The Moment I Came Home to Myself

“I feel most rooted in honesty. Not a location, but a frequency. A space where I don’t have to edit my truth to be accepted.”

My name is Shardia O’Connor. Today, I share a return, not to a home built of walls, but to the one I found within.

I am the founder of Shades of Reality and Thawadar Boutique, offerings born from a lifetime of experience woven with strategy, creativity, and a passion for human connection. My formal education in Young People, Families, and Communities shaped my understanding of healing and systems, while life taught me to listen deeper. I’ve worked across mental health, retail, events, and community leadership but it was in the stillness of the pandemic that my truest role emerged: storyteller.

During that strange pause in time, while the world quieted, I felt alive.

I was still working on the frontlines in mental health. But inside, something profound was unfolding. I noticed how, in the middle of a global crisis, I felt grounded. Peaceful. Clear. I was steady when others weren’t and this revealed something sacred: I carried a calm that wasn’t performative; it was ancestral. Embodied. Real.

That was the moment I came home to myself.

I no longer had to wear the armour of “strong Black woman” or hustle for worth. I stopped performing survival and started choosing authenticity. That inner return birthed Shades of Reality, a digital space where raw truth meets collective wisdom. It’s where stories real, lived, layered are held with tenderness and shared without apology.

THE WISDOM

That time taught me this:

Wisdom is quiet.

True strength is in the stillness.

And leadership begins with listening.

Storytelling became my bridge not only for others to cross but for me to remember that I, too, belong in the telling.

THE ECHO THAT REMAINS

This story lives in me because it marked a threshold a moment where I stopped surviving and started living as my whole self. Every time I doubt my path, I return to that silence and remember: I am enough when I am real.

Reflective Questions for You:

1. When was the last time you felt truly at home in yourself?

2. What stories have you been performing that you’re ready to lay down?

3. What truth lives in your quiet moments?

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