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I continually have really beautiful in-person conversations about this project with all kinds of people. Those who have borne children often express having had similar ideas to the ones explored here, sometimes without ever feeling that anyone would want to hear them. And quite a few people who have never borne children across genders, have expressed a desire to connect with the childbearer archetype. Creativity, artmaking, personal relationships and mental health struggles are often mentioned as examples of areas where this applies. It feels like I'm inviting people not to be ashamed of wanting to embrace their full humanity, and the RSVPs are rolling in.

Honestly, I've had a less dynamic experience trying to get the conversation going on social media. Fighting with the algorithms and the short attention spans the platforms encourage sometimes seem not worth the trouble. However, I do see it as a place where I can craft more formal content that casts a wide net of connections across subject areas and disciplines; this way, I can hopefully throw some of my stranger or more abstract thoughts on the subject into the arena of conversation.

I'm really curious to see what perspectives people bring to the table when engaging with the concepts behind See Me Bearing in light of literature, world history, and art history. One fabulously smart and creative Instagram user took a real interest in my post on Frankenstein and shared a thought related to the film Midsommar and grief in the stories section of her account. This reminded me of a conversation I had with a personal friend during my postpartum mental health struggles; she was going through the loss of a parent and we found a surprising amount of common ground in our experiences.

I haven't given up on social media! Currently all the content lives on Instagram but I'll be working on getting it over to Facebook too. If you want to delve deeper into these ideas (and help make the conversation a success <3), check out the content at @orlaborla_spore, and reach out to me. There's lots of ways you can do this, including if you are not on social media:

Comment on posts with your own experiences that relate.

Share any of the posts in your Instagram stories, and note how they relate to your ideas.

DM me on Instagram with your thoughts and ideas on any of the posts or the project as a whole.

Whether you've seen the posts or not, you can just send me an old-fashioned email at claire@seemebearing.com!

I want to hear what you think about the wisdom within the childbearing experience. If you haven’t personally gone through that though, it’s also fantastic because I really want to hear your thoughts on things that relate to or mirror the childbearing experience.

I'm planning to include artifacts of this ongoing discussion in the show on June 6, 2025 at Fitz Waffles, so your contributions may be included!

*Lastly, to widen and enrich the conversation (and win my eternal gratitude--worth a lot!), invite friends to sign up for the newsletter!