“Don’t believe what your eyes are telling you. All they show is limitation. Look with your understanding. Find out what you already know and you will see the way to fly.”

― Richard Bach, Jonathan Livingston Seagull

My bed creaks like an elderly cat. Constantly. It is very annoying–especially whenever I think about replacing it with one of those super fancy foam ones with photographic memories I realize I can’t because oh yeah, somebody has been spending the last few months hunched over a keyboard in her spare time instead of earning Real Money and start to wonder WTF AM I DOING? Luckily, I usually manage to think of Jonathan right before the panic sets in.

Though sea gulls are generally not who I would typically expect to draw great wisdom from (that is clearly the job of owls), the fine feathered protagonist in this novella, about a young ocean bird who chooses to pursue his passion for flying rather than focus on the everyday drudgery of searching for food, and is all the more happy and fulfilled as a result, is most definitely an exception.

Sure, my bed is shitty, but at least I’m giving this flying thing a shot, and as Jonathon has shown me, that counts for something.

So thank you, you bundle of feather and bone you, you inspire me.