It was only Tuesday, and it had already been a long week.

I was running off the feeble fumes of the week before, next to zero sleep after senior retreat, and my first-ever Celsius, kiwi guava flavored, of course. Ahead of me loomed a daunting ASL project, untouched and due the next day. As if it wasn’t enough, nine o’clock was quickly approaching, panic was starting to set in, and I just couldn’t help myself—I got in a fight with my mom.

But the icing on the cake was the realization that I’d left my entire planning sheet for my project, crucial to its completion, at school. 

It was almost the final straw.

But I was determined not to let anything stop me, to push past the very overwhelming urge to cry, to get this project done, whatever it took. So as I sat down to tackle what was turning out to be a much bigger project than I’d anticipated, I scrolled through my saved podcasts on Spotify, hoping to find something to quell the anxiety. 

The choice? Growing With The Flow by Nayna Florence.

From the instant her soothing English accent began floating from my phone’s speaker, Nayna Florence had me enchanted. 

Florence started Growing With The Flow amidst peak quarantine—December of 2020. In a structure that jumps from conversational, “chatty” episodes to episodes with more focused topics, Florence predominantly discusses her own life experience—sharing advice on one hand and simply telling stories on the other. 

I’m only seven episodes in, but as I complete low-effort homework assignments, drive to school in the mornings, or even fall asleep, I’ve reliably found myself resuming whatever episode I was in the middle of. 

Of the episodes I’ve listened to, I’ve come to prefer Florence’s more structured episodes. Her episode on veganism was particularly interesting to me, as a vegetarian who’s considered a vegan diet on more than one occasion, and I admired the way she approached the topic. Veganism can often be associated with significant shame and narrow-mindedness, but Florence was incredibly conscious of the privilege she holds that allows her to be vegan, while also laying out all the benefits of being vegan and the best ways to do it.

However, quite honestly, I could listen to Florence talk about anything—she could read the manual for my car, and I’d likely be enthralled. Her accent is simply charming, but I also love to pick up on her English vernacular. 

Perhaps what’s most alluring about Growing With The Flow is the simplicity of it. I shamelessly crave romanticized versions of my daily routines, and Florence helps me do just that by painting every mundanity in a beautiful rosy-golden light. I can only compare it to the way that the tv show Gilmore Girls makes me feel—ridiculously excited about every minute detail of life. 

Florence also places a heavy emphasis on self-acceptance and self-care. She has created a comforting space within the realm of her podcast, one that fosters growth and acceptance in tandem with each other. I feel simultaneously at peace with myself and the stage of life I’m in and motivated to cast a new light across everything I’ve become used to. 

In her reflections on life at university in Edinburgh, London, Florence has also managed to fill me with a serene enthusiasm for the next stage of my life—one that’s approaching a bit too quickly for my comfort—whatever that may be.

Growing With The Flow lines up with nearly all of my intentions for the phase of life I’m currently in, so I could not have come across it at a better time.

From that first night, allowing Growing With The Flow to drown out the stress my procrastination had caused me, I’ve been truly all in. Maybe what I love the most about this podcast isn’t Florence’s enchanting voice or her refreshing mentality when it comes to life in general; maybe it’s simply getting to know Florence as she shares the little details of her life with us.