The Conscious Journey: Healing After Loss Through AI Art

“After losing my beloved grandmother and full-time caregiving role, I’m now facing having to move immediately because I am not 55 and this is an elderly complex. I’ve started ‘The Conscious Journey’ – a healing art program born from our story – and I need help with housing, a proper memorial for Grandma, and resources to launch this project to help others heal.”

My name is Stephanie Haynes, but in the creative world, I go by Deon Monai.

That’s the name I wear when I’m painting pain into portals. When I’m building worlds where healing feels possible. When I turn grief into stories too deep for words.

For the last five years, I was a full-time caregiver for my 90-year-old grandmother, Loretta.

I lived with her.

I bathed her.

I fed her.

I gave her everything I had.

And two weeks ago, I held her hand as she took her final breath.

I haven’t had time to grieve.

I haven’t even had time to breathe.

Because now, I’m being forced out of the apartment we shared. It was a senior living complex—and I’m only 45.

I have no savings, no backup, and nowhere to go.

We have less than two weeks to be out.

I still wake up in the middle of the night unable to breathe. Crying uncontrollably.

Grief. Fear. Uncertainty.

It’s too much to carry alone.

But this is where my story begins—not ends.

What I’ve Been Building (Quietly, in the Shadows):

While caregiving, I was quietly creating something life-changing.

Something I never expected to need this soon.

I built The Conscious Journey - a creative healing program that uses AI, journaling, and art therapy to help people move through emotional pain.

Not just grief.

Not just trauma.

But heartbreak. Anxiety. PTSD. Creative block.

All the invisible storms we carry.

I’ve been building this for years:

Designing healing tools

Writing a book

Training a personal AI assistant that mirrors your voice and growth

Creating Graffiti Islands, a visual universe where pain becomes poetry and color

My work was even featured at the Web3 Gallery in Saks Fifth Avenue, NYC—nine pieces of AI-generated art blended with other digital art tools, shown alongside world-renowned creators.

And my grandma?

She was my biggest fan.

She listened to me talk about AI every single day.

She believed in this with her whole heart even if she had absolutely no clue what I was talking about sometimes.

Now it’s time to bring it to life.

Why I’m Asking for Help:

I’m asking for your support to raise $15,000 so I can:

Give my grandmother the memorial she deserves

Secure a camper or safe place to live

Take care of my animals (who helped me through all of this.)

Cover essential needs as I stabilize

Finish and publish my healing book + AI journaling program

Travel to lead healing workshops and retreats (travel costs will be significant)

Teach others how to use AI art and journaling as tools for transformation

This isn’t just about survival.

It’s about using everything I’ve survived to help others do the same.

I want to help:

People silently suffering

People who never got the space to fall apart

People like me

This is My Conscious Journey.

It began with loss.

It continues with love.

And I believe it leads to light - for all of us.

If you’ve ever lost someone…

If you’ve ever felt broken…

If you believe in turning pain into purpose…

Please help me make this vision real.

Even $5 helps more than you know.

Even sharing this could change everything.

Thank you for listening.

Thank you for seeing me.

And thank you—from the bottom of my heart—for helping me keep going.

With so much love,

Stephanie Haynes / Deon Monai