Merrell and the urban birdwatchers
I mean...birds are literally everywhere, but how often do we slow down enough to actually see them?
In case you hadn't noticed, people are beyond stressed and burnt out.
To counteract the affects of living in a city, where toxic work culture demands ever more from us and nature often feels a million miles away, a simple outdoors (originally birdwatching) collective called Flock Together was founded in 2020 by Ollie Olanipekun.
Now, Merrell (yes, the hardcore trail running peeps) have teamed up with Flock Together to support a new initiative called Merrell Outside in London - which is just an organised way to get people to see, and experience, the city of London from a fresh perspective.
It's nothing super fancy, or massively physically demanding - just an opportunity to spend time slowing down and noticing the city differently.
And because it's so simple and purposely accessible, it appears to be a bit of a hit for Merrell and bird watching.
There's a massively underserved need for slowness and self-care that doesn't involve running an ultra marathon, swimming the English Channel or secluding yourself from the world in a Tibetan monastery.
Nice to see that there are brands that are bold enough to step into that stillness with this kind of quiet confidence.
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Dazed