Mother Home - Thrive True

Home, Sweet Home… Mother Earth… Pachamama. May we all feel at home where ever we may roam. ♡

‘Home’ card from ‘Soul Songs’ Inspiration Card Deck

We’ve just arrived ‘home’ after a long family road trip (to Canada & Maine) with many great discussions, including one about what the American continents were called before Europeans named them. It was nice to be able to use the internet sometimes (we were without service often as well) from my phone to look up questions when we wondered about this or that along the way. My kids especially thought the name of the town where my father-in-law’s family settled (and my husband spend part of his youth) was odd. We discussed how different words have different meanings in various languages, such as Fishkill (the town in New York). We also traveled through Quebec where much of my family lived at some point, both French and English on different sides. The kids (and my husband) were nervous about not being able to speak the language and pleasantly surprised by how much they could actually understand from the signs. Thankfully, everyone we met was very nice and also able to speak english. We did attempt a tiny bit of french, such as, “Bonjour. Parlez-vous anglais s’il vous-plait?” and “Merci beaucoup!” I also asked the lovely hotel receptionist how to say, “I wish I spoke French!” 🙂

Above Photo taken at Acadia National Park in Maine

I love the way traveling and exploring can broaden our sense of home and connection while also reminding us how little stuff we really need when living out of a car! Of course, it can be challenging to be constantly on the move, yet also quite liberating and refreshing. I’m grateful for new perspectives! We had discussions about how people used to move around more within a given area to live in harmony with nature and the seasons. The boys and I had read the ‘Birchbark House’ book/series a while ago. We remembered how the tribes would move with the harvest for maple sugar/syrup, wild rice, etc., yet also did some gardening and seed saving in areas they returned to seasonally. We really enjoyed exploring the various sea shores we came across and looking for sea life in tide pools. I love how the experiences have given my boys more ideas and details for a book they’re writing together that takes place before modern technology in an area similar to Acadia. We also collected the treasures and gifts from the sea pictured with the cards along the way!

‘Receptive’ card from ‘Soul Songs’ Inspiration Card Deck

The cards featured in this post are from the new Soul Songs inspiration card deck that I’m grateful to offer. Each card in the deck has a song or playlist associated with it. The ‘HOME’ card is also a tribute to my mom who requested the song “Our House” by Crosby, Stills, & Nash be played at her memorial celebrations. It has me thinking about all those that have been impacted by recent hurricanes and hoping they may find a haven and home where ever they may be. ♡

All books referenced in this post are listed with author information and links on the book shelf page at thrivetrue.com/bookshelf.

The inspiration card decks are now available for a pre-order special in the gift shop. 🙂

I recently did a give-away of the “Heart of Life” deck, which includes 52 cards, for one lovely email VIP! This particular give-away was reserved especially for email pen pals. Congratulations to Wendy who is the recipient! 🙂 I didn’t know anything about her when randomly selecting a name from the entries, yet after contacting her I learned that she lives in the Houston area and was impacted by the hurricane. I hope the deck will be a nourishing tool.

Here’s what Wendy had to say: “Hi Julia! Wow, this is so wonderful, especially after all the depressing news from around here over the past few weeks. We’re just north of Houston, in one of the areas that was hit by Harvey. Both my husband’s office and my workplace were flooded during the heavy rains – fortunately we can both work from home. So many people have lost everything.” ~ Wendy

I’m so glad to be able to do this little thing to brighten her day. I prayed before drawing that the person that would appreciate and benefit the most would be selected. Her name actually came out twice in a row because I had missed one entry and had to draw a second time. Meant to be! I didn’t know she was in the track of the hurricane and have been thinking about all those impacted. We used to live in Florida and went through Hurricane Andrew in the keys and later storms in south Florida. It can be so devastating and scary. My dad, many friends, and family are now in the path of hurricane Irma. I am glad that, in spite of the damage in Texas, Wendy is healthy and able to adapt. Wishing everyone in the impacted areas a safe haven during the storm, healthy recovery, and nourishment and peace after the storms.

You can sign-up to receive the occasional “Heart to heARTS” and participate in future email VIP give-aways here:

I’ll also be doing a give-away for the sweet Soul Songs deck later on social media so stay tuned! 🙂

I’ve set up a special mailing list for blog posts if you’d like to receive these via email when they are published (I won’t send duplicate emails if sending a Heart to Heart email around the same time as blog post).

May we find joy in the bittersweet art of living and loving. Please feel free to use the sharing buttons below if you know someone that might enjoy the art, blog, give-aways and other offerings. ♡