STATE INTEGRATION & MEWho Am I?JoAnna Bennett, O'Brien Communications GroupJune 16, 2022I’m an insatiable reader, a liberal, a reflective writer, a full-time marketer, a mistake-maker, a dog/chicken/tarantula owner, a mother of two, a divorcee, a survivor, a...

UNDERSTANDING & LIFEThe Big PictureJoAnna Bennett, O'Brien Communications GroupJune 9, 2022Have you ever lost the ability to see the big picture? Have you ever faced a problem you simply couldn’t resolve? It seemed so much bigger than what you could handle. Or...

COURAGE & TEETHA Loose ToothJoAnna Bennett, O'Brien Communications GroupJune 2, 2022Last week, my daughter came home from school and did what she usually does. She ran around with her friends, ate a lot of snacks, and rode her bike up and down the driveway. It was...

PERCEPTION & TRUTH Perception vs. TruthJoAnna Bennett, O'Brien Communications GroupMay 19, 2022As Malcolm Gladwell wrote in What the Dog Saw and Other Adventures, “To a worm in horseradish, the world is horseradish.” This quote is as much about perception as...

BOOKS & LIFEAground or Afloat?JoAnna Bennett, O'Brien Communications GroupMay 12, 2022Listening to Brené Brown read her book, Atlas of the Heart, got me hooked on audio books. I enjoy listening to her podcasts, but this was more. It was hours of her reading...

About a year ago, I published a post about a practical joke I'd attempted to play on my grandson, Evan. It blew up in my face. But it didn't change me or prevent me from pulling his leg. From Wednesday, April 27, to Monday, May 2, I was with Evan (now nine years old)...

BIASES & IMPERFECTIONI'm Biased. Are You?JoAnna Bennett, O'Brien Communications GroupMay 5, 2022I read/listened to a blog post from Melissa Hughes, Ph. D. yesterday titled, Are You Biased? Is the Wrong Question. In this post she suggests, “The question is not, are...

LESSONS & BABIESLife LessonsJoAnna Bennett, O'Brien Communications GroupApril 28, 2022On April 6th – 22 days ago – one of my very best friends had a baby, a boy. She lives 138 miles away, so unfortunately, I couldn’t meet him right away. As a mother-of-two myself,...

Those of you who are masochistic enough to read my posts with any regularity may remember my first post in this series. I had no idea there would be a second one. But then Saturday happened. Before we get there, a wee bit of history first: You might recall from the...

BOOKS & RIGIDITYNo Turning BackJoAnna Bennett, O'Brien Communications GroupApril 21, 2022I’ve always been a serial reader. And by serial reader I mean I’d read one book cover-to-cover before I’d start another. Sometimes I’d get through a book quickly, but other...

I had the misfortune to stumble on an article from New York magazine's The CUT. It's ominously titled, "A Vibe Shift Is Coming: Will Any of Us Survive It?" The obvious response is, "Who cares?" But this is an article that has every intention of being taken seriously:...

LINCOLN & AMERICAIt’s Been 157 YearsJoAnna Bennett, O'Brien Communications GroupApril 14, 2022It’s April 14th. 157 years ago today, Abraham Lincoln was shot in the back of the head at Ford’s Theater. He died the next day. I imagine America was a much different...

Grandma O'Brien loved to say, "There's no sense being Irish if you can't be thick." She was right. Maybe that's why when people say, “I can’t write,” I take it as a challenge to prove them wrong. Yes, you can write. If you can think and talk, you can write. If you can...

READING & THE PASTThe 1970s Were CallingJoAnna Bennett, O'Brien Communications GroupApril 7, 2022It was the summer of 1992. I was eight years old. My mother and father – like the members of most American households – worked full time. My sister was about five...

Applebee's was in the news recently. No, not for their chicken fajitas; although, Wilbur Freemish from Burnt Scrub, Arkansas, did file a product liability suit after trying to use a skillet for a Frisbee. (He said the waiter forgot to warn him the skillet might be hot...

