Flying with Jonathan Livingston Seagull

6 years, yeah that's how long i havent read a book. Book reading used to be my passion before college days and i dont know how but this habit gradually faded away. In order to be back on track i picked up a book from Crossword last Thursday, Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach. Have read it today and found it interesting.

It's a short book and revolves around a seagull that is different from rest of the flock. While other seagulls just think about eating and considers flight only as an ability to do that, Jonathan loves flying. He wants to learn everything there is with flying and constantly tries to improve his flight. In short it’s a story about searching for freedom and pursuing perfection.

We are sometimes afraid to let ourselves go and we need company to feel safe. I guess this book shows us that we never should stop believing in ourselves. Our inner voice is important and not what others say or expect us to do or to be. But we need to know that this is a process and that we are all learners and there is no limit in pursuit of perfection.

The book is written beautifully and spreads a message to listen to your heart and do whatever to realize your dreams, to find a higher purpose for life to learn, to discover and to be free without considering any material desires, to overcome confining to just space and time and to help others understand what they really are and what they are capable to.

I would surely recommend you to read this book. I guarantee you will enjoy it. For those of you who want to buy it from Amazon here’s the link - Jonathan Livingston Seagull.

Btw learnt some new words from the book. ‘Anchovy’ is a type of fish and ‘outcast’ means a person who is rejected.

Quote from the book

Each of us is in truth an idea of the Great Gull, an unlimited idea of freedom and precision flying is a step toward expressing our real nature. Everything that limits us we have to put aside.

Hiding away from Agoraphobia

Agoraphobia,
originally uploaded by potsrme1962.

One of the problems i face, rather weakness i have, i must say is to cope up with new situation, surrounding or people. It comes to me as natural nervousness when i m surrounded with lot of people. A feeling to act as a lone man marooned among people not knowing what to do, how to behave, what to say engulfs me. In fact words dont come out, i feel sweaty all the time and it looks as if a strange sort of fear has been injected to most of my neurons making me behave the way i do. This naturally leads to frequent silly mistakes and it just adds to my nervousness.

I dont know what the reason is - my introvert nature, my hatred to socializing or should i say my inability to socializing coz that'z what it is; generally hatred for some thing arises due to lack of the ability or skill to do that thing.

Surprising is the fact that i tend to do things better when i am alone or my conscious mind is made to believe that there is no one around. So things like chatting and blogging go well with me where in there is a level of invisibility involved.

One of the work around or solution that i have found to escape this fear is to turn a blind eye and make myself feel that there is no one around though its not possible to apply in every field. And other thing that i most often do is to be with someone that i know well wherever i go ;)


Quote: I'm not exactly agoraphobic but I'm pretty close ... I'm really afraid to go out - Billy Bob Thornton

Remember me ???

Today morning while I was in bus, I saw a postbox -- A POSTBOX? Yes a postbox and it has been ages since I have seen that. Well it really brought back memories.

Remembering the times -- may be a decade and half ago- there were these red colored postboxes almost around every nook and corner of the city. And mummy would ask me to post those lovely blue colored inland letters to my relatives in kerala. Also every month twice or thrice postman used to knock the door to hand the letter. Also in festivals like Diwali we used to expect a colorful greeting card from our kin. I still cherish them. My mummy would read loud the letter in malayalam and everyone would curiously listen. Also while sending letter me and my bro used to give final touches in English saying 'We miss you' or so and then seal of the letter with boiled rice or glue. This letter writing didn’t just confine to home. Even in school in all the three language subjects we had i.e. English, Hindi and Gujarati we used to have this letter writing section which begins with writing address on the right side continuing to greetings - body - regards to other members of family - and then enclosing signature. Also there used to be a concept of pen friends which was taught to us in one of the English lectures though I have never tried it myself.

As years have passed, things seem something like history. In an age of mobiles and mails - and low tariffs of airtimes for both local and international calls - i guess we all have stopped writing letters - or even writing for that matter. It’s been years since I wrote now - I feel more comfortable just picking up the phone and talking for that matter. Who has the time to sit and write? We don’t have time anyways. We have so much to do -job, home, malls, movies, internet, TV...and so on.

To convey a message either to friends or cousins, one just logs on to one’s e-mail account, scribbles a few lines and hits the send button. Job done. It's good that we are living in a technology era where we can talk and see a guy in US at the same time compared to scene of yester years where we just rely on handwritten letters. But letters and postbox -- I miss them!! Don’t you?

Elude

Last night I had been to a restaurant located in main city. And as it often happens it made me feel sick to be among hoards of so called upper class people. I dont know why it makes me uncomfortable to be among them. I know west has made a great influence over here but completely aping them stretches out too far. For people in the west living the lifestyle that they live is nothing new and it comes out to them as natural and they don't make fuss about it. But then people here trying to behave like them! Cut it out. Wearing fake smiles, big talks, over obese bodies wearing skin tight dresses and terming it as fashion, strong perfumes, well there is no end to them. It seems that they are seeking to draw unnecessary attention.The only thing that came to me as relief was children. At least they were behaving according to their age full of innocent questions.

I dont know why but i really dont enjoy being with them call it my conservative nature or whatever u like but i dont like it at all. I know it will be difficult to avoid them as i m in IT field where money flows like water and such pompous environment cant be avoided. And i pretty much wonder will this thing lead to a gradual metamorphosis in me making me one among them. I really dont know.

Pursuit

Away from this place,
Away from the people,
Away from noise,
Away from tensions,
Away from backstabs,
Away from selfish motives,
Away from egos,
Away from materialism,
Away from melancholy,
Away from greed.

I need to run away
I need to fly
With wings of lightheartedness
With a desire for Peace
Enjoying every bit
Of what i enjoy most
Following the trails Of
The Eternal Spiritual Silence.