There are a million reasons to slow down. What’s yours?
So we’re going to lie down. Preferably with as many people as possible.
We don’t really want to talk about everything that’s going wrong. Because I don’t know about you, but over the past few months I’ve seen more than enough images of wildfires, natural disasters, heat-related deaths, wars, hungry children, politicians cutting funding for culture and chopping down trees...
Sometimes it leaves us feeling hopeless. But mostly, it just makes us tired.
So we’re going to lie down. Preferably with as many people as possible.
We’re organising a national bed-in as a gentle protest against a pace of life that is exhausting both people and the planet.
From Saturday 24 October at noon until Sunday 25 October at noon, we’re slowing down together as part of SLOW UP.
Most people will slow down at home, in their own bed or on the sofa. But there will also be more than 40 places across Belgium where something is happening. You can sleep at the KMSKA or C-mine, spend the night in a bed store between the showroom beds, or sleep at a school, in a gym hall or up in the attic. There will be nature walks, a sit-in for nature in Leuven, talks, music, conversations, offline clubs without phones and all sorts of other ways to pause for a while.
In short, we’re bringing a little gentle resistance and imagination to the conversation about mental wellbeing and the way we treat our planet. With a big wink to the legendary bed-ins of John Lennon and Yoko Ono.
And how wonderful would it be if we could actually keep a whole lot of people in bed?
That’s where we need you.
On Saturday 17 October, we’re asking you to share a photo or video from your bed, sofa, hammock or favourite place to slow down. There are a million reasons to slow down. What’s yours?
Your answer can be personal or political, long or short, poetic or completely deadpan.
You do you. And invite your community to join in.
A liveable future is possible. If we want it.
And surveys show that, actually, we all want it.
Maybe it’s time we realised that a little more often. So we can start pulling in the same direction.
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