I thought I’d share about my ideal day since it’s something I get asked about pretty often in light of circadian and quantum health. And I’d love it if you could share what your ideal day looks like lately, too!
Here in Southern Oregon, it’s late spring. Season makes a big different in what an ideal day looks like for me. I’m currently prioritizing:
Morning sunlight measured by surface area exposed. Now that the weather is warming up, I am shedding as many clothes as possible to get sunlight all over my body as early as possible, even if I have to dance to keep the mosquitos off. In the winter, it’s often only my face (under a beanie even), hands and feet.
Produce! I love being part of a farm share, and we are harvesting like crazy right now! Yesterday, we brought in hand-milked raw Jersey milk (thank you, Molly!), thinned daikon, beets & turnips, new potatoes, the last of the red radishes (almost too spicy to eat now!), bolting arugula, tender lettuce, baby collards, and a whole basket of garlic scapes. On the way home, we stopped by a neighbor’s garden and traded raw milk for a go at her amazing strawberry patch, and also scored some beautiful tat soi, bok choi, and mustard greens.
^this is special because I don’t buy a lot of imported vegetables, so it’s all the more exciting when the spring crops pop!
Food processing. Produce season is less than half the year here, and I only have a mini-fridge for a family of 6 (yikes!). So, now that I’ve brought in all this bounty, it’s a race to get it eaten, compacted, gifted, or pickled so it doesn’t have to live in the refrigerator, which is mostly right now dedicated to meat and milk on it’s way to becoming yogurt or cheese.
Quiet afternoons. With the short nights (only around 9 hours right now), the younger kids really benefits from a midday rest (even I do!). They are often not winding down until around 9 pm because of the bright evening, and then getting up pretty early with the sunlight streaming in.
Intellectual & communication work. I love learning and sharing what I learn, but I keep strict limits to only do that during the daylight hours as much as possible. So no pre-dawn computer work, red-shifting my screen as the sun goes behind the mountain, and turning off altogether at dusk.
Physical labor. I walk for joy and exercise, but this time of year, there are so many interesting ways work the body to build functional strength. Around the homestead and on the farms I participate with there are so many things going on: there is a coop renovation for the poultry, fence work for the dogs, and all the weeding, harvesting, and planting also works different muscles (especially with the nearly one-year old and sometimes with him and the three-year-old both hanging on me like possum babies). At the end of the day, I do find it helpful to do some stretches before bed to integrate all those repetitive motions.
Tanning. Knowing the benefits of sunlight and melanin, I am deliberately doing sun exposure for the kids and me. This is part of why I think getting involved in food production and harvesting is the most “quantum” hobby you can have. We all get out in early morning—perfect to check on the bunnies and chicks, and let the big chickens and ducks out—then come back for breakfast, then go back out again for mid-morning sun, then come back in to escape the heat, then go back out for water play... and so on. I got everyone cotton tank tops and shorts and earthing shoes, and encourage water play to make mud and increase the rate of electron transfer. Here’s my old post about building a solar callus if you are new to this idea or looking for ideas.
Chores. It takes a lot to keep a house in working order with so many people, so everyone has to help. But this depends on me to be that force of leadership. I find it works best for the kids to do chores while I am doing chores, and for them to play or read books while I am doing my thinking work. If I am on my keyboard, they are very unlikely to do chores.
Little to no tv or books. This time of year, there just doesn’t feel as much time or energy for stories as when the days are shorter. I know we will get back to our myths and stories later in the year, but for now, we seem to be full of gab about all the goings on in our busy lives, so we haven’t been feeling a strong need to bring in outside tales. The kids also seem to be more into (re)creative play—working experiences from earlier in the week into their games of today—rather than more fantastical ideas (let’s pretend we’re a family of ducks!, for example) like we were playing with in winter.
Here’s a picture of me and the baby on the farm (it’s blurry, but so rare for someone to catch a picture of us sitting still):
Nikko and Ry at the Dandelion Fields Alpaca farm (2024)
Now it’s your turn! How is the season affecting your day-to-day?
I love this so much ! We are also officially moving to spending many more hours a day outside in the grass as well as by the sea (and inside of if soon!) I have been increasing my little babes sun exposure more and more and try to get outside as soon as he’s up for the day! He has the sweetest little golden tan already from our walks and plays outside.
