Phillip Berry | Orient Yourself

Remember the KISS principle? Keep It Simple Stupid was a Navy design mantra in the 60’s, reportedly born out of the legendary Lockheed Skunk Works. The basic idea is to avoid unnecessary complexity whenever possible and to always be looking for ways to simplify systems, processes, products, etc. Most reading this post have grown up […]

The way to read a fairy tale is to throw yourself in. W.H. Auden Sally and I recently had the opportunity to spend a few days in Vermont, where autumn has appeared in all it’s glory. Cooler temperatures, moody clouds, shorter days, and a cascade of fall colors across mountain slopes, combined to create a […]

Time keeps on slippin’ slippin’ slippin’Into the future Steve Miller Band, Fly Like an Eagle Was it just a year ago that our bulldog died? Has the pandemic really only been going for 18 months? Am I really 52 years old? What is it about time that is so incredibly deceptive? The joys fly by […]

Where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every foul practice. James 3:16 “I hear you’re a man of faith, do you mind if I say a prayer before we eat?” So began a recent breakfast meeting. I had never met him before, but our conversation went in many directions: business, family, politics, […]

Why do we always complicate things? For ourselves. For others. For the world. True, it is a complex world. It is a world of possibilities. Choices. Directions. Decisions. Unknowns. However, our tendency is to fuel the complexity. We gyrate on decisions. We thrash through options. We agonize over possibilities. Why? Desire. What we want drives […]

The headline read: “The Importance of Self-Discipline.” For some reason, it really struck me, as I thought, “Do we need an article telling us about the importance of self-discipline?” I didn’t bother reading the article, after all, I’ve heard all this before, right? Yes, I have. However, I couldn’t stop thinking about self-discipline. I took […]

I recently finished re-reading The Lord of the Rings Trilogy. I don’t remember when I first came across the stories or the last time I read the series, perhaps 40 years ago. I loved the movies and have enjoyed the deeper dive into the characters, their tragedies and their triumphs, through the rich language Tolkien […]

We love big moments. We live for the Grand Slam, the Hail Mary, and the overnight success. Of course, the big moments don’t spontaneously happen. Even the lottery winner had to walk down to the store to buy his ticket. Why is change so hard? Why is progress so slow? Why do I have to […]

Oh, mirror in the skyWhat is love?Can the child within my heart rise above?Can I sail through the changin’ ocean tides?Can I handle the seasons of my life? Stevie Nicks, Landslide “This moment is singular,” I thought as I looked around the room. Small groups of mourners were aggregating and disbanding as they awkwardly greeted […]

Sundown, yellow moon, I replay the pastI know every scene by heart, they all went by so fast Bob Dylan Our world has a natural ebb and flow to it. The tides come in and retreat, rhythmically, predictably. The seasons come and they go, moving us with them as change comes to everything we know. […]