I am a 40 year old Canadian woman who was never meant to "fit in" to this world entirely.

Most of my life I have felt like a circle that does not fit in all the squares laid out by society, in fact, most of the things I witness around me have never made much sense to my inquiring mind and free-spirited heart. It is clear to me that I was created to be outstanding, creative, innovative, question everything, vision the possibilities, stir the pot, stand up for what I believe in, speak up and make a difference. I know that when I stand in my power, I inspire most people as a grounded, intelligent, authentic and passionate woman.

I am here to inspire!
(love, wellness, awakening, freedom, change, living life to the fullest- all of it!)

I teeter between introvert and extrovert, but I nearly am always called to step forward in some sort of leadership role, which is an uncomfortable edge for me. As someone who is always learning and growing, I think out of all the things that hold me back, it would be "Taking things Personally" out of the 4 Agreements written by the wise Toltec wisdom keeper Don Miguel Ruiz. I know that when I master this one and do not give a fuck what anyone thinks of me, I will be unstoppable!

The grace has always been that the calling in my heart has always been louder than my fear, so I have lived a very dynamic existence of following my heart, and that has led me through many career changes, continents and adventures. It feels like I have had many lifetimes within this one.

Some of my adventures which will flavour what I share on Steemit include:

• Having been a teacher on three continents including Asia (Japan), Europe (England) and North America (Canada). I mainly taught my minor in English literature and ESL, but I do have a major in Biological Sciences in my Bachelor of Education degree. I have taught 4 year olds to 76 year olds, and overall have had a focus on high school and adult education, although I am passionate about working with children. I have lots of say on the topic of educational reform.
• One of my lifelong passions is dance. I have studied tap, ballet, Ukrainian, ballroom dance for years to let the wild woman within shake out all the need for structure and choreography and simply allow for intuitive movement to lead me to a trance state in ecstatic and Kundalini dance. I am currently one of about 100 Kundalini dance facilitators in the world who guides people to heal their lives through movement, breath work, meditation, and dance as prayer in motion
• I made a career change from being a teacher to telling stories through photographs and working for publications like newspapers, magazines, and as a freelance photographer, and of course, I taught beginner SLR photography for about 8 years on the side as well. One day while photographing yet another amazing local change maker, I had a moment where I realized that I did not want to take pictures of people making a difference in the world, but to be that person. My whole world changed with that realization.
• One of the projects that I did with photography that I believe made an impact was a multimedia art installation on "what we do to the Earth, we do to ourselves" and I called it Out of the Blue and Into the Red. It involved approximately 300 community members in northern Alberta where the oil boom was effecting everyone for better and for worse.
• I have been a volunteer coordinator of Free Hugs here in Edmonton and can share lots on those experiences since 2009.
• I had the rare honour of learning shamanic energy healing and journeys from an Algonquin medicine man, and this has completely changed my life. When you heal, it is a strong calling to help guide others to heal. I am currently helping people as a transformational guide (a modern day alchemist of emotion) to let go of anything that gets in the way of their limitless true essence. I work with people of all ages who are navigating through life transitions, childhood trauma, abuse, PTSD, dis-ease, etc. and help guide and empower them to heal their own life. I recently learned that most of my maternal lineage were healers in the Ukraine, so it has been more like a time of remembering what I already know within me. This path has led me to an interest in mental, physical, emotional and spiritual wellbeing and how we can address this better in our communities around the world. My website is http://phoenixalchemy.net
• I have always had the mantra, "Do well what you do," and nowadays this has evolved into "Be who you are. Be well." I feel I have spent years deleting all the useless programming from my very driven parents and have enjoyed the pure pleasure of breathing and knowing, that is enough. It has been a long journey of unlearning to arrive at the knowing that life could be that simple. I have many insights on health and wellness, spirituality, and self care.

It has been amazing to witness the times in my life where my limitless nature shone through. Sometimes I look back and I can't quite believe my own life. It is not an ordinary one, and I would not want it any other way! I hope that my writing here in the Steemit community is inspiring to you on your journey.

Best wishes on your journey,

Olivia ~ Fire Phoenix Dancer