It was when my face started to drip like an unclosed tap while weeding around the courgettes that I thought ok time to hide from the sun. By the way that vegetable bed is as dry as a ditch. Around the garden we are seeing yellowing of leaves, leaf drop of trees and shrubs, it looks like I’m going to loose some young beech and hawthorn plants. So here I am taking time indoors in the hottest part of the day. Where we call home it’s be super hot for us, where have you been during this heat? We live by the coast there is always a cooling breeze. Except when it’s +25 degrees centigrade and there is no breeze. The last time it was hot was 5 years ago we suspect it’s even hotter today.
Welcome to week 28 of 52 weeks, if you are a regular, heyho how’s ’bout ya? If it’s your first time stopping by hope you enjoy the read. You might like to read some previous posts also. I’ve committed to write a weekly studio note for myself in 2025. They started mostly about work and then life bits leeched in and that is as it needs to be. My life and work blend, except when I’m swimming then it’s just about mostly being in the sea. From that last sentence you might note that no AI would ever write that. I don’t use AI to write or harvest these studio notes. My weekly practice here is to help me get better at writing and create space for reflection, insights, a question for you, resources and a view to the week ahead. The resources are a mixture of things I have found interesting or useful for my work.
Reflection
Since the beginning of 2025 I have been saving every link I click. As part of this reflection I go back through them. Making notes on some and organising others. I tried doing this for years on internet search engine bookmarkers but I never found a workable system. Information that’s searchable and easily retrievable is important. But what about fact checking? It there a good process or app for that, what are you using?
I am interested in a lot of things and keep track of a broad range of topics, sectors and interests.
Business is quiet at the moment. I am looking around for work, people are in summer mode. I’m trying to balance that with enjoying summer, working in the garden and moving things on in our home. It’s a tricky one.
Small bits of clients work moving along. But very small bits I’d hoped I was landing something big last Monday but I was not successful and that came with a main portion of disappointment. I had been led to believe I was going to be successful. Hence my outbursts across some of my socials. That’s my version of an outburst, creative no audio.
All three of our sons were home to celebrate a family event Wednesday which was lovely.
Lots of ups and downs last week. Sin é.
Volunteering on updating Wexford Environmental Networks website has been good, there are some further blogs to post about recent events, a page for Our Lady’s Island Campaign and to post our groups Wexford County Council Biodiversity submission. Several of us us put hard graft into that so it will be good to share it.
I also have been having some strong network of network type meetings connecting to others and connecting people together. They have been bringing me a lot of joy.
Did you see my two magpie joy post during the week?
I’ve spent time last week assimilating. Processing, clearing out two bookshelves, drawing, thinking, making notes. Tidying thoughts, pruning and getting ready to write. That in itself is an interesting process.
My notes from earlier in the week offered me this cryptic gem, I woke up thinking it one morning “not for me the penchant mnemonic child?” I’m including it in my notes this week as it’s useful that not everything makes sense immediately.
I finally finished reading How to fall in love with the Future by Rob Hopkins, it’s an easy accessible read, highly recommend it. It makes so much sense.
Leave it around for your teens to read and read it as a bed time story to your smallies if you have them. Talk about it, share the case studies and. Till at examples of where the future is already here.
The world so needs this book. Rob, thanks for writing it.
I was rather chuffed to see my name in the book to!
Insight
What if it’s not the work itself but the quality of the connections between the work that strengthens the underlying cause and effect of shifting to the new?
In understanding that how do we attend to those connections? What if we consciously cared for those relationships and grew them because they are the strength of the change?
This is the opportunity to be in right relationship with each other, the space between us and the space between us and all other beings including the river, the mountain and the thistle.
Story Clare, Clare Murphy my wonderful friend told this story last week on her insta and it just seems relevant to share it. It will explain that phrase “right relationship’
From my notes last Monday… this needs further refining and fleshing out but it’s a convergence from several projects on adaptive challenges and how to save €26billion by 2030.
“deliberately designing system states… which means entering radical uncertainty.. and completely unlearning how we work so we can relearn how to design in adaptive systems”
Roisin Markham
By interrogating a topic do we understand it more fully to satisfy an intrinsic or external need? Do I live with questions deeply so I can inform others or so I can move on? Do I resolve the question or just satisfy a certain curiosity?
Along with doing the deep research work to understand, for me I have to test it, ideas & frameworks, approaches. If they work then scaling them, sharing them as generously as possible so they can grab hold. Supporting people to be in action. That’s all important and in the mix.
I’d planned to start drawing some outlines or topic summaries that underpin this question I’ve been living with. My brain has resisted that. Now I have a hybrid sketch of sorts, I’ve a lot more brain dumping to do to arrive at what the container is for what I think at the very least a series of articles, videos or perhaps a book on a future worth living into. Who knows where this element of exploration and creative enquiry will end up perhaps it will be co-created via Tiktok reels!
A question for you
How can I be of service?
Resources
We need raw awe, In this tech-vexed age, our life on screens prevents us from experiencing the mysteries and transformative wonder of life by Kirk Schneider.
Actionism more on this soon.
The Circular Economy: Far More Than Just Recycling, Sinead Moodie, a good explanation.
Burkina Faso: President Ibrahim Traoré’s agricultural vision for food self-sufficiency
The Future Of Health On A Damaged Planet Noēma Magazine
A view to the week ahead
It will start with a sunrise coffee and swim. I hope it’s a good one.
Client facing work in Dublin Thursday, on Circular thinking. It’s a workshop I developed last year. I’m looking forward to delivering it again. I’ve a small bit of preparation work for the session and to confirm a few things with the client.
Finalising artefacts and renaming them to support the Co-Design Playbook.
RFQ to think about and respond to.
Progressing my container for 5 years research, work & thinking.
Let’s see what happens this week. I am open to something wonderful happening!
Have a great week.
Roisin Markham 
Leave a comment