As Rousseau reached middle age, he began to take walks, contemplating among the plants, reflecting on his thoughts, and surrendering to his dreams. This initial solitude could only succeed if it possessed a new psychological dimension. The isolation Rousseau had experienced since childhood was merely intellectual. But in these "dreams," he reached the pinnacle of seclusion, freeing himself from the external world and finding contentment in the pleasure of his own existence, immersing himself in his emotional nature. He no longer felt the need for the world or for people, but was satisfied with the joy that the awareness of his own being gave him.

Here, in these “dreams,” he finds a kind of happiness, akin to absolute happiness, the kind philosophers dreamed of. Memories continue to flood his mind, playing out in his imagination.

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