What is your name & location?
olivia jade khoury.
los angeles, california
How do you help people heal?
i teach self-development through the medium of vulnerable storytelling. i intice others to tap into those wounds that they have covered but not healed thoroughly. as i tell my stories of pain with an honest tongue and a transparent spirit, i help others begin to tell their own and embark on the journey to self-love. i never considered myself a healer until i dug deep inside of myself and saw a transformation that took place within my own skin and then mirrored my external world. i want others to be able to look deep inside of themselves and connect the dots of their feelings to understanding, accepting, and forgiving themselves and their trauma. people are afraid to look into their own mirrors. but i believe the looking glass is where we truly begin to identify with who we are and learn to become on a first-name basis with god. / our spirit source / our highest selves.
What type of benefits does your method of healing provide? self-love : finding ways of self-care to reconnect with the parts of ourselves that were lost in the fire of trauma.
self-discovery : as we uncover those hidden parts, we begin to release and create new discoveries of who we are. it helps us to master self-awareness.
self-development : understanding who we are is a key to a life of purpose. i believe through my work i introduce new perspectives and provide a mirror to start conversations with self. that conversation with self leads to sustainable and actionable steps to improve their overall quality of life.
When did you realize that you wanted to heal people/why did you start? i don't think i ever wanted to 'heal' people per sé but i've always wanted to help others. i began my first blog called drinkingthesun.com in the middle of being in an abusive relationship, and the articles i wrote were advice columns to self. it was as if i was writing actionable steps to myself so that i could maintain my sanity and be outside of my skin telling myself what to do and how to become a better person. as people began to read my blog posts there was an influx of messages about how the content helped them to really look deep inside themselves and ask those hard questions. it became the catalyst for me continuing to write the type of content i was writing. but for me, writing has always been my mechanism for healing, so it just worked out that others took away some soul tools from it as well.
How does your personal healing journey reflect in how you hold space for others? everything that i create is out of necessity for myself first, but keeping others in mind. as i speak and give advice to others, i am truly speaking to myself. i think that's why it's so easy for me to be able to walk away from my work when i need to truly get back to myself, because i know the importance of self-preservation. if i am an empty vessel, i am not able to provide for others. i must keep my glass full. i must swallow the own medicine i am giving to others. if not, i am a flower plucked at the root.
Why is what you do so important?
what i do is so important because it is my own survival hotline. my own salvation. i deal with depression and anxiety, so my healing journey that is open to others to view for them to heal themselves is truly my own soul-work being televised. it is my healing in HD. i believe that when we remain open and vulnerable, we are able to touch others in a way that is incomprehensible. that is a weight i carry but a joy, not a burden. to be a leader is to be able to do things no one has done before. i think my vulnerability through writing / creating / and healing is my way of leading.
What is your inspiration to continue doing what you are doing? What is the fuel that keeps you going?
my inspiration is that there are people out there who have gone through what i've been through. my other inspiration is that there are people who haven't, and i want to be able to provide preventative measures for them. i've been through a lot of trauma in my life and i've looked into the eyes of pain. there's nothing i've wanted more than someone to take my hand and help me, so i need to be that person for others.
How does it make you feel when you are helping people heal?
sometimes it is overwhelming but it is always heartwarming. the only contention i have with it is that i am not able to heal everyone without depleting myself. i wish i had infinite energy to help everyone!
What are your visions &/or goals?
my goals are
• to write books that heal, inspire, and ignite flames.
• to build a community of creatives whose mission is to uplift, encourage, and challenge their kinfolk spirits.
• to create companies that truly embody my values and mission to evoke vulnerability in everyone. i believe it's such an important component of development, relationship building, and living an authentic, purposeful life.
• to build an empire!
Tell us a fun fact about what it is that you do or something people may not know about you.
i think people read my work and see my social media accounts and think i'm this Badu-ist, hotepian, obnoxiously positive, "fake-deep" twitter honey. in reality i am so goofy, so problematic, extremely crass, free-spirited, optimistically real, and sometimes boisterous. my artist side is the reserved, neurotic, recovering overthinker. i know that persona comes out when i write because my mind can entrap me and free me at the same time.
In one sentence, what is your message to the world?
find yourself in fire and you can conquer any wind.
Is there is anything else that you would like to share about yourself or what it is that you do?
i'm a creative strategist and i believe one of my artistic abilities is connecting dots between unrelated things. you'll be able to take a digital experience through my mind at my website and understand what i mean come the end of march.