seagulls

the first seagull i got to know was Jonathan Livingston... that was nearly another lifetime ago... i've always liked the idea of learning to fly... not least it makes it seem easier getting from one place to another... and you don't have to subject yourself to the incessantly frustrating and rather dehumanizing experience of air-travel these days; btw, thanks to apparently new CIA security measures, travellers from many european countries and british colonies will have to have all their paw-pads scanned during customs & immigration come summer. maybe it would be easier if we all could fly like birds do (-- we might learn to carry less baggage! ha) ... but perhaps it would be much 'simpler' if we all trusted, respected, and loved each other... A LOT more than we currently do.

aeronautics and musings aside, the use of seagulls seems to be a recurring theme in literature... Anton Chekov wrote The Seagull in 1896, a play which speaks of the materialistic dreams that often cloud one's pursuit of happiness... and of breaking from tradition to find one's voice, to be. the protagonist of the play, Constantines, is the seagull who perishes because of individualistic idealism... a dramatic end, which starkly contrasts with those who live and (seemingly) readily/blindly accept the societal norms and vogue of the 'old' Zeitgeist...

if seagulls are the emblem for freedom, individualism and/or idealism... i sure have an affinity for them...

pondering seagulls; Aldinga Beach

... and i hope they will remain a reminder of hope and the fact that it is alright to be different.

posted by ~overacuppa~ on Monday, 8 January, 2007 at 10:25 hrs