"We Need to Talk"

Meet Julie Thomas. After years of teaching about emotional resilience, Julie shares discoveries that will change your life. Plus, her collection of highly personal, handmade fortunes.

I believe I’m a fount of eternal hope, an empath and a motivational speaker.

I believe everything will be ok.

Prior to the pandemic, I would fly around the country and teach others how to be emotionally resilient and avoid burnout. I’ve always been a teacher at heart and wanted to share my discoveries, even the smallest ones.

Many are simple enough to implement in your daily life.

One of the several handmade fortunes Julie has made to wear in her Turning Corners locket.

Treat yourself like you treat the most loved person in your life.

Make your emotional health a priority. 

We all need to spread more love. But it’s difficult to do that if you’re burnt out and don’t have any energy to give to others.

Reset your adrenal system and get rid of the stress hormones in your body.

Go outside a half-hour a day or 3 hours a week. Laugh every day, listen to music.

Separate yourself physically and mentally from the source of stress.

Only talk about work when working.

With everyone working at home, you have to have an end-of-day ritual that tells your brain, work is over and now I'm just me. Not work me.

The more you process your work at work, the less you will drag it home with you.

Home needs to be a sacred, safe, peaceful place.

We need to talk.

It is vital not to bottle up the trauma, events or emotions that you see and experience every day. It can truly take a toll on one’s mental health.

Talk to someone you trust, talk to yourself, speak out loud. Let your voice be heard. Your brain needs to hear your voice verbalize your thoughts and feelings. It is a release we could all use.

As you share, you unload your emotional distress and you are able to channel that affliction and turn it into motivation. You create the life you wish to live. 

Forming healthy habits like these is so important for your own well-being.

With each day I'm healing.

About five years ago my son told me I should redesign my blog. He came up with a new name for it: Organize Your Soul. 

It’s dedicated to inspiring others to invest in their emotional health and well-being. He felt the new name encompassed everything I do. 

Just months later, he was killed in downtown LA. Losing him is still hard for me to bear. 

My daughters and my sisters kept me going, as did my fundamental belief that I could—and should—survive to honor him and help my girls. 

Diving into the blog reminds me of him. I haven't written much on it since he died, but with each day I'm healing. 

I recently discovered Fortune & Frame. 

I purchased the Turning Corners Fortune Locket and have been creating my own fortunes, keeping them close and glancing at them when I need inspiration.

I was inspired by how customizable the piece is and have used everything from colored pencils, and tiny stickers to extra fine permanent black pens, white gel pens and watercolors. I write down my encouraging quotes and draw representative pictures on small colored card stock.

I've always taken anything I buy or do and made it my own. I wanted a keepsake piece for my own art. I need lots of color in my life, and Fortune & Frame seemed like a perfect way to keep a touch of inspiration close to my heart.

This little necklace is a beacon of light and motivation for me when I need it most; my greatest inspirational tool.

I find myself holding onto the locket when I'm thinking and look down at the word or message in it and it helps ground me.

I change my fortune based on my mood. 

Sometimes the same one stays in all day and other times I've made one in the middle of the day because the day took a left turn.

Each day brings a new challenge, a new goal, a new accomplishment to be made. My fortune is based on whatever I need to be motivated to achieve. 

Trust.

This word encourages me to continue to trust myself and my capabilities.

It speaks to me, telling me to ‘trust’ the decisions I have made throughout my life.

Life is funny.

Change comes from embracing your future, not fighting your past.

We are faced with many decisions throughout life, major and minor.

Each of those past decisions have built the lives we live today. And the choices we make today will help shape the future we live tomorrow.

We will all be okay, every last one of us. We will evolve into the individuals we were destined to become and grow stronger as one. 

Change is the one constant in life.

Right now, my ‘change’ fortune reminds me that it’s ok to realize what you once thought was true, isn't anymore. It’s never too late to change.

The last year has brought about so much change for all of us, in various forms. Through good and bad, I know the human race will make it. My loved ones will make it. I will make it.

Change is growth. We experience change each day, physically, emotionally and mentally. Many of our thoughts and beliefs may have experienced a lot of change lately.

Change is about being flexible and willing to grow, challenging yourself and your internal belief system.

I believe that we create our own beautiful moments.

Even in the darkest of days, you can always find the light. 

For myself, I have found happiness in my own beautiful moments this year.

I met the love of my life. Someone I wish to share the rest of my life with, through good and bad times.

Let ‘yes’ be the answer already.

My most recent and favorite fortune. Lately, life is so negative.

So many horrible things happening and people suffering unnecessarily—being hurt and killed for just existing.

'Yes' is a mantra that brings some joy and inspiration into my life. It is the reassurance I need when I’m overwhelmed with doubt.

My boyfriend is having major surgery and this small word draws me into a future with him. A little existential, I know, but ‘yes’ brings me comfort and confidence, when thinking about the uncertainty the future holds.

There is so much power in the word ‘Yes’.

It’s a signal we give to the universe; permission for things to go the way we want. Yes gives us the strength to reset ourselves and reclaim our confidence in shadows of doubt.

“Yes”, I am going to make a better life for myself.

These are the affirmations I live by.

I have found indescribable joy in creating my own fortunes. It keeps me grounded and puts a smile on my face each day.

They motivate me with each passing day.