Outside Reading:2

   Throughout reading the book Journey to the East, I was frequently reminded of the course concepts we have talked about this semester. Toward the beginning of the novel Hesse touches on the differences between pilgrims and tourists: " [We] made no use of those contrivances which spring into existence in a world deluded by money, number and time, and which drain life of its content" (13). On his journey, Hesse is not consumed by items deemed important by this world. He is getting back to the essence of life by living without luxuries. As Thoreau would say, Hesse "lives simply" in order to connect with nature and experience life in its fullest and most pure form. Pilgrims are not concerned with money as tourists are. A tourist's day to day activities revolve around dispensable money and buying unnecessary things. They stay in places of luxury and relax in the comfort of their hotels. Pilgrims, on the other hand, give up all of this and live uncomfortably in order to figure out what it truly means to live. They migrate away from the marketplace and their own personal projects. They return home with a knew sense of self by practicing kenosis, a decentering  of the self, where a tourist returns home returns home perhaps rejuvenated, but does not have a new sense of self. Hesse is on a journey to find home by leaving home.
   My favorite part of this quote is where Hesse says: "deluded by money". A lot of our daily routines revolve around activities that involve spending money. When we are bored, we usually go to activities that involve spending money in order to fulfill our need to be stimulated. Growing up without TV, video games, or computer games, I was always outside or making up games with my sister. I think that if our world would migrate away from the significance of money people would generally be happier and experience fuller life. We would feel more satisfied if we realized the beauty in the world around us in its natural form.