Phillip Berry | Orient Yourself

Happy Mother’s Day! How about a different take today as we celebrate this wonderful holiday and the amazing moms in our lives? A favorite movie of the women in my family is the 2005 version of Pride and Prejudice, starring Keira Knightley as Elizabeth Bennett. (Full confession: I like it as well.) At the very […]

Does anyone go to the movies anymore? For some reason, Sally and I have been experiencing a bit of a movie renaissance, or at least a rebirth of our interest in attending them. When we were younger, we went weekly as it was one of our primary entertainments. Judging by the number and age of […]

We are obsessed with the extraordinary. Extraordinary accomplishments. Extraordinary intelligence. Extraordinary experiences. Extraordinary wealth. Extraordinary beauty. Extraordinary danger. Extraordinary behavior. Extraordinary pleasure. Extraordinary evil. We can’t get enough of the extremes. If one looks at headlines, magazine and book titles, or the movies we watch, it would seem that no one is interested in the […]

As I write this post, the moon is full, illuminating the night with its reflection of the day to come. Soon, the sun will announce its appearance with the first glow on the horizon. Today is Easter, the Christian celebration of Jesus Christ’s Resurrection. It seems a good time to talk about hope. But first, […]

Fairy tales do not tell children the dragons exist. Children already know that dragons exist. Fairy tales tell children the dragons can be killed. G.K. Chesterton Sally and I recently took the time to listen to a fairy tale entitled The Princess and the Goblin by George MacDonald. Why? Perhaps it was a twitch on […]

I recently had the opportunity to watch the 2018 version of A Star is Born featuring Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga. I was first introduced to the story with the 1976 version starring Barbara Streisand and Kris Kristofferson and must confess to being fascinated by the plot and these movies. The 2018 version of the […]

I wrote the post below 12 months ago and was recently reminded of it as I listened to the song Never Enough from The Greatest Showman. When one can have anything he or she wants with the click of a mouse, what constitutes “enough?” Whether it’s food, drink, money, security, recognition, attention, things, or even […]

We’re a nation of fighters. From our very founding, we’ve fought for independence, individual rights, safety, influence, control, selfish interests, altruistic interests, religious freedom, and self determination. Our brawling political system remains as antagonistic as ever and our society has evolved incredibly effective tools to enable us to confront each other at pretty much every […]

Our most valuable possessions are those which can be shared without lessening: those which, when shared, multiply. Our least valuable possessions are those which, when divided, are diminished. William Danforth, I Dare You! A Lesson in Ukraine As we watch events unfolding in the Ukraine with increasing disgust, we struggle to understand “why?” Greed? Power? […]

It would take me years of reading, thought, and experience to learn again that in this world limits are not only inescapable but indispensable. Wendell Berry We actually went to a movie theater this week-end. Remember those? Though we love the convenience of our instant access world, there is still something magical about watching a […]