Your Own Personal Fairy Tale(Online)
Your Own Personal Fairy Tale
CLASS | Tuesdays, June 16-July 28 from 6:30-8:30pm EST
>> No class June 30 <<
📍ONLINE delivered via ZOOM
Facilitated by Erin Hallagan Clare (I&A Founder)
Sliding Scale Registration | $250 / $300 / $350
Please pay what you’re able—when you’re in a position to support more, your contribution strengthens our community and makes creative learning accessible for all.
2026 Workshop Dates/Times
Tuesdays, June 16-July 28 from 6:30-8:30pm EST
>> No class June 30 <<
Online via Zoom
Policies & Agreements
Cancellation and general policies can be found here.
“It is by such statements as, ‘Once upon a time there was a dragon,’ or ‘In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit’ — it is by such beautiful non-facts that we fantastic human beings may arrive, in our peculiar fashion, at the truth.”
— Ursula K. LeGuin, from “Why Are Americans Afraid of Dragons?”
What if, at the edge of change, we are not lost—but standing at the threshold of a story waiting to be told? In this six-week online class, we’ll step into the landscape of fairy tales—where the ordinary becomes enchanted, where transformation is inevitable, and where meaning is carried through symbol, archetype, and image. Together, we’ll wander beyond the limits of linear thinking and into the rich terrain of personal mythology, where new ways of seeing—and being—begin to take shape.
Through guided exercises, reflective prompts, and imaginative play, we’ll trace the threads of the stories that have shaped us, listen for what stirs beneath the surface, and begin to weave a tale of our own—one that honors where we’ve been while opening toward what’s possible.
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Class 1 | Mapping the Myth
We’ll chart the landscape of our personal mythology, uncovering recurring themes, questions, and beliefs that shape the stories we live inside of.
Class 2 | Crossing into the Dreamscape
We’ll step beyond logic and into the subconscious, exploring images, fragments, and dreamlike material that reveal what is asking to be seen.
Class 3 | Working with Archetype & Metaphor
We’ll work with archetypes and metaphor as portals into expanded possibility, discovering new ways of understanding our roles within our own stories.
Class 4 | Weaving the Fairy Tale
We’ll begin crafting our personal fairy tales, using the language of transformation—thresholds, trials, helpers, and change—to shape our narratives.
Class 5 | Deepening the Spell
We’ll refine and enrich our stories by working with detail, texture, and symbolic resonance, allowing the deeper transformation beneath the surface to emerge.
Class 6 | Stepping into the Epilogue
We’ll gather to witness and celebrate our stories, reflecting on what has shifted and imagining what unfolds beyond the final page.
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What to Expect
We’ll engage in guided creative exercises, prompts, and reflections each week
We’ll work within a gentle structure while leaving space for curiosity and surprise
We’ll prioritize process over perfection, while still creating a complete personal fairy tale
We’ll be invited (but never required) to share in a supportive, non-judgmental space
We’ll practice listening to imagination, intuition, and symbolic language
We’ll be entering a creative space for exploration and meaning-making—which can feel deep and resonant, but is not therapy
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Who This Class Is For:
Those of us standing at a threshold—navigating change, uncertainty, or becoming
Creatives, writers, and wanderers drawn to story, symbolism, and imagination
Anyone who senses there is more to their story than the one currently being told
Those curious about archetypes, personal mythology, and nonlinear ways of knowing
Those who feel caught in overthinking and long to access a more intuitive, creative voice
Anyone open to exploring their inner world through metaphor and image (no writing experience needed)
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Erin Hallagan Clare is the founder of Story Parlor, a narrative arts space based in Asheville, NC, and (as of the fall of 2025) co-owner of the Battery Park Book Exchange & Champagne Bar. Launched in 2015 (formerly known as “Story Bar”), Story Parlor offers community-driven events and workshops designed to bring audiences and artists together through the universal language of creativity and story. Erin is also the founder of the Inward & Artward School of Creativity, a sister project to Story Parlor, which offers global classes, trainings, and resources that invite participants to reclaim creativity as an essential part of how they live, reflect, and make.
Erin is currently pursuing her PhD in Creativity at Rowan University where her dissertation is focused on the ontology of story and creativity. She studied film and theatre at Temple University, and earned her Masters in Psychology with a Creativity Studies specialization, with her thesis focused on creative facilitation. She holds graduate certificates from Pacifica University in Applied Mythology and the Narrative Psychology of Fairy Tales and certifications as a creativity coach (Kaizen-Muse and advanced training with Dr. Eric Maisel), an Enneagram practitioner (Narrative Enneagram and Integrative 9), and yoga instructor (Yoga Alliance with over 450 hours in training). Prior to these projects, Erin served as the Creative Director of the Austin Film Festival & Writers Conference (where she currently remains on the board), in addition to producing the PBS and PRX-affiliated project, On Story, for which she received a Lone Star Emmy for Best Arts/Entertainment Program in 2014.
A writer and storyteller, Erin regularly teaches creativity and personal mythology workshops at both Story Parlor and the Great Smokies Writing Program at UNCA. She has shared stories and written work at The Moth, Listen to This, NC Writers Network, The Great Smokies Writing Program, Jazz Hybrid, Testify, One Page Salon, and is a Moth Story Slam Champion. Her writing can be found in The Cleveland Review, Psychology Today, Thrive Global, and others, and she is a contributing author to The Coach’s Guide to Completing Creative Work published by Routledge.
Erin believes everyone has a story to tell, and that we are all creative. She is dedicated to making a difference through the transformative power of the arts.
>> You can watch Erin’s Creative Mornings talk on “Parallel” here.
Facilitated by: Erin Hallagan Clare (I&A Founder)