CAPABILITY & HARD WORKPainted CabinetsJoAnna Bennett, O'Brien Communications GroupMarch 31, 2022This weekend I painted my bottom row of cabinets. When I purchased my home about two-and-a-half years ago, I knew I’d eventually repaint the honey-stained maple...

If you're familiar with computing or software design, you know what you see is what you get (WYSIWYG because everything has to be abbreviated) is a way to edit software or system configurations without any knowledge of coding. Rather, by enabling the user to see...

PEAK & MINDFULNESSAre You at Your Peak?JoAnna Bennett, O'Brien Communications GroupMarch 24, 2022The definition of peak when used as an adjective is “greatest, maximum.” Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could operate at our maximum capacity? How would one even get...

I was reading an article the other day about the fact that the International Space Station will be decommissioned in 2031. Depending on which version of the story you choose to believe, the Space Station will burn up, be dropped into the ocean, or both. As luck would...

PROMISES & PROGRESSDiscerning My RealityJoAnna Bennett, O'Brien Communications GroupMarch 17, 2022For the past four Januarys, I’ve opted to make a promise to myself as opposed to a resolution. As Brené Brown said on one of her podcasts, “I’m not a fan of...

For several months, Anne and I have been attempting to buy a new home. From that experience, we can tell you: Everything you hear about how crazy the real-estate market is right now is true, at least in Connecticut. Buying Since we promised ourselves we wouldn’t...

STORYTELLING & BOOK FORMATSThe Audio BookJoAnna Bennett, O'Brien Communications GroupMarch 10, 2022I’ve been a visual learner for as long as I can remember. If I attended class and read the book, I was usually able to do well in school. So, it’s not surprising to...

If you're anything like me, you frequently find yourself in time-related dilemmas, from the more general stuff to forgetting what time it is, what day of the week it is, or what the date might be on any given day. And if you're anything like me, you wonder if you...

LEARNING & GROWINGEvolve or RepeatJoAnna Bennett, O'Brien Communications GroupMarch 3, 2022There’s an unattributed quote that goes, “Each day we are presented with two choices: Evolve or repeat.” Do we continue to do things the way we always have? Or do we admit...

Oh, boy! Connecticut, the state in which I live and work, now has a paid family leave program. With this headline — "Gov. Ned Lamont just signed a sweeping family and medical leave law" — here's how the Hartford Courant trumpeted this wonderful news: Gov. Ned Lamont...

LEAVES & POTENTIALI'm a WriterJoAnna Bennett, O'Brien Communications GroupFebruary 24, 2022I was listening to the podcast Back2Different with Mac Bogert last Monday. He was interviewing one my favorite people, Mark O’Brien. While they were chatting, I heard Mac...

You think you got problems? On Saturday, parts of Connecticut, including the one in which we live, experienced what was uniformly described as a snow squall event. It started at 4:15 p.m. and was over by 5:00 p.m. It was characterized by near white-out snowfall and...

WISDOM & ADWORDSUnlearningJoAnna Bennett, O'Brien Communications GroupFebruary 17, 2022Have you ever heard the phrase, but we’ve always done it that way? I have. It happens in client meetings. It happens in family systems. And it happens in politics. I get it....

You can't go anywhere, do anything, watch anything, read anything, or listen to anything of late without encountering something having to do with The Great Resignation. And anywhere you go, anything you do, anything you watch, anything you read, or anything you hear...

BOMBOGENESIS & MINDSETA Bombogenesis You Say?JoAnna Bennett, O'Brien Communications GroupFebruary 3, 2022About this same time last week, I heard the loud chatter of an upcoming blizzard. I’m not one to take anything at face value, so I took what I heard with a...

This is shaping up to be tough sledding for the climate changists. After last week's news about cooling at the earth's core, there was this jarring headline from USA TODAY: "'Once-in-a-decade' winter storm to blast Southeast with snow, sleet, freezing rain". The...

