Reclaiming Your Rhythm

How rejecting hurry culture becomes an act of revolution

You are reading the sub-section SlowPOWER of the publication Un-Rush-The Power of Slow where I give you insights on the absurdity of rushing and impulses on how slowing down benefits your life and work.

Don’t be shy to share it with fellow rebels against the hurry culture and click the❤️ button, so more people can discover it on Substack. Thank you!

Reclaiming Your Rhythm

How rejecting hurry culture becomes an act of revolution

In a world that worships higher, faster, further, slowing down becomes an act of rebellion.

Mary Oliver understood this when she wrote,

"Wherever I am, the world comes after me. It offers me its busyness. It does not believe that I do not want it."

Her words illuminate a profound truth: that our society has become so consumed by hurry that it cannot comprehend those who choose to not follow the sheep herd of rushing busyness addicts.

She knew what we're all afraid to admit: we don't need more speed—we need its opposite.

Here's what the world doesn't want you to know about slowing down:

• Your creativity explodes in stillness.

• The mind requires empty space to make unexpected connections.

• Revolutionary ideas aren't born in the frenzy of back-to-back meetings but in moments of unhurried contemplation.

• Every creative genius in history knew how to waste time purposefully.

• Our minds and souls aren't designed for constant acceleration.

The world arrives uninvited at our doorstep each morning—with its notifications, deadlines, and endless to-do lists. It screams from screens and speakers, commanding our attention and measuring our worth by our output. It dangles rewards for those who move faster, do more, and manage to squeeze efficiency from every moment. And it regards with suspicion anyone who dares to refuse.

Do refuse.

To reject hurry is to become a rebel.

• When we choose to linger over morning coffee rather than scroll through emails, we rebel.

• When we walk slowly enough to notice the pattern of bark on a tree, we resist.

• When we sit in silence while the world spins madly around us, we declare our independence from getting pressured, pushed, and stressed by others.

• When we slow down, our body heals

• When we slow down and care, our relationships deepen. Real connections can't be scheduled in 30-minute increments.

• When we pause, our joy multiplies. Notice how children experience wonder not by racing through experiences but by becoming completely absorbed in them.

• When we take time to reflect quietly, our wisdom grows. Information accumulates with speed, but wisdom requires slowness. It demands the time to question, to doubt, to integrate, and to discard.

This rebellion isn't about abandoning responsibility. Rather, it's about reclaiming your right to set the rhythm of your own life—to move at a pace that allows you to truly see, feel, and live. It's about recognizing that your value doesn't lie in how quickly you move through the world but in how deeply you experience it.

The world will continue to come after you with its busyness. It will not understand your refusal to participate in its madness. It will call you lazy, unambitious, and unrealistic.

Let it.

In your quiet defiance, you might remember what Mary Oliver knew so well: that life's most precious moments aren't found in the rush but in the pause, in slowing down. While others chase the mirage of busy importance, you'll be experiencing the substance of a life fully lived. And that—not another checked box on an endless to-do list—is the ultimate act of rebellion.

Choose slowness. Not as a luxury but as a necessity. Not as an indulgence, but as YOUR lifestyle with your rhythm.

Be a rebel,