I went for a run on Friday. It was both short and slow — which is saying something, as I’m not exactly breaking records for distance or speed — but after the last month, it felt like a gift to be able to run again.

I might’ve had several emotions about it.

See, there’s a phrase I’ve been meditating on since Lucy Bellwood shared it last week: “making noisy into quiet.” It’s a wonderful image, and I’ve been thinking about it as it applies to my creative practice and, well, me. Writing, the odd bit of design tinkering, and, yes, running: historically, these let me carve little pockets of quiet out of especially noisy days.

And I’ve been missing them something fierce. Because for the first half of last month, I wasn’t able to write or design; and for the last five weeks, I haven’t been able to run. I’m feeling so, so grateful and fortunate that I’m able to do all of them today. Hell, I’m grateful I’m feeling so much better now than I was a month ago.

That’s not to say I’m completely healed, or that there aren’t challenges ahead. But at least today, I’m able to write, to run, to look at my little family. And I’m grateful for that, too.

Here’s to a little more quiet for all of us. Thanks, as always, for reading.