When artist Janine Bächle became a parent, her camera was one of the ways she processed the experience. Her new photo book, Becoming Parents, is an intimate, tender and visceral look at the physical and emotional transformations that happen when people cross the threshold into parenthood.

I had the joy of writing an essay for the book, and in the process, I got to speak with Janine about what it means to document such an intimate and universal shift. In our conversation, we talked about vulnerability, bodily changes, taboos, and why motherhood is still seen as a niche subject.

Earlier this year I was invited to write the text for a photo-book Becoming Parents by artist Janine Bächle. Her autobiographical photographs, from pregnancy through to two births and beyond are extraordinary.

As Janine says of the project,

Within this autobiographical and long term series, I have documented in a raw manner the entire range of emotions within my everyday family life. Through observing my children, my partner and my body changes, I have questioned what it means to be a parent in the current time of ‘attachment parenting’ and without support from a big family or ‘village’ to help.

The ideas and sentences are still coming. I know what I want to write, but I somehow can’t find it in me to commit them to the page. But instead of guilt, I’m letting those words circle me without trying to catch them, trying to trust that they’ll land when the time is right.

I know how to cut through the weeds to the root of the idea.

So, I’m launching a boot camp for anyone who has an idea and who is full of material, but needs help to shape it into something.

Whether it’s a potential book, an essay, a research proposal or simply exploring an idea that you’re not sure what to do with, I can help you to get clarity, structure, and momentum.

And, you’ll be working alongside me and my own messy, evolving work, as we:

• find the core of what we’re writing

• untangle all the material and make it usable

• decide on a form (book? essay? pitch?)

• start writing, with momentum

• get feedback if you want it

In this first episode of The Creative Shift, I’m joined by the brilliant Kate Packman: secondary school English teacher, co-founder of Protea Press, former chair of the Ampthill literature festival and author of You Can See the End of the World from Here, which was longlisted for the Bridport Prize in 2024.

Eventually, I got enough child free time to write a book proposal. This very quickly led to several offers from agents. And, not long after, I got a book deal with an advance that allowed me to pay for more childcare.

But the only reason the book got written were those little windows which allowed me to engage in worlds beyond me, which in turn also helped me navigate the matrescent world I found myself in.

I could never and would never use AI to generate writing. I am a writer. I have always written. My prose is not always the best, and sometimes lacks the clarity I wish for. But it is never as bad as the godawful garbage AI produces. I'd no sooner ask ChatGPT to write a book on my behalf than I would ask it to comfort my child after a nightmare.

In this wide-ranging chat, I talk about why writing, even when it isn’t financially rewarded, holds deep intrinsic value. It is an act of meaning-making, a way of engaging with the world, and – most importantly – a way of connecting with ourselves.

I created these monthly sessions because I needed them. And maybe you do too?

You know, when your brain is full to the brim and it’s impossible to focus on a single idea?
When you're absorbing content constantly, but feel like you’re creating nothing?
When your days have to be highly efficient but time for day-dreaming is limited?

Art helps us see differently, literally and metaphorically. Looking at images that are ambiguous, surprising, or emotionally resonant can spark new ideas and reframe challenges.

Engagement with visual art, history, and writing wasn’t simply a luxury - it was essential. It galvanised my belief that the arts and humanities are vital in facing the challenges of living in a polycrisis.

Creativity opens spaces for new perceptions of our reality.

A humanity that does not make space for making art is a humanity that is diverting off course.