Creativity for Healing & Transformation

Dimensions of Self

Dimensions of Self is a creative project developed by Dr. Stelli Munnis in which she explores themes of identity and purpose, memory and inheritance—karmic and familial—to heal generational wounds and conflicts. The project includes poetry and writing, drawings and paintings, books and zines, and a forthcoming multi-media exhibition.

I started working on this project several years ago to help me understand and honor my life, specifically after having experienced sexual trauma in my early 20s. I was betrayed and wounded by two individuals, one of whom was my intimate partner, and the other, a family member. After the abuse, I became angry, depressed, and full of resentment. I was masterful at hiding my feelings from others and suffering in silence. My instinct was to protect those involved because I loved them and didn't want their lives to be ruined, even though, in a sense, mine was.

One way I coped was to focus on my own healing process, which included getting a PhD in transpersonal psychology. I was especially interested in learning about family systems and the role that power plays in relationships. After 30+ years of study and personal growth, I have come to believe that healing is not a place where we arrive, and then we are done. Rather, it is a life-long journey where we experience moments of stillness, and moments of peace, and if we are lucky, those moments extend into greater periods of time. But, for many of us, we continue to experience pain (emotional and/or physical) and suffering, even after doing all the things we were told to do, like meditation and prayer and all the latest therapeutic and healing modalities.

Even so, the only way forward is through, and the more that we can sit in a place of truth, and the more that we can accept who-what-and-where we are, the more we can grow in awareness, which I believe is the point, or at least part of it. For me, the creative process is an essential part of my journey. When I write, or draw, or do something creative, I feel a shift inside my being, and for a time, I feel better. My purpose in producing Dimensions of Self was to have a better understanding of myself, my family, and my life, and my hope is that it also inspire others to explore these themes for themselves.

A Few Works from Dimensions of Self

My Heritage includes stories about my Greek family and ancestors from my father's paternal side, my Irish, German, Dutch, and Scottish ancestors from my father's maternal side, and my Nicaraguan family and ancestors from my mother's side.

Book Specs: Hardcover with hand sewn, Coptic binding; 100 pages, 8.5" x 11", full color (archival pigment ink).

My Parents is the story about how my parents met, what their life was like (from my perspective), why they decided to divorce (when I was 12 years old), and their life afterwards.

Book Specs: Softcover with hand sewn binding; 32 pages, 8.5" x 11", full color (archival pigment ink).

My Life includes stories about being born in Managua, Nicaragua, growing up in New Orleans, Louisiana, living in Texas, Florida, and California, and other details about my life, including a traumatic experience and subsequent search for meaning.

Book Specs: Hardcover with hand sewn, Coptic binding; 120 pages, 8.5" x 11", full color (archival pigment ink).

Divine Guidance includes messages that were channeled by my husband while he was in an altered state about my life and healing journey.

Book Specs: Hardcover with hand sewn, Coptic binding; 140 pages, 5.5" x 8.5", black and white pages.

Why am I Greek, Irish, German, Dutch, Scottish, Nicaraguan? contains channeled messages about my heritage and why I was born into those specific cultural paradigms.

Book Specs: 12-page accordion fold with paperback cover and hand sewn inserts; 22" x 17".

Timeline: Infancy to Middle-Adulthood is a "spreadsheet" accordion book where I have input specific details to help me keep track of every year of my life: where I lived (we moved a lot), the school I attended, who I was in love with, where I traveled, as well as major events in my life.

Book Specs: 18-page accordion fold with hard cover; 6 5/8" x 8".

My Family Tree is a diagram of family members and ancestors on all sides of my family, going back to the 1600s. The book combines an accordion fold with fold-up pages.

Book Specs: 14-page accordion fold (8 across and 6 down) with hard cover; 10" x 8.75".

Inner Dimensions includes poetry, art, and writing about the trauma/s I experienced in life as well as the things that helped me on my healing/life journey.

Book Specs: Acrylic cover with hand sewn, Coptic binding; 80 pages, 8.5" x 11", full color (archival pigment ink).

Zines

Zines (pronounced "zeens") are handmade, self-published booklets. The zine-making community is comprised of all kinds of people: young/old, rich/poor, white/brown/black, priviledged/marginalized, abled/dis-abled. Anyone can make and publish a zine about any topic. My favorite types of zines are called "perzines" because they are about something unique and personal to the author. I made my first zine in my teens before I even knew what a zine was. It was a family yearbook with funny captions. In 2003, I made my first comic zine called "Kosmic Commander and Adventure Girl: Citizens of the Universe." It was only 8 pages, but it cemented my love for zines, as well as comics. Now I make zines regularly. I love that I can have an idea, express it using words/images/collage, and I can create a finished product without having to get input from anyone, and without having to consider whether or not the content will appeal to a greater/commercial audience. For me (and my ADHD brain), zine-making satisfies my desire to create, to see quick results, and to be able to share my original/imperfect work with others.

An exploration of what it was like growing up as a multi-cultural Latina in the US who valued being white over Nicaraguan until she took an emotional journey back to the land of her birth.

Brutally honest and raw poems about sexuality, predators, growing up in New Orleans, family, and being a half-white, half-Latina from the South.

Excerpts from a birth chart Stelli's mother had made from a place in New Orleans that disappeared after Hurricane Katrina. The extremely accurate information helped Stelli feel a sense of relief, as if someone finally explained who she was to herself.

Other Works

My creative process includes writing (especially poetry), photography (street photography is my favorite), drawing, painting, as well as producing multi-media installations. Art and art-making is fundamental to my well-being and sense of self.