Fly Jonny, Fly

By Michael Drew - Aug 26 , 2010

Over the coming months I’ll be blogging here about our society’s collective mindset. More specifically, about how our prevailing attitude swings back and forth every 40 years as if on a pendulum – from inwardly focused idealism on one side to outwardly focused civic-mindedness on the other. I hope that by showing you where we have been, where we are now and where we are headed, I can help you better understand how to communicate more effectively with your audience. Some of these blogs will be chock full of empirical data. Others will simply use stories and personal experiences to convey a point.

Jonathan Livingston Seagull

Jonathan Livingston Seagull was in a rut. Day after day after day he scurried for food, fighting with all the other seagulls for whatever spare crumbs were tossed his way by children vacationing at the beach. Young and idyllic, Jonathan was determined to find a greater destiny for himself. He didn’t want to resign himself, like the rest of the flock, to the tedium of this hovering existence. So one day Jonathan spread his wings and soared high above the fracas over food that was going on below him.

The other seagulls didn’t understand why he was acting this way. Just who did he think he was? Seagulls were supposed to do what seagulls had always done. And if Jonathan was too good for that, they didn’t want him around. So they de-flocked him.

Jonathan couldn’t have cared less. Every day he was getting better and better at flying, a progression that created a strong sense of pride in his little seagull soul. Soon he came across two seagulls he had never met. But they weren’t just any old seagulls – they were seagulls who had found a way to tap into a higher plane of existence. “Follow us,” they encouraged Jonathan. “We’ll show you a world so beautifully perfect you’ll think you’re dreaming.”

Jonathan then meets other seagulls in this newly discovered utopia, who all confirm that he is indeed a very special bird. The wisest of his new flock, Chiang, takes Jonathan under his wing and teaches him how to move instantaneously throughout the Universe. The secret, according to Chiang, is to “begin by knowing that you have already arrived.”

Exhilarated, Jonathan heads back to Earth to share his knowledge and understanding with other seagull outcasts like himself. Before long he has gathered a flock of thousands of other nonconformists. Eventually the first seagull to joined this flock, Fletcher Lynd Seagull, assumes a leadership role and Jonathan Livingston Seagull flies away to share his insight with as many others as he can find.

Are You Kidding Me?

To give you an idea of how strongly Baby Boomers identified with his idealistic and decidedly individualistic perspective, the book Jonathan Livingston Seagull, by Richard Bach, spent 38 weeks at the top of the New York Times Best Seller list, sold many millions of copies! The movie was nominated for two Academy Awards, and the soundtrack, by Neil Diamond, won a Golden Globe and a Grammy.

Although the book is still in print, what do you think the reaction would be if it hit the shelves today? I think it’s safe to say there would be no need for a second printing, a movie or a soundtrack. It’s too plastic-wrapped and sugar-coated for today’s world. Sorry Jonny, but we want the truth, ugly or not. You’re little seagull fantasy might appeal to a reader looking for to capture the nostalgia of his youth, but for those who want the unvarnished truth today, it just doesn’t fly.