Two Inconvenient Women

Humans are a social species by design, with an inbuilt need to be with others, whilst qualities of care and kindness are innate in us all. Many of us are, however, living in a hyper-individualised world which encourages us to 'other' and separate from our communities, creating a culture of segregation and loneliness. In response, tides are turning across the world, as more and more people choose t...

Self-care gets a bad wrap. It's often at the very bottom of our agenda, seen sometimes as self-indulgent - selfish even. And yet being aware of ourselves, being present in our emotions and actions, being kind and caring to our own needs is far from selfish. When we tend to our selves - the analogy of the 'oxygen mask first' we are able to better support others, as we are more resourced and resilie...

For reasons known and written about by many, there's been a shift over time which has enabled 'learning' within educational contexts to be mainly focused on the head and often ignoring the heart or the hands. With a knowledge-saturated curriculum and a mainstream structure built around sitting down at desks and absorbing information, we're recognising the absence of a holistic focus for many of th...

In a world that glorifies busyness, rest can feel inconvenient—even rebellious. But what happens when we stop doing and simply allow ourselves to be? This episode explores rest as resistance against the belief that worth is tied to productivity. What happens when we slow down? Who benefits when we pause? And how might reclaiming rest help us build a healthier, more human way of living? This week's...

The Inconvenience of Joy “I will never apologise for embracing joy and beauty - even when the world is falling apart – for joy and beauty are the fuel for my activism”.  These words by Karen Walrond are one of the inspirations for this week’s conversation on 'Joy', exploring how cultivating joy is both a way to resource ourselves and build the resilience needed to meet the challenges of our w...

The world is feeling a very broken place right now, with all that is erupting out of the Middle East, and with continued suffering across the world. When we do engage in conversations about what is happening, we often find ourselves sidetracked into the dance of moral outrage and the opportunity for a conversation is lost. And yet simple human connection sits at the heart of all that we're yearnin...

We talk a lot about change but living through it is something else entirely. Change is the only constant, and yet change can feel deeply uncomfortable - fearful at times - and not necessarily something that many of us openly embrace. In a world constantly talking about the need for change, systems-change and changemakers, there is a deep energy of possibility in this invitation - and a deep necess...

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...

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. Hoste...

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 signifi...

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 ‘leader...

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...

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 inclusio...

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...

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 ash...

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...

The word activism tends to bring up very specific connotations for people, yet has incredible depth, nuance and possibility – especially in our modern culture, where evermore people are recognising the need to speak up against some of the things we see happening around us. In this conversation we dive into the role of activism in our lives and work, and reflect on some of the different ways to be...

Wellbeing is a 'trendy term' nowadays; something that organisations know they must support in their colleagues; something top of the agenda in our schools and something we all know matters in our own lives, yet something rarely given space, time or validity in our modern culture of productivity. In this week's podcast, we dive headfirst into the truly inconvenient inconvenience of wellbeing, looki...

What is the difference between nature contact and nature connection? What does it mean to have a relationship with nature? And why - for some - is the notion that 'we are nature' so difficult to welcome? In the second part of this exploration on the inconvenience of nature connection, we dive deep into the nuances between moments when we're 'using' nature for our own needs compared to when we're s...

In many modern cultures, we find ourselves spending ever more time indoors, sitting down and separated from nature - both the nature within us and the nature all around us. At the same time, we're drawn to want to spend time outdoors and in natural environments, and we have a deep sense of ease when connected to nature. So why is it so hard? In this week's episode, we explore the inconvenience of...

It's one thing to be brazenly hypocritical but it's another thing entirely when you're having to unwillingly be a hypocrite. And yet so often in our current context we find ourselves faced with impossible choices that mean we have to take actions that completely misalign with our positive intentions. Why? Because our cultural stories as they stand limit so many of the choices we make whilst life i...

In the final of this 'triplet' of podcasts, Holly and Rachel are this week talking about the inconvenience of systems thinking. From the very get-go at ThoughtBox, we've had systems thinking as one of the three pillars of our work to encourage a deeply relational experience of the world (Thinking, Feeling, Connecting) by connecting with others, connecting with the wider world, and feeling deeply c...

In the second of this 'triplet' of podcasts, Holly and Rachel are this week talking about the inconvenience of empathy. Empathy is a muscle, something that we can strengthen the more we practice. Yet the spaces and places where empathy is developed, practised and actively encouraged in our dominant societies are dwindling, whilst at the same time it is a skill being championed as foundational for...

In this week’s episode of Two Inconvenient Women, Holly and Rachel talk about the inconvenience of critical thinking – for many reasons, one being its growing absence in our schools, despite the fact that leading reports into future-fit education all concur that it is a foundational skill needed for our changing world. From the very get-go at ThoughtBox, we've had critical thinking as one of the t...

In many cultures around the world, we are entering a new calendar year and with that often comes a sense of renewal, hope and possibility. But where does hope sit in a world that seems so overwhelmingly fraught with problems? What place do 'resolutions' or 'good intentions' have in our lives when facing so many obstacles? How can we reclaim hope from being seen as something ephemeral and return it...