What I love about Substack is the chance to engage with brilliant minds who carry positive intent. One such person is Dennis Berry, who I’ve had the pleasure of connecting with several times over the past month. This particular exchange is well worth sharing.
Dennis:
We are so good at being DOERS that we’ve forgotten how to be BEINGS. We measure our value by our output, then wonder why we feel empty. The best creative ideas and deepest connections don’t come when you’re rushing. They surface when you finally slow down enough to hear the quiet. Are you slowing down?
Me:
My best ideas often arise during the witching hour! I always write first thing in the morning to capture them.
Dennis:
Yes, that’s an important time. The idea of sleeping is to awaken energised with fresh ideas. Most people nowadays waste all of that energy on TikTok and politics. Don’t be like most people. 🤣
Dennis is absolutely right. We’ve been nudged into distraction almost every waking moment. It disconnects us from our inner selves. It hides our true nature, and with it, the raw creativity that lives within.
Perhaps this isn’t accidental. The powerful forces shaping our world thrive when attention is diverted outward, toward the noise, the drama, the world they have built. The more we focus on their world, the further we drift from our own.
Radical Conformity is about reversing that drift. It’s not conspiracy theory or paranoia. It’s simply awareness. A clear-eyed understanding of where we are, and what’s really shaping our experience. From that awareness, we can begin to reclaim our decisions and our direction, quietly and intelligently, within the limits of daily life.
Freedom isn’t about raging against every injustice. It’s about understanding the system and learning how to move within it without losing yourself. Otherwise, the system will flatten you.
So, take a cue from Dennis. Make space each day for reflection. Call it meditation, day-dreaming, or simply thinking time. Quiet the noise. Sit in peace. Listen to what your inner voice has to say.
Do it daily for a month, and you’ll feel the shift.
Do it for a year, and your life will have transformed.
A big thank you to Dennis for sparking this Muse, and for the reminder that our greatest freedom begins when we learn to be, truly be.