BTR Creative Nexus 05.11.12

[The Creative Nexus is on the Air]

The eighth episode of the Creative Nexus airs Monday, November 5, 2012,
at 6:00 p.m. EDT (ADT: 7:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. CDT - 4:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. PDT)

Tune in and come along with Roger and Natasha as they journey into the world of the Creative Nexus, where you'll find an interesting collage of thoughts on Art, artists, and writers, and explore a world of thought to enhance and awaken your consciousness.

Call in to the Creative Nexus during showtime, at (619) 924 - 0981

The BTR Creative Nexus

Regularly scheduled episodes are Monday and Thursday, at 6:00 p.m. EDT. (please refer to the above listing for corresponding time zones).

CREATIVE NEXUS EPISODE FORMAT

• Welcome
• Shout-outs
• Events

• Creative Nexus Spotlight:
Jonathan Livingston Seagull
by Richard Bach, with Natasha

• Something to Consider:
Perfect speed with Roger

• Open lines and Chat-room Chatter

• Closing


BTR Creative Nexus Hosts:
Natasha Head and Roger Allen Baut
Founding NWCU Coordinators

Susie Clevenger • Joanne Young Elliott •  Leslie Moon • Beth Winter
NWCU Coordinators

NWCU Book Talk ~ Jonathan Livingston Seagull 04.11.12

Jonathan Livingston Seagull 

by Richard Bach



"The only true law is that which leads to freedom," Jonathan said. "There is no other."

Jonathan Livingston Seagull took flight in 1970 during the age of Enlightenment. Richard David Bach is the author of the best-sellers Jonathan Livingston Seagull, Illusions, The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah and others. Some reports claim that while he was walking on the beach, he heard a voice that told him not only to write this story but also provided the plot summary. Mr. Bach was alone and from all other indications, had not been guided to write anything by audible prompting in his life other than this book. Madness or Enlightenment? Inspiration comes from many sources and does it matter if the end result is the same? Though the voice will forever remain a mystery, the story shared with Mr. Bach is one that fascinates readers and carries a strong underlying metaphor that guides toward Enlightenment. 

“To fly as fast as thought, to anywhere that is,” he said, “you must begin by knowing that you have already arrived ...”

A young seagull, fascinated by the potential of flight, pushes the known limits of gulls and rejects the status quo, teaching himself more about the wonders of flight every day until one day, he is rejected by the flock and becomes an Outcast. The flock expectations were that gulls were to fly for food, not for any other purpose. Jonathan pushed the boundaries and even as an Outcast, found great pleasure in following his own pursuits. How does this approach to learning and living affect us as humans? Imagine what you can do if you push against your own boundaries and leave yourself open to possibilities. What might you learn?

Jonathan achieves a higher reality, one that he initially perceives as heaven but quickly learns that this level is another proving ground, another opportunity to learn. He seeks the wisest gull, Chiang,  to guide him and learns that the greatest teachers let us discover through our own commitment to learning.

"We can start working with time if you wish," Chiang said, "till you can fly the past and the future. And then you will be ready to begin the most difficult, the most powerful, the most fun of all. You will be ready to begin to fly up and know the meaning of kindness and of love."

In reading this quote, I lock on the concept of flying the past and the future. In this sense, it reminds me that yesterday, today and tomorrow are all parts of one, the self, and that accepting all parts of the whole is a major step in knowing kindness and love.

"Do you want to fly so much that you will forgive the Flock, and learn, and go back to them one day and work to help them know?"

Once Johnathan learned great truths, he returns to the flock of his previous existence. Personally, I find this the most difficult decision in the story. Most of us would avoid going where we are not accepted, where we are not wanted, where we were scorned, yet Jonathon returned to the possibility that there were other gulls like him who sought freedom and truth, faced the most uncomfortable scrutiny and appeared, offering  guidance to gulls who wanted to understand the higher truths, that the search might cast them as Outlaws but also that the word Outlaws is plural. There are others who seek the same. Love, respect, forgiveness and freedom transcend all laws and in their absence, there will be no higher truths.

"Don't be harsh on them, Fletcher Seagull. In casting you out, the other gulls have only hurt themselves and one day they will know this and one day they will see what you see. Forgive them and help them understand."

Each chapter rests upon the refusal to accept negative emotions, the acceptance of forgiveness and that greater truths will not be understood until we are willing to forgive the wrongs that are done to us.  Bitterness is a limitation and blocks the way to freedom.

Near the end of the book, Jonathan realized that his student was ready to be the teacher and that he had more to learn As he turned the teaching over to his student so he himself could search for an even greater level of existence, he begged that he be remembered for the humble gull that he was, not a god but as a gull who was free.

"One school is finished and the time has come for another to begin."

There is a wealth of knowledge in this book that contains less than 10,000 words, spent 38 weeks topping the best seller list and has over a million copies in print. Rather than try to cover it all here, I will leave some for the Book Talk discussion. Please join us at the Book Talk event (follow link) and share your thoughts on this small yet powerful novella.

If you haven't read the book or want to read it again, this free PDF Jonathan Livingston Seagull is available. It only took me 16 minutes to read. Do you have 16 minutes to spare?

Thank you for your time and I look forward to our discussion. See you at the event!

Beth