Jonathon Livingstone Seagull

When I was sorting out my books I came across a small book that had been hiding behind some others on the top shelf. I hadn't read this book in years. This copy was not my first, it was given to me by a colleague as a secret santa gift, something he'd found and thought of me when he did. My other copy is somewhere in a barn up in the Coromandel.

I first read this book in 1976, we studied it in English at school. In 1976 Neil Diamond came to Auckland and our wonderful English teacher took us to see him in concert at Western Springs. For the six of us in my English class, youngsters from a small country town, this was a major expedition. I remember the concert so well, lying up in the trees in the twilight with light drizzle making the air electric, watching the screen with the images of Jonathon soaring while the music washed over me. It was magical.

I'm not sure I understood the messages then, not sure I understand them all now but it seemed that this book found me the other day so I could read it when I couldn't sleep last night. So I could feel Jonathon soaring again, feel the music, and be.

We choose our next world through what we learn in this one.
Learn nothing, and the next world is the same as this one,
all the same limitations and lead weights to overcome.

Richard Bach