Advice from Octavia Yearwood-Healing from Within

“I don’t know where you are in your life, but I’m pretty sure that you have some adversity. That adversity and your healing should be your number one goal right now and as soon as you get that healing out of the way, it’ll give you a lot of clarify on who you are and what you want to be.”

- OCTAVIA YEARWOOD

Octavia Yearwood (a motivational speaker, author, and former foster youth), dishes out an honest dose of advice at one of Project Glimmer’s Work Your Magic, A Day of Empowerment events this year. Octavia talked about her own struggles and emphasized the importance on first healing from within in order to succeed in life.

You have participated as a panelist at three Project Glimmer events, what is it that makes you want to keep coming back and sharing your experience with the young women that attend?

“I find it super important to reach as many youths as possible. Over the years, what I've learned is that representation counts. It counts not as far as a number but as far as self-efficacy. The trauma attached to having an adverse childhood can be crippling, so for me, it's important to be a crutch, a push, an inspiration, a motivation and anything else in between, that will help them push past it to thrive.” 

For Day of Empowerment, you talk to the young women of Ticket to Dream Foundation about healing from within in order to find themselves, what further advice would you give these girls about how to begin to accomplish this?

“The first steps to healing are accepting that what happened, happened and forgiving yourself. I say forgive yourself because those things that may have been a part of our pain, we've played a part in, we've either stayed silent or gave chance after chance to those who didn't deserve it. Accept that it happened in the first place and that it is only a piece of your story. I would also say remember that it’s a slow process and that you actually have the power to create positive experiences. Knowing your power as a creator (artist of your life!) is a major key. I create all the opportunities I've encountered; whether it's through sharing or fostering amazing relationships. Say yes to what feeds your spirit and no to things that drain it--- Put you first but with humanity in mind.” 

Was there any person or motivating force in your life that helped you through your time of adversity and how you were able to push past it? 

“There were so many people along this path in life that have served as earth angels and pushed me forward with love. For me, a lot of times it was about having someone that would listen to me and advise me. I was actually pretty quiet because adults were always so overpowering. Growing up and finding more direction in my path brought me to a mentor, her name is Tracy. Tracy really helped me learn a lot about how to engage with others, how to think smarter career-wise, and praised me for my efforts often. Pushing past my adversities took a lot of soul searching, travels, love, great friends, and being resilient enough to do the hard work of healing.”