Endeavorance

The point of our blog isn’t to show you how up to date we are with buzzwords and jargon. It isn’t to instruct you with how-to guides, tips, tricks, and hacks. It isn’t to encourage, endorse, or engage in conformity. The point of our blog is to provoke, to counter popular notions, to question the status quo, to prompt your imagination, and to challenge you to think and achieve more than you might otherwise. Whatever happens, it’s worth the endeavor.

Endeavorance

The point of our blog isn’t to show you how up to date we are with buzzwords and jargon. It isn’t to instruct you with how-to guides, tips, tricks, and hacks. It isn’t to encourage, endorse, or engage in conformity. The point of our blog is to provoke, to counter popular notions, to question the status quo, to prompt your imagination, and to challenge you to think and achieve more than you might otherwise. Whatever happens, it’s worth the endeavor.

Haint Blue

Haint Blue

HAINTS & GHOSTSHaint BlueJoAnna Bennett, O'Brien Communications Group8 July 2021In January of 2011, I was a bridesmaid in a wedding in beautiful Key West, Florida. The bridal party traveled down a few days early to get to know one another and enjoy the beautiful...

Don’t Let the Door Hit You ….

Don’t Let the Door Hit You ….

I was holding out hope, however faint or desperate, that Harvard Business Review (HBR) would take the summer off. No such luck. I don't really know how HBR manages to stockpile so much of the self-evident and otherwise boneheaded stuff it insists on throwing at us and...

Sunflower Season

Sunflower Season

SYMBOLISM & SUNFLOWERSSunflower SeasonJoAnna Bennett, O'Brien Communications Group1 July 2021It’s officially sunflower season. I walked outside on Tuesday morning and noticed the first bud opened into a glorious sunflower. The sunflowers started to pop out of the...

Know Your Audience

Know Your Audience

The title of this post is the first rule of communication. It's also sometimes the hardest to remember, especially if you're an inveterate practical joker. When my sons were growing up, I played innumerable jokes on them, concocted stories, said crazy things for...

The Monday Morning Quarterback

The Monday Morning Quarterback

HINDSIGHT & TENACITYThe Monday Morning QuarterbackJoAnna Bennett, O'Brien Communications Group24 June 2021Have you ever read an article or watched a TV segment and proclaimed you would have done things differently from the way they were done in what you saw or...

Our Feelings

Our Feelings

FEELINGS & EMOTIONSOur FeelingsJoAnna Bennett, O'Brien Communications Group17 June 2021A feeling is defined as an emotional state or reaction. An emotion is defined as a natural instinctive state of mind deriving from one's circumstances, mood, or relationships...

One of Those Days

One of Those Days

ROSES & THORNSOne of Those DaysJoAnna Bennett, O'Brien Communications Group10 June 2021Ever have one of those days? You know, the ones in which everything seems to go wrong. I had one recently. I woke up feeling a bit sick but still had to wake up and get my kids...

Peaceful Success

Peaceful Success

PERSONALITY & SUCCESSPeaceful SuccessJoAnna Bennett, O'Brien Communications Group3 June 2021In 1997, Richard Carlson, Ph.D., published a book titled, Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff … and it’s all small stuff. As he explains in the introduction to the book, he...

It’s Contagious!

It’s Contagious!

I haven't seen any official announcements yet. But recent evidence indicates Harvard Business Review (HBR) and The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) may be joining forces. At the very least, WSJ seems to have caught whatever inanity has been plaguing HBR for years, causing it...

My Tiny Little Peninsula

My Tiny Little Peninsula

BEACH & CHANGESMy Tiny Little PeninsulaJoAnna Bennett, O'Brien Communications Group27 May 2021It takes about seven minutes to drive to my favorite beach from my front door. It’s one of those beaches that only locals know about. It’s a beautiful peninsula...

My Gardening Faux Pas

My Gardening Faux Pas

MYSTERY & GROWTHMy Gardening Faux PasJoAnna Bennett, O'Brien Communications Group20 May 2021I’ve lived in my humble home for more than a year now and have finally reached the point at which I can plant my vegetable and flower garden. You might remember a couple...

Mr. Golden Sun

Mr. Golden Sun

THE SUN & POWERMr. Golden SunJoAnna Bennett, O'Brien Communications Group13 May 2021A few years back, I read a book about personal growth and learning how to make hard decisions. One part of the book suggested I think of something that made me feel powerful. And I...

Whitewash

Whitewash

PAINTING & MANIPULATIONWhitewashJoAnna Bennett, O'Brien Communications Group6 May 2021This weekend I took on the task of whitewashing the wooden privacy fence in my backyard. When I bought my home, there was a decrepit old shed in the corner of the yard. This past...

Little Lavender

Little Lavender

PLANTS & LIFELittle LavenderJoAnna Bennett, O'Brien Communications Group29 April 2021 About six weeks ago, my children and I planted some seeds. We each picked three kinds, so we ended up with nine different varieties. And boy were we successful! Each seed grew into a...

