It’s summer. A friend invites you to the park on a glorious day, but you decide instead to stay in and catch up on the series you’re enjoying. Just as you’re getting comfy on the sofa, however, the regret kicks in: You’re squandering the good weather; on a day as nice as this, you really should be outside.

It’s a feeling that has come to be known as “sunshine guilt,” one that afflicts people in warmer and colder climates—a term that alludes to an almost universal imperative to make the most of the sun.And in many ways, we should regret not going out in good weather. Sunlight has been connected with health and vitality since antiquity and, more recently, science has backed this up; not only does it have natural mood-lifting qualities, boosting serotonin levels and increasing vitamin D production, but sunlight helps regulate our circadian rhythms and can even increase life expectancy. A 2024 study by the University of Edinburgh published in the public health journal Health & Place found a correlation between UV radiation and a lower risk of cardiovascular disease, even when the risk of skin cancer was taken into consideration. 

And yet there is something liberating about staying in when you should be going out. It’s an assertion of the fact that your days are yours to do with as you please and a rejection of a culture that celebrates optimization. Staying at home can be restorative in ways sunlight cannot. And besides, you can always justify the decision with your own small piece of scientific reasoning: The sun has risen for the past few billion years. It will rise again tomorrow.¹