Maison Merula

Dear blackbird family

It's been a while… Did you all have a good start into the new year?

We wanted to give you a little sign of life. Unfortunately, we still haven't found a nest for the blackbird. Good things take time. Nevertheless, we want to start doing good things in small ways from time to time in 2024.

We are convinced that almost nothing unites people as much as music does. That's why we're all the more excited to tell you today about a musical event we're organizing this spring:

• • •

H O E H N
M E E T S
Y O G A

Friday 5. April 2024
7:30 pm
Freyastrasse 6a, 8004 Zurich

In April, together with Hoehn, we invite you to a very special experience: Accompanied by the guitar sounds of the two brothers, Fabienne Marcolin will lead you through a meditative yoga class. The two musicians (known for their other projects with 'Panda Lux' or 'San Silvan') will play their brand new studio album "Mistral" while we move mindfully and thus experience the music in a completely new way.

Welcome to a journey to a place where air and space unfold to breathe, lungs and hearts open and you suddenly begin to float. Welcome to a magical world of sound, movement, breath and stillness.

In the spirit of Maison Merula, tickets are of course based on a solidarity pricing system. The number of places is limited and all levels are welcome.

More information and tickets are available here:
www.eventfrog.ch

• • •

If you would like to stay up to date, please sign up for our Amselpost at www.maisonmerula.ch (this is the last newsletter via Crowdify).

We would be delighted to welcome you on April 5th.

We're looking forward to seeing what else happens this year. And, of course, we still hope that we might be able to build our nest in 2024. Fingers crossed.

Love
your blackbirds

Dear friends

A year ago, we were in the middle of preparing our crowdfunding, which kept us quite busy until the end of the year. This year we started looking for a location and unfortunately realised that the search for affordable commercial space in Zurich is about as difficult as the search for affordable flats.

After a few time-consuming application processes and repeated rejections, we unfortunately had to decide to let the venture rest for a moment. As life goes, we three board members suddenly faced some unforeseen changes in our private and professional lives. These have challenged us quite a bit, and still do.

We thank you very much for your understanding. It is wonderful that you, together with others, have invested in our vision for the future. The money is now resting in our association account and will be used when the time is right. Until then, the blackbird will rest a little longer and try to do good in small ways.

And as always, if you hear of an exciting, well-located and affordable place, let us know as quickly and loudly as possible. Merci!

We wish you a wonderful rest of the summer and are very much looking forward to the onward flight of our blackbird project - and sometime in the future also to a first physical meeting with all of you in our Maison Merula.

Sincerely,
your Amselis

Dear Blackbird Family

We hope that after a grey & dark morning the sun is shining a bit for you as well by now (here in Zurich it is shining through the clouds from time to time, yay)...

This week we had the chance to visit a property on Hermann-Greulich-Strasse in Zurich that is being advertised for temporary use by Dynamo-Raumbörse. It is the former Institute for Dermatology and Venereology of the Triemli Hospital. Before the building is going to be renovated from October 2024 onwards, it is now available for interim use. For people and projects that contribute to the promotion of health.

And since the promotion of mental, physical and social health is particularly close to our hearts, we sincerely hope that we have a good chance with Maison Merula. There are 3 rooms on the 2nd floor that would be absolutely perfect. A 'Traumraum', so to speak.

Now we hope. And keep our fingers crossed. But for sure many people will apply for it; and people who are under 28 years old have priority. Fair enough - we think it's a good thing to offer young people affordable workspaces.

We'll be happy to keep you posted if the interim use works out. And now, keep your fingers crossed with us!

We wish you a wonderful rest of Sunday and send our love.

Your blackbirds

PS: If you want to take a look at our application dossier, check out our story on Instagram :) -> www.instagram.com

Dear blackbird family - we hope you've had a fantastic start to the new year? It's almost beginning to feel a bit like spring. At least during the day, when the sun is shining in the blue sky and the temperatures are bearable for a few hours. Or when birds are chirping again early in the morning. So we too are slowly returning from our winter hibernation.

What's next? Exactly; house hunting. Our blackbird needs a nest. Anyone a bit familiar with Züri knows how difficult it is to find a place to live here. And unfortunately, we've had to realise in the last few months that things are not much better when it comes to finding affordable commercial space.

In September 22 we last applied for a property. It was in a great location between Lochergut and Idaplatz - and AFFORDABLE (2800.-/month). Unfortunately, it didn't work out then - and since, hardly anything similarly interesting has come our way. Although Covid has freed up a lot of office space, it is still ...welll... office space. And often in districts 1 + 2 with rents from 10,000.-/month upwards.

