On the train home Friday evening, it was delivered into my instagram feed, a beautiful invitation to participate and a collection of measuring.
An artist had started with blank walls and a simple invitation to have your height measured. A simple line of a sharpe marker above your head, a dash of black against the white box walls with your name and the date it was recorded. The story of the work is beautifully told. I listened to it silently reading the transcribed words. The 16:28 Rosslare diesel train mechanically rattling and ruffing, passengers boarding. Darts pulling in and out. People bumping into acquaintances, phone calls, rustling paper, straws and slurps of iced coffee as the train filled up getting ready to go.
The artists who name I have not attended to, they state this work could not have been made without you.
It’s so much of the work I had been attending in the last three days, I am surprised at how meaningful this algorithmic feedback was.
A man folds up a green bicycle, way too happy with himself, as my train chugs out of the station. South homeward bound.
How was your week? One word check-in, I’ll share first to model what I mean:
filling
Your turn now…
These are my notes from the week that’s just been, I write them without AI as a way to navigate 2025. I have structured them as reflection, insights, a question for you, resources and a view to next week. The structure has become a little too rigid for me in part because I am sensing into and enjoying a more storytelling looser format. I am currently resisting changing it.
Reflection
Why? Partly because I changed the structure a few weeks ago and I know from professional expertise when you set up a process it’s good to
1. Test it
2. When you want to change something commit to trialling it for 2-6 weeks keep the change, reject it, revert or trial something new
3. Don’t change lots of things at once, give them time to settle in, embed them.
Then also rules are made up, in this case I’ve made all the rules so I’m only holding myself to account. Or are you the reader also holding me to account?
Dublin was bright and sunny this week, the Liberties and the Digital Hub were the centring and location of the work. A co-design project kicking off.
I got so much joy from the work, meeting new people, being somewhere different, doing co-design as a learning, embodied regenerative practice. I trusted myself, I was present and attended to what was required. I’d love to share so much about the work, how it went so well, how certain things just worked. How we got to work with some from the community. We are using a tin opener as a metaphor and it seems apt.
I used a lot of spaciousness the first morning so the core team could get to know each other, not everyone was there. The complexity of busy diaries. How to bring people in the core team into the work who might be not there all the time was a topic that developed, we explored and tested some ideas out. Our team agreements, the agenda for how we spent time, attending to individual and group needs to deliver the work plus developing our contract further established the container for good work.
An early research safari, going out 20 minute radius walk on Francis and Meath Street was surprisingly fruitful in diverse results and approaches. Mapping the as is made a significant part of the system visible, allowing it to change early and introducing emergent possibilities.
I want to respect its confidential and the container of that work is important. We spent a fair amount of time establishing the boundaries and attending to being in right relationship.
I’ve awareness that some of the work needs more distilling, I’ll be editing a project distilling note tomorrow.
Insight
Co-design is designing with not at, if lived experience is not part of the team co-designing – you are not doing co-design don’t say you are.
Slowing down to listen, making time to connect, prioritising relationships, I mean stopping.
Stop. Just for a minute.
The importance of creating a different rhythm, purposeful to create connection, have conversations and listen in different ways. That’s a lot of what I was holding, opening, opening to each other.
Building spaciousness into the day, into the schedule, into connection, into the work was what I was weaving. I was consciously holding back from designing pushing forward, holding the forming container to bring emergent possibilities with co-design. Gosh we are just getting started and I’m totally excited for that 4 day onsite work the last week in May.
I came home from being away and went to stand in quiet spaces in the garden, the young crab apple tree surrounded by guelder rose on the other side of the garden to my Crann Fia Úll, down at the end of the row of alders where there is evidence of wild beasts making pathways through the garden.
I noticed, quietly listening, paying attention, being.
While away I’d looked out for meeting trees and noticing green spaces in Dublin 8 and the city centre. I sat the morning before our in person kick off, gathering my thoughts and absorbing the biophilia effect.
Some years ago after reading about biophilia the word terpenes stood out. At Bealtine when the trees are new into leaf the energetic feel good exchange walking or sitting under and among trees is noticeable.
“terpenes from the forest air, derived from trees, significantly increase our immune function and our natural anti-cancer-mechanisms, such as the immune proteins perforine, granulysine and granzymes” book link in resources.
In processing and integrating the work of the retreat 2 weeks ago and the last 3 days in Dublin, there is a clarity about my ways of work. My value and principle of care at the core. Aligning regenerative systems design with adaptive problems.
In turn this resonates with where I am today and the process of integration not as closure but as holding complexity with care.
I have worked on different ways to invite people to introduce themselves over the years, modelling my own introduction in different settings as “ I am the steward of 18 oaks”. My new framing question, which I’ll share next week works very well, even when people have heard it a few times it seems to be an invite to be more present. I did notice it works if participants can be present to the question. But when they cannot be present to the question it supplies me with further information and informs me the direction of the work in the room.
With my own reflection and composting practices listening, attending to listening and presence has come up very strongly.
A question for you?
When was the last time you felt someone gave you their full undivided attention in a work or other professional environment? Caveat where you were not paying that person to listen.
Resources
The Biophilia Effect: Exploring the Healing Power of Nature – article, 14 page sample of the book from Sounds True.
Walk in our shoes, Liberties Walking Tour if you are in Dublin even if you think you know the Liberties go do one of these tours, it was excellent. Run as a social enterprise it was entertaining, layered with historical, political, cultural and economic references. Anthony our tour guide knew a lot of people we passed by, he is a sculptor, bee keeper, gardener and local.
Yoyu is a Japanese noun, shared by Orlagh O’Brien this week, I’m loving the idea of its broad meaning. Wondering is there an Irish word equivalent.
A view to next week
I have very little in my diary over the next two weeks and am open to work.
I have some follow up on the D8 Co-design work, attending to some business development, that sounds busy. Don’t be fooled I’ve lots of capacity.
If you need support on anything, strategic design, facilitation or fractal business management (business planning, programme development, PMO, emergency or crisis management for projects, governance) let me know the next 2 weeks are light + from mid June I’m available.
Have a great week.
Roisin Markham 
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