Tricia Rose Burt

Speaker. Storyteller. Coach.

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Movies That Soothe Our Souls

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Last week I visited Jamestown, Rhode Island to visit a dear friend, smell the salt air, and marvel at the horizon line — New Hampshire is beautiful but there are too many trees for this Gulf Coast of Florida girl. Over dinner, we talked about our favorite movies, specifically that go-to movie when we are feeling down. The movie that brings us comfort, kind of like mash potatoes or a pint of ice cream, when our lives and the world seem too unmanageable.

For my friend’s husband, it was Caddy Shack. For me, it was Sense and Sensibility (Emma Thompson’s screenplay). For my dear friend, it was the Italian film Cinema Paradiso. We have always been close, but at that moment, we became even closer — mutual love of a particular movie can do that, you know — and since she always has the DVD at the ready, we promptly went home and watched it. Again.

The Oscar winner for Best Foreign Film in 1989, the movie follows a young Italian boy, his dreams to make movies, and his relationship with his stand-in father, the projectionist at the Cinema Paradiso, the small movie house in his village. The soundtrack by Ennio Morricone is transcendent and frankly, makes you want to go kiss someone. If you have never seen Cinema Paradiso, rent the movie, or download it from Netflicks, or whatever it is we do these days to see films. Nothing in theaters this summer compares, and as more tragic news fills our days, we all need places of respite to soothe our souls. For those of you who’ve never seen the movie, here’s a taste to whet your appetite and for those of you who have, a chance to make you laugh/cry again. And tell me please — what is your comfort movie?

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Lessons from a Navy Hero

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Some years ago, I attended a panel discussion composed of various artists talking about their careers. One of the panelists was a man named David Carroll. A New Hampshire resident, David is an American naturalist, author of six books, and illustrator who had just received a MacArthur Grant after more than 30 years of painstaking work where he made barely enough money to survive. In talking about his life as an artist, he spoke words I have never forgotten: “You just hope you get a break before it breaks you.” Needless to say, it resonated. [Read more…] about Lessons from a Navy Hero

The Meaning is in the Waiting*

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We are all waiting for something. This week a dear friend waited for the results of her husband’s cardiac tests, only to find herself waiting the next day for the results of his emergency triple bypass surgery. Now they are waiting for pain relief, which thankfully is arriving. My niece is waiting for her big October wedding.  My husband is waiting for a work project to be over. We are waiting for the phone to ring, the parts to come in, the hard work to pay off so we can pay for the parts.

[Read more…] about The Meaning is in the Waiting*