones” or “goals” set by the crowd or at least try to, till you slowly poison yourself of that idea. It is not like I am taking it against you if you are popular or whatever cause I do know a lot and I still do love them. It is just that I am probably not the most sociable creature alive and you will know that if you are really, really close to me. I mean obviously, I just said it out loud so wow we don’t even have to be an inch close after all. So emo huh, but oh well cause it is true, at least now anyways.

There were times like Jonathan that I surely tried to be like everyone else or in the novel: the Flock. However, I would have to admit it is hard to fit in because I am not consistently loud or active or full blast or I do not ultra- mega care much about your muscles or your vainness or your superficial wants and things. It also takes a lot of evaluation and time for me to like or be comfortable and open to a person and peace and “alone times” are deeply sacred to me. So eventually, I stopped trying to become a wallflower and instead focused on pleasing my #1 audience, none other than the Big Man Himself.

Well, I know this should be a response essay and it is scary to write it this way- “this way” meaning “honestly to the max,” but whatever, because if there is a thing or two or three that made me consider this a praiseworthy and recommendable book is that from Richard Bach’s Jonathan Livingston Seagull, I have learned that in every single thing we want to pursue and be excellent in, we will need extra courage, dedication, and a big heart.

COURAGE: My mom has a passion for writing; my dad, for music. One thing’s common between them though: the drive for excellence. As I was growing up, it was very difficult for me to actually try something out and follow it, especially in the field of both arts, “Leih, galing yata ng anak mo, “or “Ren, kapilan ya magbanda ing anak mu?” were all around me and I guess the pressure was intense! However, I soon realized that I should take the pressure wisely, have heart and start doing something: Not because people are telling me to do so, but because finding your passion and pursuing it helps you step out from whoever you used to be. Anyways, I don’t even have to be like my parents that quickly, or even love what they love as much. Don’t get me wrong, I love writing and music, but I also know that I’m  still in the process of searching for what I really want to do, something I would die for! It may be one of those two, but then again, we’ll cross the bridge when we get there. And when I’m 101% of what brings me genuine happiness, like Jonathan I’ll keep in mind and heart that chasing your passion also means surpassing the expecting and discriminating eyes and ears of the Flock, before you can become who you are truly meant to be.

DEDICATION:  No seed will be sprout into a tree of greatness without the right amount of CO_2, sunlight, nurturance, and time. Likewise, no car would run in its highest performance without enough fuel. Therefore, if we truly want to target excellence, we should emulate Jonathan’s perseverance and fulfilment towards perfecting what he loved which is the art of flight. No matter how painful it was whenever he crashed straight down or was called an Outcast, he still went towards his goal just like all of us should.

A BIG HEART: `Revenge is sweet,’ and as mean as that statement could go, nobody could disagree that a part of them knows it is true.  “You called me an Outcast, but see where I am now, and where are you? Still stuck?” Jonathan could’ve said that, but what makes me admire his character more is that, he went back to the Flock, forgave them and even had the heart to love and teach them to be great too. It may be hard, but the book teaches us that the essence in being excellent is to be able to forgive and love again.

It is inevitable for people to expect, judge, and set their limits for you, but learning from Jonathan Livingston Seagull, a novel by Richard Bach, makes me realize that we are all boundless and that with buckets of courage, dedication, and a big heart, we could all reach exceptional excellence. After all, Amelia Earheart says it herself, “Everyone has oceans to fly, if they have the heart to do it. Is it reckless? Maybe. But what do dreams know of boundaries?”