BLOG 2012

I'm little stunned and puzzled by the news that Richard Bach has crashed his small Sea Rey plane. I've been following his adventures on his website recently. Perhaps the accident was age-related though his blogs gave the impression of someone vital, enjoying life to the full, still pushing boundaries and asking questions and not the 76 years young that he is.

This guy has been hugely influential on my life. Jonathan Livingston Seagull made me feel not alone when I had been feeling very alone and isolated. He was the one that made me think about writing. Indeed Bach is a major factor in this website coming into being and me doing what I'm doing now (finally!) (Particularly The Water's Edge part). Conversely he could be blamed for ruining my life. But actually his ideas along with others' that I've since discovered still ring true for me. He didn't ever say: "Believe Me". He said: "Think for yourself. Take responsibility for yourself. Don't limit what is possible." Remember I played in Haslemere last week? And how I mentioned how the town held alot of memories for me? One of those memories was unexpectedly discovering Bach's book "The Bridge Across Forever" in a Haslemere newsagents. I can still remember the sense of excitement of discovering that book after the desert that had followed Jonathan Livingston Seagull.

Last week he was writing of arranging a meeting for like-minded inividuals in Hawaii (I think). Though tempting it would've been way out of what I could afford and I'm not sure it'd have been my thing really. But it just shows how active he is. He did have reservations about his plans though. He will probably come to the conclusion that the accident was the Universe's way of telling him the meeting wasn't such great idea after all.

I wish him a speedy recovery.