Hey, everyone, Emily Abadi here. You are listening to Five Minute Friday from Hurtle.

It feels so nice that it is finally sticking with spring in New York. I feel like everyone I come

across is in an instant better mood, instantly better mood,

since the weather has made a turn for the better over here.

And oh my God, it's just everything we've been waiting for.

Everything.

It's also that time of year when the after-dinner walk, as I will call it, is back in my regular routine.

So now that it is beautiful outside, there is nothing I love more than walking around the

neighborhood for 45 to 60 minutes and then maybe stopping in a park and reading if it's light enough for long enough

at that time or then coming back and sitting outside at my building and reading.

It just feels like there is a distinct amount of time that I didn't have before because

it's lighter out for longer and the weather is nicer.

And there's just more time for me to reclaim for myself.

And last night, as I was sitting and reading, I was thinking about how this is a behavior

that younger me would be anxious about.

I used to feel as though when I was doing something on my

own that maybe I was doing something wrong. And I hear myself say that out loud now. And it is,

it's comical, right? Because there is so much beauty in having that solo time, in reclaiming your solo moments. But when I was younger,

if I wasn't out grabbing drinks with a friend or meeting someone for a workout or going to

dinner or going to a work event and I just had a dead night, a low key night, I would think to

myself, well, aren't you the loser? And that is not how I feel

anymore now as I approach my late 30s. I can't believe I just said that out loud. I feel so

...