Have you ever caught yourself white-knuckling your way through a season of life, just waiting for it to be over?

I spent years doing that with fall. I dreaded it — the end of summer, the return to routine, the goodbye to all the fun and lightness. Until a few years ago when something shifted and I started to see what the season was actually trying to teach me.

This one is reflections from my morning walk with my dog, Winston, leaves crunching underfoot and just sharing what's been on my heart. Because this fall, I'm learning the lesson more deeply than ever. My mom is sick and last week I moved her into assisted living — one of the hardest weeks I've walked through. And the thing that's carried me isn't fighting the season. It's accepting it for what it is and letting go of the resistance.

In this episode:

• Why resisting a hard season often makes it heavier and more painful than it has to be
• How small routines and rituals become an anchor when everything feels out of your control
• What the trees model so beautifully every fall about surrender and the grace of letting go
• The difference between a life season I resisted and one I accepted and what that taught me
• Why being "laid bare" isn't the end of the story, but the space where new life begins

Here's the heart of it: when we stop fighting what is, we lighten our load. Letting go can be painful... but it's also beautiful and deeply healing for the soul. And just like the trees, we let go not to lose ourselves, but to make room for what was meant for us all along.

Wherever you are this season, I hope this one meets you there. 🤍

EPISODE RESOURCES

• Instagram: @a.s.grantham
• The cozy decaf fall tea latte I mention in this episode:
  • Boil water and prepare ¼ cup of roasted dandelion root tea.
  • Then blend and froth 1 cup of oat milk plus 2 teaspoons coconut sugar + ½ teaspoon cinnamon + ½ teaspoon pumpkin spice.
  • Top the tea with the frothed blend and enjoy!

That nagging voice telling you you're a bad mom? She's lying to you and she has a name.

In my last voice note about habits, I shared how I uncovered my mean inner critic and, since then, I haven’t stopped thinking about her. So I gave her a name (meet Bertha), and I went digging into all the sneaky places she's been running the show without me even noticing. What I found stopped me in my tracks: underneath almost every ounce of mom guilt I've ever felt... was Bertha.

This one's a real heart-to-heart chat about something that runs deep for every mom.

In this episode:

• How the inner critic hides in certain corners of your life and how to catch her in the areas you haven’t been looking
• My theory on the three levels of mom guilt (from the little tinge to the "I've scarred them for life" spiral)
• Two real stories of moms carrying guilt for years over things their kids don't even remember
• Why showing up imperfectly might be exactly what your kids need and what it's secretly teaching them
• The reminder I come back to again and again: you are the perfect mother for your children

Here's the heart of it: you are doing the best you can with the resources, information, and energy you have — and that is enough. The mean voice telling you otherwise? She doesn't get to decide what kind of mom you are anymore.

Come catch up with me, love. 🤍

EPISODE RESOURCES

· Instagram: @a.s.grantham

Have you ever told yourself you have no follow-through? That you just can't stick to anything so why even bother starting again?

I believed that about myself for years... until one evening in the shower I stopped and asked: is that actually true?

This is my first episode in a new, more intimate format — think less-produced, more like the voice notes you get from your best friends. And I'm kicking it off with something I had to work through in real time: the mean inner critic who kept telling me I was terrible at habits, that I'd broken my own trust, that I didn't even love myself... and the two realizations that finally shut her up.

In this episode:

• How I caught my inner critic red-handed and the one question that dismantled her whole story
• The habits I'd actually been keeping for months, years even (that I never gave myself credit for)
• Why the habits that stuck were the ones I held loosely — no streaks, no pressure, no drama
• How adding weight and meaning to a habit is often the very thing that makes it collapse
• The gentler, "do it because it feels good" approach I'm bringing to waking at 5am and exercise
• Why missing a day (or a week or a month) doesn't mean you've failed — you just... pick it back up

Here's the heart of it: you probably have more follow-through than your inner critic gives you credit for. And the secret to habits that last might not be more discipline — it might be less pressure.

Come catch up with me, love. 🤍

EPISODE RESOURCES

· Instagram: @a.s.grantham