But who knows; maybe one of you has good relations to the city administration? Or to housing cooperatives? Maybe you'll see, hear or smell something in the next few weeks that could fit the bill? It could also be something more alternative. Maybe an old garage, a fire station, a pub, a ballet school, a flower shop?

Of course we will keep our eyes open as well. And we'll be happy to tell you more as soon as something happens on the location front.

Best wishes - and take some time tomorrow to blink into the blue sky and enjoy the sun on your face. The first signs of spring feel soooo good.

Your blackbirds

Dear Blackbird Family

I hope you had a wonderful Christmas surrounded by your loved ones.

We used the time after the crowdfunding to produce and send out the goodies - by now they should all have arrived at their boosters. If you are still waiting for your goodie, please let us know; in this case probably something went wrong with the post...

I was out walking with my family at Christmas. In a neighbour’s garden I discovered the rusty plaque leaning against a tree and the words on it touched me. After having invested the last months mainly in the future of Maison Merula, I want to use the next few weeks consciously to live in the present and to enjoy every single moment as a precious gift. I allow myself a little time out. Let my soul dangle and recharge with new inspiration. Take time for conversations and stories, deliberately choosing the slowest route, looking as little as possible at my mobile phone and as often as possible at smiling faces.

Because if you enjoy the present, you’ll have a wonderful past in the future.

This is what I wish you with all my heart for the new year: lots of moments of pausing, of perceiving, of being fully present. Moments full of joy and contentment, however brief and fleeting they may be. Because if we experience these moments with full awareness, we carry them with us into the future like a precious treasure.

My heart is full of happiness and gratitude for everything I was able to experience through this crowdfunding. Apart from the fantastic initial sum that came together, what remains are all the wonderful encounters and exchanges with old acquaintances and new like-minded people. I look forward to welcoming you all to our nest very soon.

Enjoy the end of the year, take a few minutes to look back on the past year and be grateful for all the beautiful things that the year has brought along with all the difficulties.

From the bottom of my heart, I wish you a happy and fulfilled new year and the gift of being able to enjoy the present.

With love,
Fabienne from Maison Merula

Dear Blackbird Family

It got a little quiet around Maison Merula - but we are not in hibernation yet ;)... We are working hard on your goodies and slowly the first deliveries of our partners are arriving (like the delicious sparkling wine from NIRO on the picture here).

Speaking of goodies, here's some good news: for a short time, some of them will be available on Crowdify again! YAY! For example a wonderful organic olive oil, amazing lavender eye pillows, our cool cotton bag, memberships etc. - maybe you can find the one or other Christmas present for someone?

In the last few weeks and days we have been receiving questions like "have you found a place yet?" "How is Maison Merula doing?" "Are you already renovating?". We are honoured and delighted by your great interest! However, we have to inform you that probably not much will happen until next spring (apart from the production of goodies, which is in full swing ;). This is for the simple reason that we have to take care of our daily jobs and other obligations for a while, before we can focus on the realisation of our blackbird's nest again. We thank you for your understanding and look forward all the more when we can continue full of energy in 2023.

In order to bridge the gap, we are planning a special yoga class in Zurich on Sunday 11 December at 5 p.m.: to calm down and recharge in the midst of the pre-Christmas stress. Everyone gives as much as they like - the proceeds of the class will be donated in full to a charitable organisation. And who knows, there might even be a cup of mulled wine waiting for you after the class ;)... You can sign up at hello@maisonmerula.ch. We are looking forward to a lovely, contemplative Sunday evening and to doing something good together with you.

Have a wonderful start into the week, despite the grey drizzle!

Warmly
Your blackbirds

Dear Blackbird Family

Just under a week ago, our crowdfunding came to an end. We're still overwhelmed by what we have achieved with your support! 178 boosters - this number makes us extra happy. That's one-hundred-and seventy-eight people who believe in our vision. And that is incredibly beautiful.

Today we would like to tell you where we are right now and how we intend to continue with Maison Merula. This is a particularly personal text today...

First of all, we would like to answer a question that comes up again and again: do you already have a place? Can we visit you already? The answer is "no" - Maison Merula does not yet physically exist. We have yet to find the space where our vision can take shape.

