Let’s study the structure of
the most deeply human story,
together, slowly.
You know this story. You just might not know its structure by heart.
Yet.
At the heart of every powerful human story beats a universal, foundational narrative pattern found in mythological and modern stories from across all times and most places.
Joseph Campbell spent his life mapping this structure across the world’s mythologies. Carl Jung found it in the collective unconscious. This journey of letting go of old stories is at the heart of Buddhist practice. Modern neuroscience is writing the story of neuroplasticity in how we process change and trauma.
The Story of the Tender-Hearted Warrior Journey is informed by this lineage of thinking — and, in particular, shaped for the journey of women in perimenopause and beyond who are waking up to their own power.
In the midst of this hellfire chaos of living in a country under the control of people desperate to dehumanize and make decisions based on the grip of grasping, insatiable greed — we need these deeply human stories more than ever.
Storytelling can restore us.
Find Your Way In →
Powerful storytelling
can crack us open
and connect us.
When you’re living in the messy middle of your life, you may see only chaos and rupture, disappointment and darkness. It’s good to acknowledge and stay present to those moments.
It’s hard to be a person.
However, when you learn the framework of the Story of the Tender-Hearted Warrior Journey, you might find that your story echoes those of women before you. You are not alone.
Every transformative journey story shares the same structure — the ordinary world, meeting the guide, the approach to the innermost cave and then the ordeal, the struggle to cross the threshold back home, and finally — sharing the wisdom.
Even in the middle of the darkest time, you can make meaning from the chaos by trusting there will be bittersweet wisdom ahead.
That’s what we do here. Over the course of a year, we study the structure of that deeply human story, together, slowly.
Here’s how we do this, together.
Each month, we walk through the next step of the Story of the Tender-Hearted Warrior.
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I teach the specific qualities and hallmarks of the next step in the Tender-Hearted Warrior Journey, including why life during that step can be challenging and why it matters that we come through it. I’ll share stories through the ages to help you understand this step. We’ll have meaningful conversations. You’ll leave feeling full. |
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I facilitate a detailed discussion about a film that embodies the story of the Tender-Hearted Warrior. I will send you the name of the film and the storytelling structure in advance of our class. When we gather online, we talk about what moves us, the lines that have lingered, and what images in the film evoked the most emotion in our bodies. We’ll also talk about the framework of the film, step by step, to understand the story more fully. |
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Instead of worrying that your words aren’t good enough before you have written an entire sentence, you’ll learn to trust your body wisdom and the images that arise from your pen. I’ll teach a specific craft technique to help you become a more conscious writer. We’ll all write for 15 minutes, then share what we wrote — this is optional, of course. Over time, you’ll learn to get out of your own way from writing down the stories of your life. |
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We come together and talk about the next step in the story. What has your life been like when you lived in denial of the call to adventure that arrived? What have been your ordeals? Who have you gained in the hardest times in your life? And we’ll laugh, because when like-minded women get together in a supportive space, we start sharing our stories with more honesty and humor. |
And then we repeat this cycle, every month.
Come as you are.
Start anywhere.
There’s no wrong entrance. Every class stands on its own. Try one and decide from there.
The First Saturday
Every month the first Saturday class is free. Come and hear the next step in the Story of the Tender-Hearted Warrior Journey. No commitment, no payment required. Donations are welcome if it moves you.
Come to One Workshop
Curious about the film discussion? The writing workshop? The circle? Drop into any single Saturday and see how it feels. Pay what you can — only you know the story of why you pay what you do. No questions asked.
Come Every Month
Found your way in? Come to the same Saturday every month and follow the story all the way through — step by step, one year, the full arc. Most women find they want all four.
“The journey is about the courage to seek the depths; the image of creative rebirth; the eternal cycle of change within us; the uncanny discovery that the seeker is the mystery which the seeker seeks to know. The hero journey is a symbol that binds, in the original sense of the word, two distant ideas, the spiritual quest of the ancients with the modern search for identity, always the one, shape-shifting yet marvelously constant story that we find.”
— Joseph Campbell
You belong here.
What kind of people feel drawn to these classes:
- Women who feel deeply and want to find their people
- Readers and film lovers who see the world in stories
- Writers who want to understand the structure of their own stories
- The ones who feel that small talk is like having itching powder thrown down the back of a too-tight shirt
- People hungry for a transformational framework that doesn’t smack of best-selling self-help books
- The ones who refuse to go numb — even when numb would be so much easier right now
If you’re longing for the company of other people who want to connect through thoughtful conversation and learn to let go of your stories, then this is the space for you.
Please ask any questions.
It's best to start at the beginning of the twelve-step journey — but life doesn't always cooperate. You can join at any point. The community will help you find your footing, and the path always makes sense no matter where you enter.
Then you missed a month. That's allowed. This is not school. There are no grades, no attendance records, no judgment. Come back when you can.
No. This is not therapy and I am not a therapist. This is a community of women using story, film, writing, and conversation to understand their lives more clearly. If something comes up that needs deeper support, I'll encourage you to seek it — and that's a good thing, not a failure.
Especially if you're not a writer. Your first thought is your best thought. You'll be amazed by what comes out.
Use a discount code. No questions asked — that's why they're there. And if you'd like to talk about a membership that works for your situation, write to me. No one is turned away for financial reasons.
The journey doesn't check your hormone levels at the door. Women of all ages find their way here. If you feel like the life you're living isn't quite yours — you belong.
Intentionally small. This is not a webinar. It's a circle — intimate enough to feel safe, large enough to feel like a community.
The story is already
happening.
Walk it with others.
We are living through a mythic moment right now.
When you study the structure of the Story of the Tender-Hearted Warrior Journey, you learn that other people have been through this chaos — many, many times in human history.
And while the chaos and destruction will always feel like heartbreak, studying the story structure gives you a wider perspective of what is happening than panic in the moment.
You can look at what is unfolding and see it clearly.
That’s not catastrophe — that’s the middle of the story.
We need this now.
Studying the story — and how generations of women before you have walked it — will help you find your way through.
Join us.
No one is turned away for financial reasons. Offer what you can. Become part of the community.
Storytelling can restore us.
We must be willing to get rid of
the life we've planned, so as to have
the life that is waiting for us.
The old skin has to be shed before the new one can come.— Joseph Campbell
© 2026 Shauna James Ahern · shaunajamesahern.com