The Art of Personal Mythmaking
write your memoirs, reclaim yourselfPersonal Mythmaking Testimonials
My only self-doubt in life comes from sharing my writing with others. I want it to be genius and I am afraid it will suck. The group was so kind and always made me feel good about my work and encouraged me to keep it up.
Watching others come alive through sharing their vulnerabilities was the best part for me.
I don’t think we allow ourselves to shine until we are willing to explore the deeper parts of ourselves. Seeing how this group changed over the course of the program was awesome.
Janelle is amazing and any fears or hesitations you might have about taking this course she can allay them.
This course is guaranteed to open you up to parts of yourself you never even realized existed. I couldn’t think of a better person to guide you through this difficult but necessary life work.
So much online marketing is hyperbole, exaggeration and inflation of skills, abilities and offerings. I fear engaging in something that promises much and delivers little. I was delighted to find Personal Mythmaking was, if anything, undersold rather than overrated.
I found a course based in scholarship and experience. The work was experiential, embodied and deepening without being overwhelming. And the support is amazing.
I enjoyed the experiential nature of the course, how much body was included, the depth of scholarship behind the prompts, how we could weave our story into a memoir and the amazing, professional, insightful, compassionate holding by Janelle through the process.
Janelle is absolutely amazing, the real deal and a woman of integrity.
Personal Mythmaking is serious though. Just because it’s online, don’t think it’s less deep. It’s the equivalent of serious, in-depth, in-person creative writing/memoir/personal development courses combined. This isn’t something you pop into for an hour a week for fun, it’s a commitment.
Make sure you have the time and resources to do it, because this is deep work. That’s ok, that’s what story and memoir do.
Janelle will be there when you go, it’s safe.
This course is a kick start to memoir writing. It has given me a great kick start to my writing!
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.
I have so many things that I loved. All the material provoked so many thoughts and feelings and I will revisit it all again and again.
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 women 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.
The use of an ancient tale/fairy tale is an amazing way to unlock a portal into ourselves. The connection with the group and the investigation of a wide variety of material, within the weekly themes was so self-informing.
I feel like every aspect of our being was examined; it allowed for all the various personalities; there was something for every woman, or non-binary person. Of course there are parts that will resonate louder for each individual.
There was so much information we could apply to our own lives allowing for clarity and understanding. I ended up with a much better idea of who I am and have fewer limits on what I am becoming.
I would also say that we get out of this course what we put into it. I have come away feeling less shy and more confident; therefore, this course has the power to transform. I found that by the end of this course any thoughts of needing counselling were gone.
It’s the best journey you will have from your laptop!
This is a fun class. It got me writing effortlessly; it explored subjects and angles in writing (and creativity) that were new and expansive.
Janelle is a conscious and thoughtful teacher/facilitator and she has developed a course that is abundant with opportunities for personal exploration, insights and new ways of understanding one’s life story and personal themes.
It helped me to unify many aspects of my personal past (lots of “ah -ha” moments) that inform who I am in the present.
I think anyone could take this class and get something out of it. Well worth it and very enjoyable.
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.
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.
Janelle is a gifted teacher with genius instincts on juxtaposing sources and materials to spark genuine creativity. Her body focus set light to what is now an essential part of my own creative life.
The course also led me to generate tons of material for articles or essays, but honestly, its gifts were less about practical goals (which were met) and more about opening up and exploring my story with an intricacy and intensity I never could’ve found on my own.
Take this course. Your writing practice will ignite. But if you were led to this material, it’s your creative spirit, your very soul, that’s yearning for this original and singularly eccentric adventure.
My favourite part of Personal Mythmaking was the variety of information and inspiration that Janelle shared: writing prompts, recordings of stories and guided meditations, videos, guest interviews, pinterest boards, book and resource recommendations, video calls.
There’s always more to explore, but if life gets busy it’s also easy to stay caught up with the group by doing the writing only. This class is fun and valuable in so many ways.
I credit Janelle with introducing me to the concept of embodiment, which has been an absolute game changer for me.
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.
What a journey Janelle took us on.
I was so amazed at how beautifully our stories came together, and how healing the process was. I loved the prompts. I loved the accountability, and I loved the embodiment exercises.
And to top it all off I left with an amazing reframe of my life so far on this planet, clarity about why I’m here, and how to use my story to connect to people – specifically my audience. What a gift!
Janelle is a guardian of your sacred truth, and will create a safe space to play, know, understand, and emote. She will bring out your inner guide and create new pathways for success, love, and abundance.
She is a delight to work with, sharing deep, provocative writing and embodiment exercises peppered with giggles and heart-catching anecdotes. She will transform your life.
My biggest fear working with Janelle is that I would for some reason not complete the course.
I was afraid because I knew that I would miss two or three sessions and perhaps lose my momentum and give up – but that did not happen. Because each class is recorded and the facilitation topics are saved and easily retraceable, I was able to regroup, get back on track and carry on to the end.
This was a milestone for me because it seems as though I am constantly on the move and to places where on-line meetings are not always feasible. I often give up on other projects because my travels interrupt them. Not this time and I feel very rewarded. Thank you Janelle.
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.