the BEAUTY of BEWILDERMENT

When was the last time you felt utterly dumbfounded and bewildered? Lost in thought, disoriented by a new idea, unsure of your next move? If you can’t remember, you’re probably playing it too safe. In this provocative UNCOMMODiFiED Podcast episode, Tim Windsor argues that bewilderment is the birthplace of brilliance. Using neuroscience, history, and a heavy dose of soul-stretching insight, Tim dismantles the myth that clarity is king. Confusion, he suggests, isn’t your enemy—it’s your invitation. Your compass is spinning for a reason: you're standing at the edge of transformation.

Immerse yourself in this masterclass on intentionally getting beautifully lost. You’ll learn how to harness bewilderment to spark breakthrough moments, rewire your brain for profound learning, and break free from echo chambers that keep you confined. Practical takeaways? Absolutely—like how to ask better questions, pursue deliberate disorientation, and create a “bewilderment journal” to track your growth through confusion. If you’re fed up with safe answers and polished certainty, this is your permission to step straight into the unknown—eyes wide open, knees knocking, and mind on fire.

Tim Windsor
the UNCOMMODiFiED Podcast – Host & Guide
tim@uncommodified.com
https://uncommodified.com/
  
PRODUCERS: Alyne Gagne & Kris MacQueen 
MUSIC BY: https://themacqueens.ca/

Transcript

PLEASE NOTE: UNCOMMODiFiED Podcast episode transcriptions are raw text files and have not been proofed or edited. They are what they are … Happy Reading.

© UNCOMMODiFiED & TIM WINDSOR

[00:00:00] Hey, UNcommodified Tribe, it's me again, Tim Windsor. Today we're examining, embracing a feeling that most people fear and flee from bewilderment. Love the word. You know that feeling when you're lost, confused, or just downright dumbfounded. Here's what I believe. If nothing in your life is bewildering you right now, I've got news for you.

You're playing it too safe. You're not thinking big enough. You're not swimming in waters deep enough to make you wonder what the hell's beneath the surface. I. Today we're going to investigate why being bewildered isn't only a good thing, but I actually believe it's a necessary thing. We'll dive into the science behind what confusion and bewilderment are a signpost of growth, and how embracing it can be the key to breaking through the barriers that hold you back in both your personal and professional life.

Bewilderment is an interesting word. let's examine it [00:01:00] a bit. It's formed by combining bewilder in the suffix mint. The, the verb bewilder itself comes from the old English word wild or wildy, meaning wild, untamed, or uncultivated, along with the prefax B, which which. Intensifies the meaning to thoroughly the suffix meant is used to form nouns that denotes a state or condition of being.

So here's the breakdown of the word wilder. Ancient word meant to lead astray or to lure into the wilds. And B, the prefects intensifies the verbs, meaning making it thoroughly or completely led astray or will led into the wild and meant this suffix. It converts to bewilder, to bewilderment. Now it's a noun, meaning the state or condition of being bewildered.

So bewilderment in essence, refers to being completely confused or lost as if someone has been led into the wild and is now disoriented. And what if being [00:02:00] led astray into the untamed and uncultivated is precisely where we need to go? What if the path to greatness isn't a straight line, but a confusing labyrinth designed to make you disoriented so you begin to question everything you thought you knew.

Now neuroscience tells us that this kind of confusion triggers the brain's interior signet cortex, which in part, makes this happen. It, it makes you kick into an area where you wanna detect errors and find something unexpected when you're bewildered. Your brain is essentially saying, Hey, something's not adding up here.

Pay attention. And when you do, your brain releases dopamine. A neurotransmitter associated with reward and learning. In short, bewilderment is the precursor to that aha moment. It's the fertile ground where epiphanies grow. Think about Alexander Fleming for a second. The guy who, uh, discovered penicillin in 1928, he returned from a vacation to find mold growing on his Petri [00:03:00] dishes.

Now, any other scientist might have just said, ah, I've gotta toss 'em away. There's a problem. But Fleming was bewildered enough to ask questions, and instead of ignoring it, he leaned in. He saw that the mold was killing bacteria, and thought, what's going on here? His confusion gave way to which led to an incredible discovery that bewilderment saved millions of lives over the years.

