Brigid Russell
@brigidrussell51.bsky.social
All about working relationally, learning, listening, & coaching. Exploring how working collaboratively & leadership can develop in practice. What does it mean and what does it take to be alongside?
#SpacesForListening
#SpacesForListening
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Spaces for listening
Brigid Russell and Charlie Jones introduce Listening Spaces, the online initiative they set up jointly in lockdown (May 2020) to give people somewhere to both listen and be heard. Sessions are held tw...
www.resurgence.org
An article co-written with Charlie Jones for Resurgence & Ecologist magazine. It's about our reflections on deep listening and experiences over past 4 years or so in #SpacesForListening
www.resurgence.org/magazine/art...
www.resurgence.org/magazine/art...
Often it's the finished article that's shared publicly. The 'outcome', 'measurable impact', 'tangible justification'. Yet maybe the real value is found in the working out loud, the messiness of what it feels like, how everyone *in* it found it to be (way beyond a tidy write-up).
December 6, 2025 at 8:15 AM
Often it's the finished article that's shared publicly. The 'outcome', 'measurable impact', 'tangible justification'. Yet maybe the real value is found in the working out loud, the messiness of what it feels like, how everyone *in* it found it to be (way beyond a tidy write-up).
Thoughts branching off, maybe leading somewhere? Maybe not. Baffling complexities. Intricacies. Moments of clarity? Fleeting views of a thing. A seeming deadend? Many interweaving connections. Joy of discovery. Woe of overwhelm. It can't be bypassed or made up. It's all the work.
December 5, 2025 at 6:37 PM
Thoughts branching off, maybe leading somewhere? Maybe not. Baffling complexities. Intricacies. Moments of clarity? Fleeting views of a thing. A seeming deadend? Many interweaving connections. Joy of discovery. Woe of overwhelm. It can't be bypassed or made up. It's all the work.
That creeping sense of doom that can grip me when I scroll and how I need to remember to see beyond the clouds obscuring and listen through the raucous noise to the shared humanity and meaningful connections all of which are still there too.
December 3, 2025 at 12:12 PM
That creeping sense of doom that can grip me when I scroll and how I need to remember to see beyond the clouds obscuring and listen through the raucous noise to the shared humanity and meaningful connections all of which are still there too.
December moon in the afternoon.
December 2, 2025 at 4:24 PM
December moon in the afternoon.
Reposted by Brigid Russell
We had the 500th Spaces for Listening last week...
What's all that about?
Have a read of our blog here:
brigidrussell43.medium.com/being-here-s...
A heartfelt thanks to everyone who's come along over the last few years x
What's all that about?
Have a read of our blog here:
brigidrussell43.medium.com/being-here-s...
A heartfelt thanks to everyone who's come along over the last few years x
Being here still
A blog to mark 500 Spaces for Listening
brigidrussell43.medium.com
December 1, 2025 at 4:41 PM
We had the 500th Spaces for Listening last week...
What's all that about?
Have a read of our blog here:
brigidrussell43.medium.com/being-here-s...
A heartfelt thanks to everyone who's come along over the last few years x
What's all that about?
Have a read of our blog here:
brigidrussell43.medium.com/being-here-s...
A heartfelt thanks to everyone who's come along over the last few years x
I'm struggling to find the words. It's something about wishing there were more places in which conversations felt more real, incomplete, unfolding, empathic. Not performative, divisive, cruel, embattled, tripping the other up. It's a harsh world without more understanding spaces.
November 29, 2025 at 10:23 AM
I'm struggling to find the words. It's something about wishing there were more places in which conversations felt more real, incomplete, unfolding, empathic. Not performative, divisive, cruel, embattled, tripping the other up. It's a harsh world without more understanding spaces.
I might not have the words in the moment. What did I mean to say? What if I just don't know what to say to you? Felt clumsy, worried I'd say the 'wrong' thing? What even are the 'right' words in any case? How many of us are carrying all this unsaid stuff in the spaces in between?
November 27, 2025 at 8:32 AM
I might not have the words in the moment. What did I mean to say? What if I just don't know what to say to you? Felt clumsy, worried I'd say the 'wrong' thing? What even are the 'right' words in any case? How many of us are carrying all this unsaid stuff in the spaces in between?
So often the conclusion reached is something like "more leadership is required". Makes me curious. Is it really more "leadership"? I wonder if what's needed are more spaces for connection, and for valuing all the capabilities and ways of knowing we hold collectively between us?
November 23, 2025 at 9:46 AM
So often the conclusion reached is something like "more leadership is required". Makes me curious. Is it really more "leadership"? I wonder if what's needed are more spaces for connection, and for valuing all the capabilities and ways of knowing we hold collectively between us?
If it's all broadcast with little space for listening, inquiring, and dialogue. If it's all shouty noise with scant chance for quiet curiosity and gentle generosity. If it's all performative with no genuine connection in shared humanity. Then what really is the point?
November 22, 2025 at 8:23 AM
If it's all broadcast with little space for listening, inquiring, and dialogue. If it's all shouty noise with scant chance for quiet curiosity and gentle generosity. If it's all performative with no genuine connection in shared humanity. Then what really is the point?
So much of the work relies on bringing together our different capabilities and ways of knowing. That requires collaboration between us. Which means paying attention to valuing and nurturing our relationships. And it doesn't just happen. All this takes space & care for connection.
November 21, 2025 at 11:55 AM
So much of the work relies on bringing together our different capabilities and ways of knowing. That requires collaboration between us. Which means paying attention to valuing and nurturing our relationships. And it doesn't just happen. All this takes space & care for connection.
