The Fifth Walk & St. Peter's Island (Outside Reading)

April 11th, 2022

The most recent walk that were assigned for reading in my class on Rousseau and his Reveries was the fifth walk. In this walk, Rousseau reflects on his time on St. Peter's Island for a portion of his life. This island was in in the middle of a lake in a sparsely populated region of Switzerland. Rousseau explains that he felt the most joy during his time on St. Peter's Island because he was able to enjoy an extremely leisurely life of relaxation and encounters with the land around him. This made me reflect upon the idea that we have discussed in class of connection to the world around us. It seems like oral cultures were, in general, better at making this connection. One of the reasons for this is the fact that writing and reading takes us away from the events unfolding in front of us. Rousseau had spent most of his life reading and writing about intense and deep philosophical concepts, things that took a lots of sustained focus and effort. When he was forced to live on St. Peter's Island, he talked about keeping his books locked away and simply interacting with the plants and the water around him. Seeing as Rousseau describes his time on St. Peter's Island as the best time of his life, I think that we can all take a lesson from Rousseau and attempt to find true leisure in our lives. This is especially important as we get closer to finals week and the busier time of the semester!

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