Jane Pike

In this episode of Relatively Stable, I sit down with my beautiful friend

Jane Pike

—a writer, artist, creative mentor, and horsewoman from New Zealand—for a conversation that moves beyond her well-known work with horses and into the heart of creativity itself. While many know her for her work through Confident Rider, today we explore the deeper layers of her artistic and creative journey.

We talk about:

• How creativity and the nervous system are more connected than you might think.

• The moment Jane realized her creativity was something she had to follow, not just fit into her existing work.

• What it means to return to creativity rather than become creative.

• The pull of curiosity and why giving ourselves permission is such a big part of making art.

• Jane’s unexpected dive into drawing and how visual art became a vital part of her creative expression.

• Balancing science and storytelling, logic and mystery.

• How creative work can be a vehicle for protecting and advocating for the natural world, particularly New Zealand’s endangered bird species.

• The power of noticing—through practices like Omen Days and simply paying attention to what’s around us.

Jane also talks about her evolving Substack community, To Begin With, the Birds, and her work in fostering a creative space that moves beyond social media’s fast-paced, attention-driven environment. She speaks plainly about navigating vulnerability in artistic expression and giving ourselves permission to make art.

Toward the end of our conversation, Jane reads from her piece Nesting, a meditation on belonging, home, and the act of creation itself.

Where to Find Jane:

• Substack: janepike.substack.com

• Facebook: facebook.com/janepikewrites

• Instagram: @janepikewrites

• Confident Rider: confidentrider.online

• Creating Wild & Circle Community: Available through her Substack subscription

This conversation is an invitation—to step away from expectations, follow your curiosity, and find joy in creating for the sake of it. Whether you’re deep in your creative practice or just beginning to explore, this episode is a reminder that art, in all its forms, is a vital part of who we are.

Jane Pike is a writer, artist, creative mentor and horsewoman from the South Island of New Zealand. In the horse world, her work focuses on practices and understandings that increase vitality for both humans and horses, incorporating nervous system awareness to both mindset and movement. The methods she teaches explore physical and emotional patterns at their most foundational level- the brain and the nervous system- with the aim of creating adaptability and responsiveness.

Jane has featured and written for various magazines around the world and is a sought after international clinician and trainer through her business Confident Rider.

As a writer and artist & creative mentor, her passion is helping people develop sustainable creative practices that nourish and infuse art into daily life, and beyond that, find ways to use their creative voice to inspire, elevate and protect: our wild lands, our wild creatures, our wild hearts. She’s interested in exploring how artistic practice can deepen our relationship with place, as well as our sense of belonging to and with each other.

You can read more of her work at janepike.substack.com