by L.A. Mood Comics and Games

By Dan Brown

In our fast-paced world, doing things slowly is not just a luxury, it’s also the ultimate power move.

You’ve probably noticed we live at a moment in human history when it feels as though everyone on the planet is rushing around with their hair on fire.

Just look at online retailers (think Amazon) or delivery services (like Skip the Dishes), that promise faster and faster service.

Then there’s the employers who don’t want slowpokes. Bosses prize workers who can move like lighting. They hire employees who can keep to a schedule by meeting tight deadlines.

In 2025, no one wants a slow hand, as the Pointer Sisters once did. “I wanna go fast,” singer Demi Lovato pleads on her comeback single, out now.

Everyone everywhere wants to move quickly, to get to the next thing before too much time has elapsed. 

Making the most of your day no longer means savouring each moment, but packing as many moments as you can into each hour, minute, second. No one has time to waste.

So is it any surprise those who move at a slower pace stand out?

The first place I noticed it was on the road. Driving around London, I would get stuck behind cars that were going painfully slowly. Usually, these vehicles travelling slower than the minimum speed limit were pimped-out machines.
 
It didn’t take long for it to hit me: Clearly, going slow is the cool thing to do. 

Cool people don’t rush. 

(Another place you’ll see this principle at work is in Grand Bend with the cars that cruise the Strip at a snail’s pace.)

If you want another illustration of this truth, check out any speech on YouTube by former U.S. president Barack Obama. His trademark style was to speak deliberately, with lots of pauses. 

What he was saying without saying it out loud  was: “I’m no fast-talker like other politicians. I choose every word carefully. I’m no fool.” He was trying to make people hang on his every syllable. 

Understanding Obama’s message required an attention span. He was no influencer on Tik Tok.

Going slowly in today’s fast-food, fast-everything world is a power move because being slow on purpose projects a message. It says, “I’m not in a hurry, like all the normies. I’m not a slave to the clock. I’m too important to rush around. I’m not shackled to a schedule, I’ll arrive when I arrive.”

People who have the superpower of being slow are above common concerns the rest of us share. They don’t have to be at the party on time, or – heaven forfend — early. Is there a bigger faux pas than arriving before all the other guests?

The slow among us are our modern-day Ferris Buellers. 

If you recall, Bueller struck a blow against the tyranny of the clock in 1986 by goofing off for an entire school day. "Life moves pretty fast,” he said. “If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it." 

I don’t know about you, but I would love just one extra day to do nothing in particular, not having to worry about using my time efficiently.

If it’s true life is a race to the grave, then not hurrying is also a way of resisting mortality itself. 

The heavy-metal group Blue Oyster Cult tapped into that idea in their 1981 song Burnin’ For You, which is partly a meditation on time:

Time is the essence
Time is the season
Time ain't no reason
Got no time to slow
Time everlasting
Time to play B-sides
Time ain't on my side
Time I'll never know
Having time to burn to indulge such silly impulses as actually listening to B-sides is the ultimate luxury today.  

And now, if you’ll excuse me, I really should get going. 

I’m on a tight deadline.

Dan Brown has covered pop culture for more than 33 years as a journalist and also moderates L.A. Mood’s monthly graphic-novel group.