Love this! We start each day with grounding, greeting the Sun, gratitude, and some isotonic water I make from diluted sole that I leave outside overnight. Really focusing on hydration these days! As the season shifted I noticed really wanting to spend longer outside at sunrise than our usual 20 minutes — which I’m still finding the balance in, because I also want to prioritize getting a big animal protein breakfast in soon after getting up! As soon as breakfast is ready we’re right back outside to eat it, which is usually right around when UVA is appearing this time of year. Then we go on a little meandering walk on the land with our half pitt / half husky rescue, Grimnir. But our meanders are a little shorter this time of year, because there’s always so much to do that we just want to jump into it. My husband and I have both moved our “offices” (laptops) outside; his is a little converted shed outside with the windows and door open all day and mine is sitting in a hammock we hung up this season where I can set up a little table for my laptop and put my bare feet on the ground and do my computer work in the dappled shade of the junipers! Also have really enjoyed movement being farm work and tending to the land. As soon as the weather warmed up I noticed a big shift away from the amount of food I wanted to eat, especially the amount of fat, and craving more produce, which of course makes perfect sense! Getting to bed later than I feel like I’m “supposed” to in this season but trying to let it be.
Sounds absolutely idyllic! Doggie walks (Grimnir is an awesome name), tending the land, and work from home!? Amazing. Also, I think it’s normal and healthy to go to bed later this time of year, and then have a nap mid-afternoon (siesta!)—we are doing that, too ☺️ And I also go back and forth between sunlight-needs and breakfast-needs. Do you have a favorite meal-prep or cooking strategy that’s working to support the balance?
For breakfast we just keep it super simple, some variation of meat, eggs, cheese so it doesn’t take too long to cook! The routine for the rest of the day has been whatever I made for dinner is lunch the next day which really frees up time in the middle of the day when we’re working! 😃
Awesome! I’m trying to get better at cooking more at once—if I can I like to cook lunch at the same time as breakfast so I guess I agree with you lunch is better if it’s somewhat pre-made. Ideally for me, dinner leftovers + eggs would be breakfast. But with there being 6 of us in the family now, I am still figuring out how to cook enough for that to be a reality! Oftentimes, it really all gets gobbled up, especially now that even the youngest baby is starting to go after table food 👶🥩
I love this so much ! We are also officially moving to spending many more hours a day outside in the grass as well as by the sea (and inside of if soon!) I have been increasing my little babes sun exposure more and more and try to get outside as soon as he’s up for the day! He has the sweetest little golden tan already from our walks and plays outside.
Oooh, beautiful! I love to see a sun-kissed baby. It’s so good for their development 🧡
Love this! We start each day with grounding, greeting the Sun, gratitude, and some isotonic water I make from diluted sole that I leave outside overnight. Really focusing on hydration these days! As the season shifted I noticed really wanting to spend longer outside at sunrise than our usual 20 minutes — which I’m still finding the balance in, because I also want to prioritize getting a big animal protein breakfast in soon after getting up! As soon as breakfast is ready we’re right back outside to eat it, which is usually right around when UVA is appearing this time of year. Then we go on a little meandering walk on the land with our half pitt / half husky rescue, Grimnir. But our meanders are a little shorter this time of year, because there’s always so much to do that we just want to jump into it. My husband and I have both moved our “offices” (laptops) outside; his is a little converted shed outside with the windows and door open all day and mine is sitting in a hammock we hung up this season where I can set up a little table for my laptop and put my bare feet on the ground and do my computer work in the dappled shade of the junipers! Also have really enjoyed movement being farm work and tending to the land. As soon as the weather warmed up I noticed a big shift away from the amount of food I wanted to eat, especially the amount of fat, and craving more produce, which of course makes perfect sense! Getting to bed later than I feel like I’m “supposed” to in this season but trying to let it be.
Sounds absolutely idyllic! Doggie walks (Grimnir is an awesome name), tending the land, and work from home!? Amazing. Also, I think it’s normal and healthy to go to bed later this time of year, and then have a nap mid-afternoon (siesta!)—we are doing that, too ☺️ And I also go back and forth between sunlight-needs and breakfast-needs. Do you have a favorite meal-prep or cooking strategy that’s working to support the balance?
For breakfast we just keep it super simple, some variation of meat, eggs, cheese so it doesn’t take too long to cook! The routine for the rest of the day has been whatever I made for dinner is lunch the next day which really frees up time in the middle of the day when we’re working! 😃
Awesome! I’m trying to get better at cooking more at once—if I can I like to cook lunch at the same time as breakfast so I guess I agree with you lunch is better if it’s somewhat pre-made. Ideally for me, dinner leftovers + eggs would be breakfast. But with there being 6 of us in the family now, I am still figuring out how to cook enough for that to be a reality! Oftentimes, it really all gets gobbled up, especially now that even the youngest baby is starting to go after table food 👶🥩