But first things first: the crowdfunding is done and so, especially for Fabienne, the initiator of the project, three intensive months come to an end, during which she worked almost exclusively for it. What a ride! Although Crowdify warned us in advance, we underestimated the effort quite a bit. The campaign was great fun - and yet almost everything else just fell behind. But it doesn't matter: the effort was more than worth it and we are very, very happy!

Fabienne will now devote more time to her self-employed work until the end of the year and Senâ and Pascal are busy with their permanent jobs. But don't worry; the Zurich blackbird is not a migratory bird - we're here to stay and next we'll get to work on producing the goodies. So that we can get them all out to you before Christmas. For a little Maison Merula Magic under the Christmas tree. So there's a bit more to do and we're really looking forward to being able to say THANK YOU again in a different form with the goodies.

After that, the crowdfunding phase will be over and Maison Merula will go into hibernation for a short while. Not because we lack drive, but simply because Fabienne manages a lot on her own and has learned to look after her resources after 17 years in film and advertising. Because 15-hour working days should no longer be normal. And because we are only human and breaks are important. And you know: with Maison Merula we want to consciously slow things down, reduce stress, make everything a little more humane and real.

With Maison Merula we want to create something that lasts. Something that can grow slowly, organically and sustainably. Something that will still bring us and you joy many years from now. So it's not about how quickly everything is ready - but how long it will last. Sustainability, here too. We don't want to prove anything to anyone, we don't want to be cool and hip and "the next big thing" in Zurich. We want to make a sustainable change and contribution, and that takes time. That's why we thank you for your understanding. And we would love for you to join us in counteracting the pressure of society, all the fakery on social media and the enormous speed of our times. Thank you for allowing us to communicate honestly with you.

The crowdfunding was an important first step. Also because we wanted to see how our idea would be received and whether there would be any interest at all. And wow were we surprised! So many people have written to us with positive feedback - and many have already approached us with initial ideas for their own courses etc. at Maison Merula. We can hardly wait until we can start our programme together with you.

The first share of the funding for the start-up phase has been raised. Now the goodies will be produced - and after that we will start looking for a place where we can build our nest. We are not actively looking at the moment. Simply because we lack the resources and want to take our time for each individual step. But in the new year we will take off full of energy!

Of course, we will keep our eyes and ears open and would be happy if you would do the same. Keep spreading the word: Maison Merula is looking for a place to stay. We'll be in touch with you in more detail in the next few days. But the text here is already too long - if you have stuck it out until now: chapeau. It's nice to know that there are still people who don't just skim through the text, but take the time to read it.

We sincerely wish you a wonderfully slow weekend and look forward to embarking on this journey together with you. With the end of the campaign, everything is really just getting started. Slowly but surely.

Best wishes
Your blackbirds

Dear boosters, dear blackbird family - we made it! And how! Yesterday our crowdfunding came to an end and we could burst with happiness and joy: We're crowdified!

45 days, 178 good souls who have supported and believed in us and a sensational CHF 22'226.- that was raised. Absolutely incredible, we are speechless.

T H A N K Y O U .
T H A N K Y O U .
T H A N K Y O U .

The last few weeks have been incredibly intense and exciting and it will take another day or two, maybe three, until we've fully processed everything :)...

We can't wait to shake your hands, give you a hug, smile at you and say THANK YOU in person... But we'll have to wait a little longer before we can welcome you to our blackbird's nest.

All the more reason for us to stay in touch with each other on other channels. We're happy to keep you up to date about the next steps here on Crowdify. If you like, you can also sign up for the "Amselpost" newsletter on our website www.maisonmerula.ch . Or follow us on www.instagram.com www.facebook.com or www.linkedin.com - we'll also post updates there from time to time.

We met last night to toast you and us. ALL OF US. This wonderful community of like-minded people who like to do good.

So CHEERS - to each and every one of you! With your support, you have all helped to raise a large part of the initial capital for Maison Merula through crowdfunding. You have all contributed to the creation of a space in Zurich that promotes open, honest exchange, real encounters and personal development. A room to bloom. A space that can be used in a variety of ways, in which, together with you, a programme can be created that brings us all a little closer together. We look forward to bring Maison Merula to life together with you.

You are amazing.

We wish you a joyful, happy start into the new week.

Feel embraced and celebrate with us!
Best wishes,
Senâ, Pascal and Fabienne

PS: It took us about 73 attempts to get a halfway successful photo... Well. But that's it: Maison Merula is supposed to be honest and real. The joy was somehow just too overwhelming to remain serious. Dear friends: we love you! And at the opening of Maison Merula, we take an equally unsuccessful but very happy photo with all of you. 178 + 3 beaming faces. We're looking forward to it!

