Personal Mythmaking was the closest thing that I had to a vacation in close to a decade. It’s such a luxurious and nourishing blend of creativity, self-care and healing.
Before taking this class, I had some major chips on my shoulder and I felt resigned to lug these things around with me for the rest of my life. Janelle’s class offered a fun, safe and creative way to reframe my troubling stories.
Taking this class was the nicest gift that I ever gave myself.
jess Molnar, Odd Duck Press, usa
I absolutely loved the other participants.
So strange, something about the on-line nature and Janelle’s brilliant guidance through our creative process allowed for focus and elimination of distraction allowing us to just listen to one another and have them fill the screen – literally and metaphorically – when they spoke.
Janelle uses a timer for who talks and for how long. That combined with a mute button kept me from rattling on and on and getting off topic too long. In that way, I really listened to others (and myself) and got a deep sense of who we were.
Cyber-bonding!
Georgette Pare. Fine Arts & Language Arts Facilitator, Calgary, Canada
Before the course I was so full of excitement and anticipation. Thinking about what to share was my only fear in the calls. What I have learned is that the difficult sharing can give us back the most information about ourselves.
If I have to pick a favourite part, it would have to be the discussion group and writing lab. To be able to see the other people in the group, discuss the material and then write together created such a special connection that was a complete surprise to me.
The closing call, when we each read some of our work, was pure magic.
To listen to all of our unique voices and hear the individual flavour of each story. I felt as though I was hugged with the words of appreciation, because in my head there was uncertainty of how my story would be heard. I am inside looking out, intimately entangled in my story, and attempting to create in a clear voice.
The feeling of achieving just that, has created a feeling like no other. I lived on that cloud for as long as I could be held there.
Jennifer setterfield, cabinetmaker, canada
When I started Janelle’s Personal Mythmaking course, I’d been working on my memoir for years, but in a practical sense, I was getting nowhere.
By the time the course finished, I had a complete outline (the spine and organs of my book with its threads and themes,) three full chapters, and the start of my book proposal.
The course also led me to generate tons of material for articles or essays.
I don’t mean to suggest that Janelle’s course whips your book into shape. Rather, she’s designed a masterful journey through unexpected detours where you discover the soul of your memoir and the most crucial essences of your story and voice.
You’ll get writing prompts that take you through myth, archetypes, fairy tales, and artwork. The sources are vast, but they synthesize together to inform and reframe your personal paradigms.