My Favorite Colors

My Favorite Colors

RED & CORALMy Favorite ColorsJoAnna Bennett, O'Brien Communications Group22 April 2021What’s your favorite color? I have two. I have my 12-count box of crayons favorite color. And my 64-count box of crayons favorite color. Wait. What? I’ll explain my thinking....

Sometimes

Sometimes

LESSONS & SEEDLINGSSometimesJoAnna Bennett, O'Brien Communications Group15 April 2021Sometimes things work out. And sometimes they don’t. Sometimes the sun shines brightly. And sometimes it doesn’t. Sometimes we feel confident in our work. And sometimes we’re...

Here We Go Again

Here We Go Again

SUNFLOWERS & SPRINGHere We Go AgainJoAnna Bennett, O'Brien Communications Group8 April 2021Last year, I grew a pretty impressive sunflower forest. Sometime in August, a neighborhood girl and I counted more than 200 buds on the sunflower stalks. Most of the flowers...

My First Quarter of Trust

My First Quarter of Trust

TRUST & LEARNINGMy First Quarter of TrustJoAnna Bennett, O'Brien Communications Group1 April 2021In each of the last three years, instead of making a New Year’s resolution, I made myself a promise. This year, I promised to learn how to trust myself. Since the...

The Vernal Equinox

The Vernal Equinox

SPRING & LIFEThe Vernal EquinoxJoAnna Bennett, O'Brien Communications Group25 March 2021It’s official. Spring has sprung! If you’re anything like me, you can’t get the idea of new growth out of your head. I’ve already started digging out the site of this year’s...

Icy Emerald

Icy Emerald

GOLD COINS & HIJINCKSIcy EmeraldJoAnna Bennett, O'Brien Communications Group18 March 2021The sun wouldn’t rise for a few hours, but she was up early today. She didn’t need an alarm clock. She’d been waiting for this day for an entire year. She stretched her arms...

Ground Your Brand. Ground Yourself.

Ground Your Brand. Ground Yourself.

GROUNDING & BRANDINGGround Your Brand. Ground Yourself.JoAnna Bennett, O'Brien Communications Group11 March 2021A marketing rule I’ve become familiar with over the years is this: In order to effectively promote your brand to the outside world, you must first...

Woof, Woof

Woof, Woof

PETS & PERSONALITYWoof, WoofJoAnna Bennett, O'Brien Communications Group4 March 2021As far as I’m concerned, there are four types of people in this world. They are dog people, cat people, dog and cat people, and others. Since I’m allergic to cats and therefore...

Define Your Expectations

Define Your Expectations

EXPECTATIONS & SELF-FAITHDefine Your ExpectationsJoAnna Bennett, O'Brien Communications Group25 February 2021Expectations are natural. They’re important. And they’re essential for defining any relationship. That’s why most business relationships start with an...

Bea’s Balloons

Bea’s Balloons

BALLOONS & BONUS GRANDMASBea's BaloonsJoAnna Bennett, O'Brien Communications Group18 February 2021I grew up in the house my mother and her siblings grew up in. It was a cookie-cutter suburban, cape-cod-style home built in 1951. The house to the right of it –...

COVID-19 – Quarantine Day 332

COVID-19 – Quarantine Day 332

PROBLEMS & PERCEPTIONSCOVID-19 – Quarantine Day 332JoAnna Bennett, O'Brien Communications Group11 February 2021I remember obsessively refreshing my Johns Hopkin’s COVID-19 dashboard day after day in early March. As the numbers creeped up past 400,000 confirmed...

Some Snow and The Joes

Some Snow and The Joes

SNOW & THE SNOW JOE Some Snow and The Joes JoAnna Bennett, O'Brien Communications Group4 February 2021 I live in the Northeastern United States. And this week we had what we like to call a nor’easter. This has nothing to do with a bunny breaking in our house a few...

Human Error

Human Error

ERRORS & ADMISSIONS Human Error JoAnna Bennett, O'Brien Communications Group28 January 2021 Have you ever been lying down looking at your phone, when out of nowhere it plops right into your nose? You’re aimlessly scrolling through your newsfeed, then BAM! You’re...

Forgive to Trust

Forgive to Trust

TRUST & LOVE Forgive to TrustJoAnna Bennett, O'Brien Communications Group21 January 2021 This year I made a promise to learn how to trust myself. But how do you learn to trust yourself when you’ve been conditioned to believe you make poor choices, you’re...

The Floor is Lava

The Floor is Lava

GAMES & LIFE The Floor is LavaJoAnna Bennett, O'Brien Communications Group14 January 2021 From time to time, I like to ask the smartest person in my house for blog topic ideas. If you know anything about my family, you’ll know I’m referring to my beautiful...

Hocus Pocus

Hocus Pocus

Working, as we do, with so many providers of software and services to the insurance industry (among others), we take particular delight and morbid interest in seeing the various ... uh ... research reports and their supporting graphics that come from the so-called and...

An Incogitant Thinker

An Incogitant Thinker

THOUGHTLESS & THOUGHTFUL An Incogitant ThinkerJoAnna Bennett, O'Brien Communications Group7 January 2021 Once upon a time, there was a man named Bartholomew Brown. He was an avid thinker. We’ll define thinker as one who regularly used his mind to consider or...

