Amazing Life Lessons from a Seagull that will Inspire You

Loving the unloved

Some of you may be familiar with the famous book Jonathon Livingston Seagull written by Richard Bach. A tale about a seagull who has dreams of being a better version of himself and flying higher and faster than any gull has ever dared before. Cast out by the flock for being different he goes off on his spiritual quest to discover his full potential. Does any of this resonate with you by any chance?

In real life many people hate seagulls. Maybe you do too. Are they the thugs of the bird world? Pests to be poisoned and driven out? Let’s be honest they have a terrible reputation because they are noisy and fearless they can appear aggressive and given the chance they will steal your food.

I have to confess that I have seen them swoop down and with laser-like precision snatch the food out of the hands of babies.

Shocking? Yes.

Terrible? Maybe.

Should we hate them? Maybe not, after all they are just trying to survive just like us.

It’s true they have many undesirable qualities. They squabble and fight amongst themselves over food scraps. They scavenge in the trash pulling apart bins, they tear into bags looking for food making a mess as they go. And they can be annoying when they beg for food. Not exactly lovable traits.

Does it surprise you that they beg like dogs?

It surprised me. I was sitting in a park eating a sandwich when one appeared close to me. It looked at me with doleful, soulful eyes that said please feed me. As it waited patiently near my feet it reminded me of a dog. I felt so sorry for it I gave in and fed it.

In truth I see many human traits reflected back to me in the behaviour of seagulls. Yes, sure at this point you’re probably wondering what the heck we humans have in common with gulls. Quite a bit as it happens.

So here we are in 2020 the year of COVID19. For me a time of revelation and observation. A time for me to get to know the heir of Jonathon Livingston or Livi as I like to call her. I should add I have absolutely no idea how to sex a seagull, I think of it as a female but who knows.

I’m no bird expert and before I met Livi I couldn’t tell one seagull from another. In fact the only way I knew it was the same bird visiting me was because of the hole in her left foot and her limp.

Yes, I know it sounds a bit crazy but seriously Livi limps and has a hole in the webbing of her left foot, she probably got speared when trying to land on a spiked lamp post or building that are common around here.

You might find this hard to believe but I’m grateful to have experienced the COVID19 lockdown as it gave me a chance to really observe and appreciate the lessons that Livi was teaching me. And if you don’t mind I’d like to share a few with you.

Lesson №1: Life Needs Life

There is no escape from this fundamental truth. Life needs life.

I was happy to see Livi, to me it was a joy to see another living thing. Another life force had chosen to connect with me. You know the feeling, it’s like when someone forgives you and you’re so embarrassed, humble and just God damn grateful you want to cry buckets whilst singing for joy at the same time.

Livi the gull needed my support as much as I needed her life force. With fewer people on the streets and no kitchen waste from restaurants, food was scare for the gulls. As for me I was locked up in a small flat with no one for company. Through the sadness, the darkness and the unknown of the lockdown everyday there was a life force that came to visit me.

Was Livi a symbol of hope and freedom? Yes she was. But you would also be right to think that she was a sad reminder of how we humans had taken their space and how they had been forced to adapt. Something that we humans also have to do now.

Lesson №2: There’s no such thing as coincidence.

Whatever way you look at it you can’t ignore the serendipity of the situation. This was no random act.

When you look out across the Bulgarian skyline you see the signature communist apartments. Block after block of uniform grey flats. A reminder of a bygone era when everything must be standard. The same rectangular blocks the same height and the same balconies.

Here and there a new more colourful apartment block sprouts like a poppy to add colour to the communist uniformity. Hundreds of apartments all chock a block full of anti seagull humans.

This may be difficult for you to believe but somehow Livi found me and I found Livi. So many balconies so many hostile occupants and yet somehow we were matched. Both willing to open our hearts and take a chance.

Are you a mathematician? I’m not but I’m willing to bet the chances of a seagull finding a willing host amongst the hundreds of anti gull occupants are fairly non-existent.

Lesson №3: Trust. You can’t build anything on shifting sands

At first it was a difficult relationship; neither one of us was completely sure of the other.

You know the situation, you’re in a new relationship, you want to trust your partner but you’re just not sure. You’re afraid of getting hurt physically or mentally because you’ve been hurt before. You want to commit but there’s a fear that holds you back and you really don’t want to make the same mistake again.

I didn’t believe Livi would intentionally harm me but at first feeding Livi was a real challenge. I would try to put the food out onto the balcony wall as quickly as possible to avoid any contact with Livi. Livi would race to gobble it up, frantically pecking at everything, her beak stabbing the food as quickly as I could put it down. I raced to put it down and avoid her beak she raced to eat it before other birds came and snatched it or before I could injure her. It was distressing for both of us.

The simple truth was we didn’t trust each other. I was scared she might peck me and she was scared of me. It was a lose-lose situation.

The lesson here was simple relationships are going nowhere without trust on both sides. If you want to create anything good you both have to trust, be willing to work together for a common goal and to be open to finding solutions to help bridge the communication gap and build trust.

Lesson №4: Deceptions don’t work

“You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you can not fool all of the people all of the time.” Abraham Lincoln

I tried a few deceptions to avoid being accidentally pecked like pointing to the left so Livi would run left then I’d put the food to the right. But Livi turned out to be smarter than I thought and after a few days that trick stopped working and we both had to evolve.

I still wanted to feed Livi but I was scared of being pecked. Livi was still hungry but didn’t 100% trust me. We needed something that would help us both and deception wasn’t going to solve the problem. As it turned out a ladle would save us.

Lesson №5: Create a bridge

So what do you do when you want to build a relationship that works for you both? You have to get creative, overcome your fears and build trust.

A ladle turned out to be the perfect bridge between us. Putting the food on the ladle meant that I wouldn’t get pecked and Livi didn’t have to worry about me being too close and harming her or fighting off any possible rivals for the food. My presence ensured that no other gull would steal the food.

It transformed everything and suddenly we were both a lot happier.

In fact Livi was so excited to see the ladle that on a couple of occasions she actually missed her step and fell off the wall. She ended up in my living room where she tried to take off and fly out. Unfortunately she just smacked herself on the ceiling and fell to the floor with a thud. In the end I covered her with a towel and took her outside so she could fly away.

Weirdly, using the ladle actually ended up reducing the physical distance between us! It was a win-win situation.

Lesson №6: Play the long game. Expect the best

Have you ever found yourself in a situation where you are thinking should I take what’s offered now or maybe wait for something better?

Well it turns out Livi is a master of the long game. Livi is willing to say no to the crap and wait for the good stuff.

To Livi food from the ladle equals good food whereas the bread I used to put out is just fast food and only to be eaten if there are no better alternatives. In the ladle she gets scraps from meals and not just bread, it is far better quality.

If I try to deceive her with just bread Livi walks away to the end of the wall and waits and waits until I finally give in and serve her something better.

Livi very quickly trained me to give her better food. In doing so she taught me that if you expect the best the universe will respond to the thoughts you put out and you will get your expectations met.

Lockdown has finished now but Livi continues to visit and teach me new things daily. It turns out that Seagulls are very clever birds and they have many good qualities.

Did you know they mate for life?

They also make awesome parents and raise their chicks together with both parents sharing the work. The young gulls play in a nursery together watched over by adults and the whole colony works together by stamping their feet on the ground to imitate the sound of rain and trick earthworms to come to the surface. Just a few of the good things about gulls.

Feeding Livi has been a challenge but it has also been great fun.