Dear Blackbird Family

There are only 2 days left now until the end of our campaign. The last 43 days have been incredibly intense and quite a rollercoaster of emotions... THANK YOU for all the highs and for making us somehow always going upwards on this magical rollercoaster!

It's almost over now and we are incredibly happy for what we’ve achieved up to this point together with you. Soooo wonderful! 💛

If you know of any people who also wanted to support us and have forgotten again or haven't yet gotten around to it: now would be the ideal time to nudge them again. The crowdfunding ends on Sunday at 12 noon.

The sky is the limit - we are excited to see how many more good souls we can inspire for our project until Sunday and how high and far the blackbird will fly until then...

Thank you for your wonderful support on the way up to here. We love you very, very much!

Big hug
your excited blackbirds

Yesterday our hearts did somersaults, flickflacks and jumped for joy. And we jumped with them. We cracked the 20,000 franc mark! And all thanks to YOU. Unbelievable how many people believe in Maison Merula – and what we have achieved together with all of you!

DANKE! THANK YOU! MERCI! GRAZIE! GRAZCHA FICH!

We were sitting comfortably and unsuspectingly in a café yesterday when suddenly the first congratulatory messages arrived. In total disbelief we checked Crowdify and could hardly believe our eyes. Yesterday morning we were still at 97% – and suddenly, bang-bang, there's a three-digit number! 100%! And thus the great relief and joy: everything that is raised on Crowdify will from now on definitely go to Maison Merula.

Some good soul, who unfortunately wanted to remain anonymous, boosted us to 100% yesterday with a boost of exactly CHF 154. We would love to thank you personally... So dear, mysterious, generous, unknown booster; if you are reading this, please get in touch with us. You made us such a huge gift yesterday!

Now we have 5 days, 23 hours, 56 minutes and 12 seconds left until the campaign on Crowdify expires. Enough time to reach even more people, to excite them about our project and to raise money for it. Please continue to help us! You are all doing so great.

For the remaining few days, here's what we will do:

* * *

THE GOOD CAUSE CHALLENGE

For each additional CHF 1000 we raise, we will donate 10% to a charitable organisation. The booster who pushes us over the next threshold with his/her contribution determines where the donation goes. In addition, he/she will receive a exquisite bottle of wine from us, which we will deliver personally.

The countdown is on – let's give it all again for the final sprint :)!

* * *

From the bottom of our hearts we would like to say THANK YOU. Thank you to all those who have supported, pushed, comforted, motivated, challenged and helped us up to this point. Without you, none of this would be possible. We are deeply touched.

Sincerely
Your blackbirds Fabienne, Senâ & Pascal (who are still a bit dizzy from all the joyful jumping)

Oh happy Monday: We just reached 91% of the set target amount! Obviously, this is a great way to start a new week ;)!

But we're also a bit nervous: there are only 13 days, 0 hours, 19 minutes and 36 seconds left until the crowdfunding ends.

Every now and then we are asked whether the targeted amount of CHF 20,000 is enough to bring Maison Merula to life. We take the answer from a some German song lyrics from 1996: «Ja klar, äh nein, ich mein – jein…» (Yeah sure, uh no, I mean - yeaahnoo…).

Depending on the property, we are expecting initial costs of about CHF 40-50,000. We will therefore invest part of it ourselves. However, we have deliberately not set the target amount on Crowdify too high. If we don't reach CHF 20,000, all the money will go back to the donors. But there is no limit to how much we can raise in total; everything that exceeds the target amount goes to Maison Merula - and thus back to the community.

The more money we raise through the crowdfunding, the sooner we can get started with the realisation of Maison Merula and the more beautiful, sustainable, fair, colourful and affordable everything can become.

In order for us to really take off, we need YOU again :)! Will you help us to motivate even more people for our project?

Share the project link www.crowdify.net with all your friends: write personal emails and Whatsapp messages, post stories on Instagram and Facebook with the link and a personal text from you, tell your colleagues about us over lunch and help to inspire as many people as possible for our project.

We are forever grateful and look forward to growing the Blackbird family together with you. Yay, let's do this!

All the best & have a great start into the week
your blackbirds


PS: Of course, a part of the final amount will be used for the production costs of the goodies and 3% fees will go to Crowdify. So let's reach for the stars, in order to leave as much as possible for Maison Merula ;)!

