Running to Ocean Beach – San Francisco

Yesterday I ran through Golden Gate Park to Ocean Beach, and back from my house in San Francisco. I knew it was going to be the longest run I had ever completed, and I knew I was going to complete it. I’m 37 years old for whatever that matters. It was a 5.45 mile run.

On the run I had a revelation about my own psychic health, and about the role habits can play in psychic health more generally. For all of my life I have enjoyed a strong baseline of psychic wellbeing. As I ran, my legs moving effortlessly below me, I could feel distinctly that the shape of my life over the years has rested on my underlying psychic health.

In that moment, I smiled big and felt deliriously happy. Good habits can bring an elevated level of psychic health, even for those with a stable baseline. (I know. I know. I am definitely a “stable genius.”) I felt a wildly outsize sense of accomplishment and power, and I want to feel it again. It was so delicious.

Running to Ocean Beach San Francisco