Mother McIntosh

Mother McIntosh is BACK, baby! A year older, a little wiser, and apparently still finding ways to turn an ordinary walk with my dog into a full existential experience.

This week, we’re talking about rain. Yes, actual rain. But also the storms we convince ourselves are coming just because we’ve seen those clouds before. We’re catching up on life, celebrating some anniversaries, listening to jazz, sharing a little poetry, and learning that sometimes courage isn’t knowing the sun will come out. It’s trusting yourself to make it through the rain.

So get cozy, and come hang out with me. I’ve missed you <3

And remember, sometimes you gotta get a little wet💋

It’s been a little over two months… and goodness, I’ve missed you.

In this episode, we’re catching up on where I’ve been mentally these last few months and a realization that completely changed the way I look at hard seasons. Somewhere between feeling disconnected, convincing myself I was a burden, getting stuck in my own head, and somehow always ending up in the only lane that wasn’t backed up with traffic, one sentence landed:

It’s just my turn.

We talk about loneliness, why it always feels like we’re the only person in the world struggling, how easy it is to accidentally build a house in a season you were only meant to visit, and why I think we sometimes hold onto our turn for far too long simply because we forget the wheel is supposed to rotate.

If you’ve been waiting to feel “better enough” before letting yourself be loved, laughing with your friends again, or saying yes to life… this one’s for you.

This episode is about belonging.

I talk about how I almost joined the military last year and truly thought it was the path I was supposed to take. I had the scores, the physical, the job picked out, the support, the direction. On paper, it made complete sense. But when it came time to actually go, something in me just… wouldn’t move.

And after months of wondering if I had walked away from something important, I finally realized it wasn’t the military I was craving. It was community. It was people. It was a place to belong.

I had convinced myself there was nothing for me in Cincinnati. But once I stopped trying to escape and started asking myself what I could build here, everything changed.

This episode is about poetry night, grief, moving out on my own, feeling different, creating spaces for people to show up exactly as they are, and the realization that maybe community isn’t always something you find. Sometimes it’s something you create.

And if you’re in Cincinnati and want to experience the room that inspired this episode:

Poetry Night: The Listening Room

First Monday of every month

@ CobbleStone OTR

8:30pm ☕️🕯️💌

Sometimes the best part happens… and then what?

In this episode, I’m talking about the weird little urge I’ve noticed in myself to skip ahead the second something stops feeling peak. Like when your favorite part of the song passes and suddenly you’re ready for the next one. Or when dinner is still so good, but you’re already thinking about dessert. Or when life gets quiet after something beautiful and instead of letting it deepen… we go looking for the next hit.

This one is about what happens after the high.

The part we usually rush through.

The slower moments.

The in-between.

The rest of the song.

Maybe the space after the “best part” isn’t empty.

Maybe it’s just asking us to stay a little longer.

If you’ve been craving more presence, more fullness, and less emotional fast-forwarding… this one’s for you.

Today’s jazz: “Blame It on My Youth” by Brad Mehldau ☕️🎹

Come sit with me for a minute.

And maybe… 👀 let it play :)

Sex gets talked about like it’s the greatest experience a human being can have. So good that people are constantly saying something else was “better than sex.” But what does that actually mean?

In this episode I talk about growing up hearing sex described like some mythical event, losing my virginity at 23, working in a strip club surrounded by sexual energy, and what stepping away from sex for a while started to reveal to me. Somewhere in the middle of all of that, a realization appeared that I didn’t see coming.

What if the thing people think they’re chasing through sex… isn’t sex at all?

And what if that feeling exists in far more places than we’ve been taught to look?

Love isn’t something we earn. What we earn is access.

Welcome to Mother McIntosh. This is Kennedi speaking!

This is the final part of the Lover’s Series, and today we’re sitting with a realization that can change the way we move through relationships…

Love is not a currency! It isn’t something we have to earn from each other, because love is something we have an abundance of. What we protect is our time, our attention, and the closeness we allow people into. This episode is a reflection on boundaries, self respect, and how to stay soft while loving wisely.

Last year, I fell in love for the first time. And even though it ended, I wouldn’t take it back. Not for a second.

For part 2 of the Lover’s Series, I reflect on what love actually taught me. That love shouldn’t cost you yourself. That real love brings out your grounded best, not your chaos. That something can be deeply meaningful without being permanent. And that romantic love is powerful, but it’s never the only place love lives.

This isn’t a warning story or a breakup sermon. It’s a love letter. To what was real. To what was learned. And to the kind of love that changes you without breaking you.

Hello my love :) Welcome to Pt. 1 of the Lover’s series!!

Today we’re talking about love, patience, and why some things taste fine until you finally experience what’s actually meant for you. I use the ritual of making the perfect mug of tea to talk about waiting, steeping, fantasizing, and learning how to stop settling for what’s just warm enough.

This episode is about realizing you can love things that aren’t right for you, and still choose to make room for something better. About how the waiting isn’t empty time, it’s the part where you learn what you actually want. The part where excitement builds. The part where clarity shows up.

If all you have right now is time, let it steep.

After the tears dry and the noise settles, you’re still here.

And the question becomes: how do you live inside yourself now?

In this episode, we talk about what it means to come home to your body after survival and release. About movement, stretching, listening, and letting your body lead you back to yourself when your mind feels tired of trying to figure everything out.

This isn’t about fixing yourself or becoming someone new.

It’s about slowing down, softening, and remembering that your body has always known how to hold you.

If you’ve been feeling open but ungrounded, emotional but untethered, or like you cracked something open and aren’t sure where to land, then this conversation is for you.

Get comfortable. Take a breath.

You’re safe to be here :)

Crying is not something that needs to be fixed.

It’s communication.

In this episode, I talk about tears. Not just the painful ones, but the tears that come from awe, love, connection, and being alive.

For most of my life, crying only meant something was wrong. Until one moment changed how I understood it forever.

We talk about why crying is one of the first languages we ever speak, how we’re taught to stop our tears instead of listening to them, and why letting yourself cry can be one of the most grounding and honest acts there is.

This episode is for anyone who has been holding it together for too long.

For anyone who feels emotional and doesn’t know why.

For anyone who needs permission to feel without fixing.

Crying is not weakness.

It’s intelligence.

It’s energy moving.

It’s proof that something mattered.

Let it all out.