Dear blackbird family - despite the rainy weather, the corners of our mouths are pointing wayyy upwards today! We've got reason to smile, as our project has just hit the 3/4 mark! Ueppaaaaa, that is sooooo fantastic! Of course YOU have contributed significantly to this. So THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU.

To make sure that the corners of your mouth are pointing upwards today as well, we have a little surprise for you. Tadaaa: here's a film with everything that went wrong during the shooting of our campaign video. Yep, a lot of things went wrong.. But it was fun nevertheless. Best have a look for yourself...

Slowly but steadily and with a lot of heart: We only have 17 days left to reach the target amount - or even better - to shoot far beyond it. So please keep telling everyone you meet about our project and motivate them to do something good together with us. Thank you.

We sincerely wish you a happy Thursday and hope that our video brings a smile to your face.

With much love,
your Maison Merula team

108 people have already supported us financially and shown us a whole lot of love since the campaign started.

This is making us so happy, we could hug the whole world!

As a thank you, we would like to give something back to our boosters and are therefore planning a special yoga class.

—

Sunday 2 October 2022 * 17:00-18:30

YANG TO YIN
with Fabienne Marcolin at Yoga Studio Zurich

We start the class with a meditative breathing exercise, then move into a powerful flow and end the class with soothing yin asanas that bring body and mind into a state of complete relaxation.

The class is also perfectly suitable for beginners.

There is also a little surprise gift waiting for you on the mat.

The spots in the studio are unfortunately limited; first come first serve :)... If you're interested, we can also stream the class via Zoom.

Please sign up by sending an email to hello@maisonmerula.ch

We are looking forward to a wonderfully relaxed, soothing evening with you.

—

We are currently at 73% of our target amount on Crowdify. You have contributed significantly to this. THANK YOU! You give us wings!

In order to reach the remaining 27%, we would be very happy if you could tell the whole world about our project and encourage a few friends and relatives to join us :)...

Happy weekend, dear blackbird family.
We love you all!

Two weeks have passed since we launched our crowdfunding. It's just amazing what has happened in that time! 81 people have already financially supported our vision.

Your support shows us how far you can come when you step hand in hand in the same direction. US - WE - together we can achieve so much!

At the moment, the boosts on Crowdify have stalled a bit, which may have something to do with the fact that everyone in our immediate circle has already boosted.

That's why we have a tiny request or challenge for you today... Can you inspire at least two people to support Maison Merula by Monday :)?

A study says that people are particularly generous on Fridays - so why not ask your colleagues at lunch if anyone would like to support a good cause? Or tonight at the after-work beer? But also use the weekend; maybe you are at a party, meeting family, going hiking with friends etc. - tell everyone about us and share the link to our Crowdify page.

We thank you from the bottom of our hearts; your boosts and your messages inspire us, encourage us and give us energy! 31 days to go... Whoop, whoop - we can do it!

Love,
your blackbirds

Unbelievable - our project has just been boosted to over 60%! What a fantastic start into the new week...

We are over the moon and full of gratitude and believe us: our hearts are beating insanely loud and insanely fast right now.

You are absolutely amazing! ❤️

Of course we would always like to thank all our supporters personally, but many want to stay anonymous and we have no idea where the generous boosts are coming from.

Maybe we can reach you this way: heartfelt thanks for giving us wings, for believing in us and for all the fast heartbeats you are causing us.

Here's to a new, successful week in which we'll continue to do a lot of good to each other.

Sincerely,
Your blackbirds

Dear supporters

What great news on this Monday morning: only three days after the start of the campaign, we have already raised the first third! Unbelievable... And that's thanks to YOU! Thanks to all of you who have so generously supported us so far.

MERCI - MERCI - MERCI!

Now our crowdfunding officially starts into the first week and we hope that from now on word will spread outside our own circle of friends.

Of course you can also contribute to this! Copy the project link www.crowdify.net into your Facebook, Whatsapp or Instagram status or write an email or text message with the link to all your friends and family and tell them about our project.

And since most of you probably have to go back to work today, be sure to tell all your colleagues about it during the lunch break. And your bosses! Together we can still achieve sooo much.

We would also like to take this opportunity to thank the two anonymous supporters who so generously donated CHF 500 each! We would have loved to thank you personally. Since you wish to remain anonymous, we would like to thank you in this way: You are absolutely fantastic and your support brings a huge smile to our faces. THANK YOU!

In this spirit; have a wonderful start into the new week and tell the world about Maison Merula ;-)...

Happy Monday,
your blackbirds