PARADISE & PRESENCEHere Comes The SunJoAnna Bennett, O'Brien Communications GroupJanuary 27, 2022December 21st, 2021, was the Winter Solstice – or the shortest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere. It’s the shortest day of the year because the Earth reaches...

Last week was a banner week for the Panic Industry. On Tuesday, January 18th, Newsweek published an article called, "Earth's Core Is Cooling Faster Than Expected, Creating Uncertain Future for Planet". I'm telling ya, kids. This is exactly what we needed. If the only...

REMEMBERING DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.Reactive or Conscious?JoAnna Bennett, O'Brien Communications GroupJanuary 20, 2022The definition of reactive is “done in immediate response to something especially without thinking or planning.” A few antonyms of reactive are...

Unless you were otherwise preoccupied this past weekend, you may know an underwater volcano erupted off of Tonga on Saturday: On Friday, the volcano sent ash, steam and gas up to 20 km (12 miles) into the air, Tonga Geological Services said in a Facebook post. It has...

REFLECTION & ACCEPTANCEWinterJoAnna Bennett, O'Brien Communications GroupJanuary 13, 2022It’s finally starting to get cold in the Northeastern part of the U.S. where I reside. We had our first snowfall last Thursday night and, ever since, I can feel the air has...

PROMISES & PROGRESSIt’s 2022 Folks!JoAnna Bennett, O'Brien Communications GroupJanuary 6, 2022In 2019, I started the annual practice of making myself a promise as opposed to a resolution. As each year progressed, it was satisfying to check in with myself and see...

If you're anything like me, the month or so of meaningless college football bowl games that starts on the Fourth of July and goes through Flag Day gets to be interminably monotonous and boringly predictable. But because I'm not inclined to take any chances, I bought...

BIRTHDAYS & GRATITUDEFour Years AgoJoAnna Bennett, O'Brien Communications Group30 December 2021Four years ago today, I was sitting in a hospital room as a newly labeled mother of two. It was a Saturday, the day after my son was born. And I was in a hazy,...

Since we've gotten past Christmas — but we still have the New Year holiday to go — the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Schools Undertaking Coronavirus Knowledge, Epidmiologic Research Specialization (SUCKERS) have identified yet another strain of...

PERFORMING & JOYMerry ChristmasJoAnna Bennett, O'Brien Communications Group23 December 2021I grew up regularly attending a Roman Catholic church. I was an active Youth Group member. I was one of the first alter girls allowed in my parish. And I was in the Church...

I went to Dunkin’ (the coffee joint formerly known as Dunkin’ Donuts) Saturday morning to get breakfast sandwiches for Anne and me. “Who cares!” I hear you cry. I actually don’t blame you for wondering. But this turned out to be a faith-affirming visit. I pulled into...

CHRISTMAS & FAMILYChristmas CookiesJoAnna Bennett, O'Brien Communications Group16 December 2021While driving to the doctor’s office the other day with my son in tow, we discussed our upcoming plans for the weekend. I told him I wanted to make Christmas cookies....

teamwork (noun)1. cooperative or coordinated effort on the part of a group of persons acting together as a team or in the interests of a common cause2. work done with a team And, So, It Begins From September of 1987 to June of 1995, I worked for an organization that...

TRUST & PROMISESTrusting MeJoAnna Bennett, O'Brien Communications Group9 December 2021In January of this year, instead of making a resolution, I made myself a promise. I promised I would learn to trust myself. I’ve trusted people I shouldn’t have for as long as I...

I recently read an article in Risk Management Monitor about remarks made by Bruce Carnegie-Brown, Chairman of Lloyd’s, at the recent RIMS ERM Conference in New York City, on the role of risk management in fighting climate change. I almost stopped reading after I saw...

PARASYMPATHETIC & SYMPATHETIC NERVOUS SYSTEMSRest and DigestJoAnna Bennett, O'Brien Communications Group2 December 2021It’s a bit difficult to believe Thanksgiving was already one week ago today. But it was. It’s also a bit difficult to believe Christmas is only...