Sometimes, taking the path less travelled, like reaching for a goal, can be quite difficult, especially when people don't believe in what you're doing. At times like this, I think about a book that was recommended to me by my mentor, Lim Eng Hai. Its called Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach.

This is the story of a seagull named Jonathan Livingston Seagull. For most seagulls, life was all about flying to the ocean in search of food and back to the shore. It kept them from being hungry.

But for Jonathan, he loved flying. He spends all day flying, and soaring, and perfecting his maneuvers. Nobody in his flock could understand his passion for flying, however, and thought he was crazy. His parents were distressed that he couldn't be normal like anyone else. Yet Jonathan just kept on flying, and he wanted to show others that they too could find joy in flight.

One day, the flock decided that they would no longer tolerate Jonathan's loftiness, and banished him. Saddened, Jonathan lived his life alone, where he perfected his flying, until one day, he reached the peak of his learning and passed on to a higher dimension, where he was greeted by other gulls who shared his passion.

This was when he realised that when a seagull learns to embrace his innate passion for flying, he becomes enlightened and lives above the drudgery of their mundane lives fighting for food and power in the flock. Jonathan continued to perfect his flying from his new mentors, Chiang, and Sullivan, yet he could not forget his old family and friends in the old flock. Finally, one day, he decided to return home to his old flock, to teach them to embrace their true passion in flying.

Along the way, he meets with young Fletcher Lynd Seagull, who was recently outcasted like he was, and becomes a mentor to him. From there, Jonathan's circle of students grew and eventually reached his old flock. He taught them all he knew about flying, and about life, and finally, he decided that his students could now stand on their own, and it was time for him to go, leaving behind a legacy of seagulls, like Fletcher, who continued to teach others to fly, and live, with passion.

There is a Jonathan Livingston Seagull in everyone of us, who has dreams and passions that we hold so dearly, and just like Jonathan, we can touch people's lives by sharing our passions and living our dreams. Yet sometimes someone tells us to "get real" and forget about them. This story tells us about the courage to stick to our dreams and passions.

I came across a song that reminds me very much of Jonathan Livingston Seagull. Suprisingly, it came from a video game called "Ace Combat 5" :) Its called:

Journey Home
sung by Mary Elizabeth McGlynn

A journey begins
Starts from within
Things that I need to know

The song of a Bird
Echoed in words
"Fly, for the need to fly."

Thoughts endless in flight
Day turns to night
Questions you've asked your soul,

"Which way do I go?"
"How fast is too slow?"
The journey has its time, and end.

If a man can fly over an ocean
And no mountains can get in his way.
Will he fly on forever
Searching for something to believe?

From above I can see from the Heavens
Down below see a storm raging on
And somewhere is the answer
There is a hope to carry on.

When I finally return
Things that I learnt
Carry me back to home

The thoughts that I feel
Planting a seed
In time will begin to grow

The more that I try
The more that I fly
The Answer in itself
Will be there.