At least over here, there's been this trend of teens and young adults nonchalantly uttering "we're outside" whenever they're out and about doing outdoor activities that range from picnics at the beach, parties, spontaneous meetups at parks or just aimlessly wandering around the neighborhood with friends.
It's a bit like an opposite version of Netflix and Chill, and I'm sure probably some adults of the older generation will classify it as "loitering" for the simple fact that these type of activities don't have much of a productive value, according to them, of course.
Speaking of productivity, the old guard wouldn't stop bashing the younger generation every chance they get about how easy the latter have it in life and still decide to not make the best out of it.
I don't think it's a decision, nobody wakes up one day and decides life is easy for me, let me coast up and enjoy the view, so to speak.
Easy is relative here, too. What is perceived as easy is the absence of certain historical hardships such as manual labor as the only employment option or lack of basic technology, which may be true generally, but falls short categorically in many situations.
Think about it, an ease of ordering food delivery doesn't offset the stress of gig economy instability.
You know when you open the tap and only trickles of water come down to fill the bucket, either be patient and wait it out or find another water source that can keep pace with your needs.
Hard is relative too and it's usually perceived as the presence of visible struggle, sometimes the kind that leaves physical evidence.
I think they, i.e older generation folks, don't always see the non physical aspects with the same legitimacy they hold for physical exhaustion.
One example that comes to mind here is an "emotional labor" arising from the process of maintaining a personal brand across multiple social media platforms just to remain professionally relevant.
A feather might as well be a boulder if you're already at your breaking point, and the struggle to stay afloat in a system designed for previous generations' economic realities is no less real for being less visible.
Anyways. I for one see this "we're outside" trend as a positive countermeasure against totally being a homebody willingly stuck inside. Maybe a layer above that is engaging in passive activities like doomscrolling through social media feeds, which I've read somewhere is a form of emotional anesthesia.
Obviously, it's a spectrum across ages trying to balance between individuality and being part of a community. Follow the trend is applicable here if I'm being honest, good value in participating in something that gets people moving and experiencing their surroundings.
Sometimes the trend itself matters less than the impulse behind it.
It’s an instinctive need to touch grass, literally and metaphorically.
We’re outside.
If we stay inside any longer, we could actually start believing that everything we see on our screens is real and mismatch the two, not that it's already happening, but at least the progression can be delayed, if not also stopped on a individual level.
Again, balance between individuality and the collective, it's a tightrope walk.
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