Nature's equation: Living by seasonal rhythms

Where do the stories come from? They whisper from the morning message of a friend remembering shared laughter. They echo in the memory of a failed meeting that taught me more than any success. They dance in the pattern of rain on a tin roof, each drop a beat in nature's timeless rhythm. If I had the time, I could write ten stories a day, for everything surrounding me is a story waiting to be told. Today's story begins with numbers, with logic, with my mathematical mind that once found comfort in the certainty of 1+1=2. Until I went to the field and discovered that life follows a different arithmetic altogether - one written in soil and seasons, not on paper.

I arrived at the rural meeting venue at 8:30 AM, my schedule meticulously crafted with mathematical precision. Group X from 9-11, Group Y from 11-1, lunch break, then afternoon sessions until 5 PM. The numbers added up beautifully in my Kampala office. But by 11:30 AM, the community hall remained empty except for the buzzing flies and my growing frustration. When I finally asked my research assistant what was happening, she offered me my first real lesson in seasonal wisdom. "Madam," she said gently, "this is the planting season. The people are in their fields now. They will come when the sun is too hot for farming." She explained that the best time for meetings was after morning farm work or during the agricultural off-season. For women, we needed to consider their socially assigned roles - cooking, cleaning, caring for children and elders. The solution was to bring meetings closer to their homes, to work within the rhythm of their daily lives rather than against it.

Nature's new mathematics

My mathematical mind had to learn a new language written in seasons, farming cycles, and women's daily rhythms. I discovered that you could spend five days in the field but only achieve ten hours of productive work if you did not understand these natural patterns. Climate change has disrupted our foreparents' deep understanding of these cycles, yet the fundamental principles remain true. They knew when to open the land, when to plant, when to harvest - all without weather forecasts or smartphone apps. Their knowledge came from generations of observation, from living in rhythm with the earth rather than fighting against it.

• It's not 1+1=2, but sunrise + sunset = complete day.

• It's not 9-5, but energy + rest = sustainable productivity.

• It's not constant availability, but seasonal intensity + seasonal quiet = lasting impact.

The farmers' daily equation is not dictated by clock hours but by solar time. Their weekly rhythm follows planting seasons and harvest moons rather than Monday to Friday schedules. Their annual calendar moves to the drumbeat of rainy seasons and dry spells rather than financial quarters. This was the original intermittent fasting - not by design or trend, but by necessity and wisdom.

Rediscovering natural cycles

Without artificial lighting, our ancestors' eating window was naturally confined to daylight hours. They would leave home at dawn without breakfast, work in the fields during the cool morning hours, then gather for their main meal after 2 PM when the sun was at its peak. Their daily eating window naturally fell between 2 PM and early evening - typically 4-5 hours, longer if they had evening roasts or celebrations. Food came directly from their gardens, with lean periods where there might be no food at all - involuntary periodic fasting that gave their digestive systems necessary rest. Feasts naturally followed successful harvests or hunting expeditions, creating cycles of abundance and scarcity that modern science now recognises as beneficial for metabolic health.

Climate change has disrupted the predictable patterns our foreparents understood intimately. Rains now arrive unexpectedly, dry seasons extend beyond their traditional boundaries, and traditional planting signals have become unreliable. Yet our bodies remain designed for rhythmic living, for the substantial midday meal after morning labour, for natural rest periods aligned with solar cycles, for seasonal variations in food availability and activity levels. These are not historical curiosities but biological necessities that we ignore at our peril.

Living by nature's clock

Start by observing the natural rhythms around you without judgement. Notice when you feel most alert and creative - likely in the morning hours, mirroring our ancestors' productive farming periods. Recognise when you need genuine rest - often in the early afternoon, aligning with the traditional siesta period that follows the main meal. Align your eating patterns with daylight hours when possible, allowing your digestive system to rest during evening and night hours. Honour seasonal variations in food availability by choosing what grows naturally in each season, supporting both your health and local agriculture.

Remember that true productivity follows nature's patterns rather than artificial schedules. The most effective work happens in harmony with our biological rhythms - substantial morning activity followed by adequate rest, much like the farmers' intense labour before noon followed by their substantial midday meal and recovery period. Embrace seasonal intensity followed by seasonal quiet, mirroring the agricultural cycle of intense planting activity followed by patient waiting for growth, then the burst of harvest energy.

Our mathematical minds can learn this new arithmetic of natural living. The stories continue to surround us, waiting to be read in the patterns of nature, in the wisdom of farmers who still understand the land, in the rhythm of our own bodies when we quiet the noise of modern life. All we need to do is learn to tell time by nature's clock - one that measures not minutes but moments, not hours but harmonies, not days but dances with the earth itself. The equation is simple once we understand: nature's rhythm + human wisdom = sustainable living.