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observation vii; demian

warning: long paragraph ahead. skip to prompt if that's what you're looking for or the next chapter.

i'm supposed to talk about something i could get lost in for hours. this is hard since there are many things that fall under this category. i chose to single out hobbies, sports, etc. so i could narrow it down. i'm choosing an abstract idea that i think is interesting: this idea stems from the book Demian and is more about a philosophical/theological standpoint on religion. religion is something you usually shouldn't not talk about with anyone, but the viewpoint is interesting, including how Herman Hesse wrote the plot to reflect around this single idea- the idea that there are two equal "worlds" or sides to one god- or that there has to be a god to represent both parts/ sides. Emil Sinclair meets Max Demian and through that process, begins to mature. this real struggle of youth that gets portrayed in Demian is a subtle reminder of how our religion can affect us. that having one god to represent both the good and the evil of our world defines the real struggle of humanity. the "good" world exists in all of us as a secret paradise, or your parent's house, warmth, comfort, sunlight flitting through your blinds, that empty feeling when you wake up with no worries: that is the good world that lives inside us all. i believe that it can vary from person to person, because no one is the same. the bad world is described as something addictive, sinister, dark, a living underworld. in Demian, this world isn't always something you can choose to ignore, it's all around you. now, the idea/ representation of a god represents humans- it represents how all of us aren't entirely one or the other- we are both because we are humans. the ideology behind the practices of the religion aren't exactly what you would expect- it's about giving into your desires to understand yourself better as a person. i'm not a religious person. i grew up in that setting, but i believe more in individuality and accepting yourself for who you are as an individual. reading Demian sort of guided me towards an understanding of the basis that you have you as a person- you aren't entirely good nor evil. the notion is interesting to me since i've read a lot of the suggested readings that go along to Demian, one of the titles being The Ones who Walk from Omelas, a short story based on the same ideology of growing out of maturity through your youth and the balance between good and evil. there's a lot more to go into it, because it is an abstract thought, but my overarching theme for this observation is of the grey areas in religion today, with theology and the like. there are so many interpretations of the same idea, but i guess that was the point since this is an idea i could get lost in for hours on end.

prompt; write about something you could do for hours. it's suggested you stay away from typical things like hobbies and sports and do it based more on an idea or a concept that is in everyday life.

outcome; this was a long ass essay of me rambling on and on about the same idea and trying to expand on it and grow into the grey areas of it all. it's long, has a lot of reoccurring words and is pretty awful. still got the teacher hooked on it and a 10/10 so i mean :)