Two Inconvenient Women

We've all probably experienced the feeling at some point in our lives where we're talking to someone and know that they are just pretending to listen. The feeling of disconnect that this creates within us may be subtle but it's felt. Listening is a gift - when we give our full attention, we are in presence and attentive to anything that may emerge. And yet, in many of our modern cultures, the art of listening is a dying act whilst silence is endangered species. Learning to listen to ourselves, to each other and to the wider world is a practice we can all inhabit and a hugely rich and deep way of forming seen and unseen connections with ourselves and the world.In this week's podcast, we talk about the inconvenience of listening, what it means to truly listen; why listening is so hard and what happens on a cellular level when we gift another person our full attention.In this conversation we reference the following:The Listening Project - ThoughtBox (downloadable resources)The Listening Book - Robin Ticic, Elise Kushner and Bruce Ecker (book)Listening Abyss (image and concept)Interpersonal Neurobiology - Dr Dan Siegel (website)Silence & the presence of everything - Gordon Hempton (On Being podcast)His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman (book series)The Name of the Wind - Patrick Rothfuss (book)

Holly is away this week, so we thought we'd re-share our very first episode of the Two Inconvenient Women podcast where we held a conversation about what it means to be "inconvenient", why talking about some of these inconveniences that get in the way of life flourishing is so important and how to 'be inconvenient' in a society that isn't set up for us to be healthy, resourced and connected.

If you ask a child to draw a tree, most likely it will be a green circle plopped on top of a brown vertical oblong (with a lot more artistic flavour involved, obviously). Similarly, when most people think of trees, we tend to think of them from the trunk up. But the reality is that there’s as much tree ‘below ground’ as there is above. As well as supporting us to breathe, trees play a huge significance in our lives and in maintaining and supporting the health and wellbeing of ecosystems. Did you know that trees secretly talk to each other, supported by mycelium in the soil which forms an invisible mycorrhizal network in the soil. And that is only the beginning of research emerging into the secret lives of trees and all they have to teach us about supporting the health and wellbeing of our community. And yet our relationship with trees is one of great contradiction - seeing trees as a commodity as well as something to revere and protect. This week, we're exploring the inconvenience of trees, thinking about what we can learn from trees and how can we bring some of this invisible wisdom into our lives and communities. In this episode, we reference the following:The Overstory - Richard Powers (book)How trees secretly talk to each other - BBC (video)Suzanne Simard - ecologist (website)Entangled Life - Merlin Sheldrake (book)Sycamore Gap Tree (website)Temperate Rainforest restoration, Devon (campaign)Wilding - Isabella Tree (book / film)Rachel's tattoo (image)Holly's Tree pit (image)Transforming Leadership Course - ThoughtBox (online course)

What does it mean to lead when you don’t know where you’re going? Now, more than ever, the future feels very uncertain – foggy even, and the role of leadership needs to transform to meet the fog. Too often, traditional leadership roles are modelled around a hierarchy based on outcome and – to a large degree – certainty. So what happens when we return to the roots of the meaning of the word ‘leadership’ and look to nature for guidance on how to be resilient and resourced for the future? In this week's episode, we reflect on the invisible work, relational depth and regenerative rhythms of leadership that often go unrecognised in a world hooked on outcomes. We dive into what a nature-led leadership looks like, learning from the deep wisdom and experience of the wider natural world. We explore leadership as a journey of care rather than control, shaped not by hierarchy, but by trust, relationality and the courage to journey upstream towards a healthier future for people and planet.We reference the following during the conversation:Transforming Leadership Programme (course / website)The ThoughtBox Team (website page)Simon Sinek on leadership (video)Surrounded by Idiots, Thomas Erikson (book)Insights Colour Model (website)

