Meet Jan Blount, The Muse Whisperer

Creative Guide, Soulful Storyteller & Chief Instigator of Joy at Gratitude and Company

Hello, kindred spirit. I’m Jan—also known as The Muse Whisperer. I help people reconnect with their inner wisdom, delight in their creative spark, and find soul-nourishing ways to navigate life’s muddy moments.

I’m a mixed media artist, visual journaler, altered book lover (yes, I now joyfully “damage” old books headed for the landfill for art), photographer, workshop facilitator, ARTbundance™ Certified Coach, SoulCollage® Facilitator, and lifelong explorer of the messy, marvelous, meaning-full human experience.

Through Gratitude and Company, I create playful digital tools, journaling adventures, whimsical guides, and wise-hearted characters (like my six beloved muses!) that remind us we’re not alone and it’s okay to dance with the mystery. Here they are enjoying a visit with the nine Greek goddess muses.

A Few Fun Facts

• I learned to square dance in Okinawa, Japan ….met my husband there too.
• i love to travel and take road trips, been in all 50 states and lived in quite a few of them too.
• I wear flowy skirts and don’t own makeup.
• I love ancient grandmother trees, forest walks, thrift store treasure hunts, and stomping in puddles.
• I earned a Fashion Merchandising degree in Hawaii, but may be the least “fashionable” person you know—or maybe I’m just cosmically ahead of my time.
• I homeschooled, homebirthed, and attachment-parented my now-grown brood—and still didn’t “get it all right.” (Spoiler: none of us do.)
• I’m blessed to live in the Oregon countryside, near Portland, with my husband Bob, of 37 years and my sister-soul “wife” Bunnie of 16 years (we’re “The Tripod”).
• We’re also home to a llama posse, a small herd of goats, a flock of chickens, a service dog named Odie, a sweet and silly pit bull named Kate and Miss Haley, a scruffy rescue pup.
• And at our advancing age it’s a lot to keep up with so our “family” has continued to expand. Theirs Leslie who likes to call herself the “cookervoman/chauffeur.”  Maryellen who is Bob’s sister, and often others who come to help out and hang out.

  

How I Became The Muse Whisperer

Once upon a stuck and stormy chapter of life, I began a journaling practice I now call my Muse Mail—a playful way to correspond with parts of myself I had forgotten. Out popped Gratitude, then Epithany (my laughing Buddha bullfrog), Steady Freddy (the turtle of perseverance), and several other wise, whimsical guides. (See the image above or check out the “About the Muses” page)

They helped me find my voice again, my center, my sense of humor—and reminded me how to live with intention, even when the sky is gray. Today, I help others do the same through writing, art, and joyful exploration.

If you’re someone with too many interests, too many ideas, or too much heart to fit in a tidy box—you’re in the right place.

From Chaos to Creative Wholeness

I used to think I was too scattered to make anything meaningful of my life. Now I know better. All those threads? They were weaving something beautiful all along.

I’ve learned how to:

• Dance, hike, and create in the rain
• Cry when I need to and laugh even more
• Fill my own well instead of waiting for sunshine
• Let go of perfection and love the glorious mess
• Turn pain into purpose, heartbreak into healing, and overwhelm into art

These days, I embrace my “too-muchness” with joy. I know that creativity isn’t a distraction—it’s the lifeline. I believe your quirks are clues, your passions are portals, and your weirdness is wonderful.

A Personal Story About Why I Do What I Do and Why You Might Want to “Plark” (play+work) With Me

In the fall of 2009, I gave myself permission to apply for something I never imagined I’d be “qualified” for: the inaugural ARTbundance™ Coach Training with Marney Makridakis.

My child-raising years were winding down. My apron strings were loosening, but so were my ties to the parts of myself I’d set aside for years—my artist self, my creative explorer, my lifelong love affair with all things soulful and self-help-y.

I wasn’t coming from a traditional background. No corporate resume. No fancy letters after my name. I had been a devoted homemaker, a homeschool mom, and someone who had quietly navigated the fog of mild chronic depression for years. But I was ready—aching, really—to find myself again. Not the version of me who “should” show up a certain way, but the one who had crayons in her pocket and questions in her heart.

Signing up felt like a leap. Would I follow through? Would it be worth the stretch—financially, emotionally, energetically? Could I trust myself with this invitation to step into something bigger?

The answer, as it turns out, was yes.

That training changed the trajectory of my life. I didn’t just learn a method—I reclaimed a voice. A permission slip. A playful, purposeful way of helping others reconnect to their own aliveness, especially when life has felt more like a grind than a garden.

Around that same time, I became a trained SoulCollage® facilitator—another beautiful tool that merged creativity and healing, imagery and intuition. Piece by piece, I began assembling the mosaic of a meaningful next chapter.

I’m not here because I have all the answers. I’m here because I’ve lived the questions. I’ve walked the winding paths of rediscovery, and I’ve learned how to turn the messiness into meaning. That’s what I bring to the table—not textbook theory, but lived experience, deep listening, and playful practices that help you find your way home to yourself.

I coined the word plark (play + work) because I got tired of living in the either/or. I wanted to model a way of being that lets joy and responsibility hold hands. That lets creativity count as contribution. That honors both rest and resilience, inspiration and integration.

If you’ve ever felt like it’s too late to start, too uncertain to invest, too indulgent to create space for yourself… I’ve been there.

But I also know the magic that unfolds when we say yes anyway.

Let’s Journey Together

So if you’re looking for someone who sees the beauty in baby steps, the wisdom in wandering, and the power in picking up your crayons again—I’d be honored to plark (play+work) with you.

If you’re looking for a more magical, meaningful, delight-filled life—if you long to feel seen, supported, and creatively nourished—I’d love to walk with you.

Stick around. Explore the Levity Journal (my first offering, with more playful companions on the way). Get to know the muses. Say hello. And keep your eyes out for the Gratitude Snacks—a bite-sized soul-nourishing treat in progress.

Let’s make life artful again—together.

From my Muse Mailbox to yours,

Jan – The Muse Whisperer

(and Chief Joy Instigator at Gratitude and Company)