I Feel Like We Need to Stop Saying I Feel Like

I Feel Like We Need to Stop Saying I Feel Like

The phrase, I feel like, has become another blight on the language. It's the equivalent of a synaptic knee-jerk. It's something to fill time and conversational space, without thinking, in the hope that the person or people with whom you're speaking won't be able to...

Inherent Trust

Inherent Trust

PROMISES & TRUST Inherent Trust JoAnna Bennett, O'Brien Communications Group31 December 2020 I renounced making new year’s resolutions in 2019. This will be the third year I make myself a promise as opposed to a resolution. Resolutions tend to be superficial. And...

Peace, Love, and Joy

Peace, Love, and Joy

MERRY CHRISTMAS Peace, Love, and Joy JoAnna Bennett, O'Brien Communications Group24 December 2020 The following poem adorned the back of my Christmas cards. This year may not have brought me more streams of income, dream vacations, or new acquaintances. But it did...

Things Go Better With COKE

Things Go Better With COKE

Jack Dorsey, co-founder and CEO of Twitter, was born 13 years after "Things Go Better With Coke" was adopted by Coca Cola as its promotional slogan in 1963. And he was born seven years after it was retired by Coca Cola in favor of "It's the Real Thing". Nevertheless,...

The Important Questions

The Important Questions

This year has been one of distraction and disorientation. With the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, myriad questions have been part of our daily lives: Are we going to die? Are we even going to get sick? If masks prevent the spread of the virus, why do we have to...

A New Tradition

A New Tradition

TRADITION & REBIRTH A New TraditionJoAnna Bennett, O'Brien Communications Group10 December 2020 tra·di·tion - /trəˈdiSH(ə)n/ - the transmission of customs or beliefs from generation to generation, or the fact of being passed on in this way. I’ve been using the...

Meteorologically Speaking

Meteorologically Speaking

I was listening to a podcast the other day. Hosted by a local news and sportscaster, the podcast featured a local meteorologist. Said meteorologist had formerly been the Chief Meteorologist at one of the local TV stations, until he committed the cardinal sin of making...

A Thrill of Hope

A Thrill of Hope

HOLIDAYS & CONTROL A Thrill of HopeJoAnna Bennett, O'Brien Communications Group3 December 2020 Steve Maraboli, the author of Life, the Truth, and Being Free, said, “Incredible change happens in your life when you decide to take control of what you do have power...

Boxed In

Boxed In

If you happened to stay away from your TV and keep 50 bucks in your pocket last Saturday night, you missed the sad spectacle of two fat guys in their 50s conducting a series of sad, two-minute dances in a boxing ring in Las Vegas. As Roseanne Roseannadanna loved to...

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving

FAMILY & TRADITIONS Happy ThanksgivingJoAnna Bennett, O'Brien Communications Group25 November 2020 We arrive about 2:00 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day. I walk in the door of my Aunt Catherine’s marble and polished-mahogany kitchen, and the aroma of Thanksgiving fills my...

Gather, Comprehend, and Share

Gather, Comprehend, and Share

THE BEE, THE DEER, & THE LIONGather, Comprehend, and ShareJoAnna Bennett, O'Brien Communications Group19 November 2020I was recently turned onto a Tibetan text that stopped me in my tracks. It’s from the Dzogchen scriptures, and is translated as follows: As a bee...

A Modern Woman in Search of Resolve

A Modern Woman in Search of Resolve

HISTORY & EMOTIONS A Modern Woman in Search of ResolveJoAnna Bennett, O'Brien Communications Group12 November 2020 I’ve been feeling rather flummoxed these days. At times I’ve been excited, relieved, anxious, nervous, elated, and aggravated. I’m a full person and...

My Tiny Teacher

My Tiny Teacher

LISTENING & LEARNINGMy Tiny TeacherJoAnna Bennett, O'Brien Communications Group5 November 2020I’m staring at my laptop. My fingers are resting softly on the keyboard, but I’m not typing. I’m thinking, “What will my blog post be about this week?” There is much...

Worth Our Respective Whiles

Worth Our Respective Whiles

RELATIONSHIPS & CONFERENCES Worth Our Respective WhilesJoAnna Bennett, O'Brien Communications Group29 October 2020 When I stepped out of the airplane on the tarmac of Nashville International Airport, I could feel the temperature was thirty degrees warmer than the...

Musical Discoveries

Musical Discoveries

If you're an excitable boy like me, you can get really juiced over headlines. This one, for example, grabbed me by the tonsils: "Scientists discover new organ in the throat." My first thought, of course, was that someone had found a new, original Hammond B3 organ in...

Happiness

Happiness

COMPASSION & HONESTY HappinessJoAnna Bennett, O'Brien Communications Group22 October 2020 fear seeks control revenge prolongs pain animosity disrupts peace compassion ignites healing honesty releases burdens happiness is letting go   -yung pueblo   Have...