In many parts of the world, people find themselves trapped in cycles of business. Our lives are full to the brim and we're finding ourselves endlessly busy - suffering from an epidemic of time poverty. We have more time-saving devices than ever, but what happens to all of that time we save? There is no giant clock in the universe, and yet so many of us shape our lives around time - a concept that is an agreement, not a law. How much is time a state of mind? And what happens when we start to think about different states of time, such as slow time, deep time and long time? In this week's conversation, we unravel our relationship with time: the rush to do more, the stories we tell about our place in time and what happens when we start to slow down; exploring how reclaiming time might just be the most radical act of all.In this podcast we reference the following:How to have the time of your life - Martin Boroson (Ted Talk)Deep Time Walk (app and immersive walk)Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi - Flow States (website)Falling in love with the world - Two Inconvenient Women (podcast)The Long Time Project - Ella Saltmarshe (website / podcast)

Equality, diversity and inclusion are often seen as political issues, but at their heart this is the essence of life and the vitality of how people can live well alongside one another. Right now, in many places, these values are being rapidly dismantled and reframed as threats rather than essentials. Which contradicts everything we know about healthy ecosystems which rely on diversity and inclusion as a foundation for healthy thriving.In this week's podcast we explore why EDI matters, what happens when fear drives policy and how we can protect the beauty and essential need for diversity and difference in a world that feels increasingly divided. During the conversation, we reference the following:The Danger of a Single Story - Chimamanda Adiche (Ted Talk video)Tidy Up Team - Brighton & Hove (volunteer network)Equality and Justice - ThoughtBox (free curriculum for 5-18 years)Triple WellBeing Stories - ThoughtBox (podcast series)Watch this Sp_ce - Equality projects (website)Beyond Civilisation - Daniel Quinn (ebook)The Beat of a Different Drum - Ffyona Campbell (Book)Pop Idol versus The Choir - Conference provocation (video)

Self-care is something of a taboo in a lot of people’s minds because we’ve been made to feel guilt or shame about the idea of taking time to look after ourselves - especially when there’s so many other people, beings and problems needing our attention. Yet resourcing ourselves, strengthening our resilience and focusing on wellbeing are not just ‘nice things to do’ - they are essential actions to support anything else we may wish to do now and in the future.When we fill up our own cup, we have capacity to fill up others.  But what does it mean to resource ourselves and how can we do this? In this week’s podcast we dive into the need and process of resourcing ourselves so that we can strengthen our own sense of resilience and wellbeing in order to support the wider world around us.In this episode we reference the following:Resourcing and sustainability - Rachel Musson (Blog)

Ask any child their age and they'll happily tell you, but for adults it is a different story. In certain cultures, elders are a revered and respected part of the community, whilst in many others ageing has become something to fight against. Despite it being the most natural part of our evolution, growing older and being proud of our ageing has become something of a taboo - even something to be ashamed of. Some people also feel certain stigmas surrounding menopause, wrinkles and age - which contribute to a negative story surrounding growing old.In this week's podcast, we talk about the inconvenience of ageing, diving into what it means to be an 'elder', exploring our skewed relationship with menopause, with age and the ageing population, and how we can reclaim and celebrate the vitality and lifeforce within us which extends well beyond the physical body.In this episode, we reference the following:Born To Run - Christopher McDougall (book)Combining care homes and nurseries (article)Warning - Jenny Joseph (poem)Sam Crosby (speaker)The evolutionary reason for menopause - Dr Roy Casgranda (video)

The mention of the word spiritual tends to trigger emotional responses - for some it is welcome, for some fear or rejection, for some trepidation, for some dismissal. Seeing ourselves as connected to the web of life is natural and how we've evolved as humans, yet we are living in times of significant spiritual starvation. Whilst major religions, nature connection and other spiritual practices offer many people a deep sense of belonging in life, many folks are growing up without any spiritual connection to life, living without any sense of tethering to a story bigger than the human story, and perhaps feeling a deep sense of lostness as a result.In this week's podcast, we dive into a complex and wonderous conversation about the role of spiritual practice in our lives and cultural stories, exploring some of the blocks to spirituality as well as where we can begin to welcome simple, powerful ways to reconnect with the awe and wonder of lifeIn this conversation we refer to the following:Harry Potter and the Sacred Texts (Podcast series)The Medicine Wheel (Indigenous practice framework)Praying with Jane Eyre - Vanessa Zoltan (book)Taylor Swift and the Golden Rule - Sandy Glanfield (blog)