Now, imagine if Fleming had just said, ah, that's weird, and then just walked away. No penicillin, no antibiotic, no revolution, no change, no countless life saved. Being bewildered isn't a setback. It's a beautiful and bold bidding that calls us. Let me ask you this. When, when, when was the last time you were truly bewildered talking about standing on the edge of your understanding, staring the fog of the and unknown?

If you can't remember, that's a big problem. It might mean that you're, you're not thinking big enough. You're not putting yourself in situations that stretch you. You're not rubbing shoulders with people who make you [00:04:00] question your perspectives. If nothing bewilders you, it might mean you're only exposing yourself to ideas that reinforce what you already know or believe, and that echo chamber is dangerous.

Because if you're only standing on solid ground, standing on the shore of the vast and a known ocean, then you're never going in to learn to swim. The best things in life come from being a little disoriented and off balance at times. Now let's talk about how you and I can get more comfortable with the uncomfortable.

How you can amplify your bewilderment and let it energize you and pull you forward instead of paralyzing you. Here. Here's the secret. You must demand to be bewildered. You must demand to be bewildered. This is where it starts deliberately surrounding yourself with people who don't think like you, don't act like you.

Put yourself in situations where you might be the dumbest person in the room and the most unimaginative. Ask [00:05:00] ridiculous questions. One of the most excellent strategies to invite bewilderment is to ask the questions that you're afraid will make you look stupid. There's a reason kids learn so fast. They are always asking why, why, why about everything?

So, how about you do it explore new terrain. This could be literal. Go somewhere you've never been before or metaphoric. Engage with ideas and perspectives you find strange or confusing. Next, celebrate confusion. This is what we need to do. When you're bewildered, instead of feeling frustrated to say, that's great, I'm on the edge of something new.

Keep a bewilderment journal. Write down when you're bewildered, where you write down those things that confuse you and ask yourself, what can I learn from them? Another thing we need to. Do or our behavior we have to cultivate if we want to enhance our bewilderment is we have to slow down up a little bit.

Sometimes bewilderment comes from truly observing what you see around you when, when you're in a rush. When I'm in a rush, we only see what we expect. We need to [00:06:00] slow down and we need to notice the things that make us scratch our head. Also, we need to practice deliberate disorientation. We need to seek deliberate disorientation once a week.

Challenge yourself. Do something that disrupts your routine. Take a different route to work. Uh, try a different food that you think you hate. Listen to a podcast from an entirely different perspective. about something you think is wrong. Shake up your senses and challenge yourself. Also, a way to increase our bewilderment is to make space for the impossible.

Go ahead, contemplate right now, and you can pause the podcast if you want. Contemplate, consider something you believe that's absolutely impossible. Write it down and then pause the podcast and play with that idea. Ask what if it were possible, what would need to change? How could I get there? What would it mean if I did?

Also, we need to embrace the what if moments, if we want to increase our bewilderment. When you catch yourself saying that could never happen, force yourself to explore the what if. What if it [00:07:00] did happen? How would I respond? What would I become? Play with new experiences. That's the other thing. This is about playfulness.

Bewilderment requires playfulness. Play with new experiences. Get into environments where you don't know the rules. Take a class on a subject that you don't know anything about. Go to an event where you know no one. Let the strangeness of that experience wash over you and see how you adapt.

And lastly, if we wanna increase our bewilderment, turn up the bewilderment factor. Train your brain for the unpredictable read books. Watch movies, listen to music that challenges you. Expose yourself to new ideas regularly strengthening and stretch your mental muscles. Now let's finish this off. The bottom line for me here is this, I believe that bewilderment is beautiful.

A life without bewilderment is a life without transformation. It's a life without the [00:08:00] beautiful mess of learning and unlearning. So if nothing in your world has you scratching your head or questioning your assumptions, it's time to shake things up. Embrace the confusion. Seek out the strange dive headfirst into the unknown, and let bewilderment pull you forward.

Hey, my friends. Here's one last challenge. Stay curious. Stay bewildered. Get bewildered. Stay un commodified. Thanks for listening. Cheers. Have a great day.