Reposted by Brigid Russell
Just because we all expected ‘too little, too late’, the lack of a plan and the damage caused by ‘a toxic, sexist culture’ in No 10, it doesn’t mean these points from the Covid report should wash over us. Lessons for government more generally, not just in a pandemic.
November 21, 2025 at 8:28 AM
Just because we all expected ‘too little, too late’, the lack of a plan and the damage caused by ‘a toxic, sexist culture’ in No 10, it doesn’t mean these points from the Covid report should wash over us. Lessons for government more generally, not just in a pandemic.
It is about all the parts. The deepest grief. Love that never goes away. Moments of exquisite beauty. Joyous connections. Finding a voice to say what feels meaningful, write what matters. Being here. Feeling understood and so very heard. A wintry walk in a very special place.
November 19, 2025 at 11:49 PM
It is about all the parts. The deepest grief. Love that never goes away. Moments of exquisite beauty. Joyous connections. Finding a voice to say what feels meaningful, write what matters. Being here. Feeling understood and so very heard. A wintry walk in a very special place.
A crisp, cold, sunny and beautiful wintry walk today. Snow on the hills, too.
November 19, 2025 at 4:43 PM
A crisp, cold, sunny and beautiful wintry walk today. Snow on the hills, too.
If we rush past stuff which feels heavy and scary, it won't make it go away. Churning through the content, ticking the boxes, doesn't make things more efficient or possible. We need space to share uncertainties, find nuance in that heaviness, and feel connection in solidarity.
November 17, 2025 at 7:20 PM
If we rush past stuff which feels heavy and scary, it won't make it go away. Churning through the content, ticking the boxes, doesn't make things more efficient or possible. We need space to share uncertainties, find nuance in that heaviness, and feel connection in solidarity.
The work starts long before I enter the room, in the shadows and the silences, and all the moments of noisy doubt and uncertainty. And so it continues, during, after, in the reflections unfolding, and beyond.
November 12, 2025 at 8:43 PM
The work starts long before I enter the room, in the shadows and the silences, and all the moments of noisy doubt and uncertainty. And so it continues, during, after, in the reflections unfolding, and beyond.
When so-called progress is talked about in threatening tones ('you'd better keep up or you'll be left behind'), I'm struck by the irony. It means I want to slow down, take it at my own pace, understand more about where it comes from, why (if) it represents 'progress', & to whom.
November 10, 2025 at 5:13 PM
When so-called progress is talked about in threatening tones ('you'd better keep up or you'll be left behind'), I'm struck by the irony. It means I want to slow down, take it at my own pace, understand more about where it comes from, why (if) it represents 'progress', & to whom.
Delicate moments
all the more beautiful for
being so fleeting.
all the more beautiful for
being so fleeting.
November 10, 2025 at 9:43 AM
Delicate moments
all the more beautiful for
being so fleeting.
all the more beautiful for
being so fleeting.
Quintessentially Autumn
November 8, 2025 at 3:44 PM
Quintessentially Autumn
Between what's going on for me, you, and how it all gets translated into words and actions spoken (or not) in the collective space. These aren't defined moments that can be neatly scripted and managed a to b to c. Too often we sweep past, and yet all live with the consequences.
November 8, 2025 at 7:36 AM
Between what's going on for me, you, and how it all gets translated into words and actions spoken (or not) in the collective space. These aren't defined moments that can be neatly scripted and managed a to b to c. Too often we sweep past, and yet all live with the consequences.
It's the dreich times which make these moments of sunlight all the more precious.
November 7, 2025 at 1:12 PM
It's the dreich times which make these moments of sunlight all the more precious.
Confidence is a funny concept. A subjective thing which is often treated as if it can be objectively measured. Do you trust I have the experience you think I need? I could say I do - with confidence! When really it's my humility to be open and open to learning which say far more.
November 6, 2025 at 6:00 PM
Confidence is a funny concept. A subjective thing which is often treated as if it can be objectively measured. Do you trust I have the experience you think I need? I could say I do - with confidence! When really it's my humility to be open and open to learning which say far more.
Going more slowly. That's not a bad thing. Actually, I feel it's essential. Going faster and faster and faster achieves what exactly? I think it means we miss out on so much. The meaningful warmth of connection for one. The beauty all around us for another.
November 5, 2025 at 9:54 PM
Going more slowly. That's not a bad thing. Actually, I feel it's essential. Going faster and faster and faster achieves what exactly? I think it means we miss out on so much. The meaningful warmth of connection for one. The beauty all around us for another.
Life doesn't happen in neat lines. We don't live our lives in discrete categories. Real conversations don't follow a script and relationships don't conform to a formula. So why do we sometimes try to organise work, manage organisations, and handle our interactions as if they do?
November 5, 2025 at 11:15 AM
Life doesn't happen in neat lines. We don't live our lives in discrete categories. Real conversations don't follow a script and relationships don't conform to a formula. So why do we sometimes try to organise work, manage organisations, and handle our interactions as if they do?
If all the focus is on 'getting stuff done' with no room to stop and ponder, what really gets done? Without the space to wonder, how much is missed?
November 1, 2025 at 9:47 AM
If all the focus is on 'getting stuff done' with no room to stop and ponder, what really gets done? Without the space to wonder, how much is missed?
As daylight fades, the colourful burst of autumnal evening sky feels all the more glorious in its fleeting presence.
October 29, 2025 at 6:06 PM
As daylight fades, the colourful burst of autumnal evening sky feels all the more glorious in its fleeting presence.