The Closet

The Closet

I find it very annoying to be in the closet about being a nudist. When I was single, it was easy to control access to that little bit of information about me. With women I dated, I was very open and up front about my preferring to be naked when I could be, that I enjoy going to nude beaches, that I've visited many nudist resorts, and that I was a member of local and national organizations (making me a “card carrying” nudist, I suppose). I had a cousin and his wife who were open with family about them being nudists and raising their son that way. And I had other cousins who had casually mentioned that they've visited various clubs. Even so, I've found that I'm very guarded about who I share that information with. Other than one sister, no one else in my family knows.

In my 30's, I did mention it to my older sister who I'm close to. She not only found it interesting, but asked if I could take her to a club sometime to see what it's like. Several months later, I did, and she enjoyed it. But for her, it was more of a bucket list kind of thing and I doubt she took up up on her own.

When I started dating my wife, she seemed to see it as just some sort of harmless quirk. As private as I am about it, she isn't. Not in a big way, since she's involved with conservative politics, and that's not the sort of thing we do, right? She casually told her mother early on that I like being naked, to which she responded that I might be a nudist (ya think?), like it was no big deal.  If only she knew that I was and am.

The wife is pretty casual (even careless from my point of view) about mentioning to people that we sleep and swim naked and that I like to lay out in the back yard in the sun that way. Because of that, even though our back yard is fenced in and private, our neighbors know. On one side, I don't think they like it but they're quiet about it. The neighbor on the other side has taken to doing the same with his wife (privately and not with us). But neither knows that I'm an actual "nudist".

My wife came complete with two young kids who've become successful adults. The kids knew their mother slept naked long before I came along, and they accepted as a quirk that we enjoy swimming and using the hot tub that way (shunning the invitations to join us). Over time they came to know of my past (and present) and they're fine with it.

Even so, it would be nice to be “out” the rest of the way. My mother and the rest of my family probably wouldn't mind, but some of our friends and my co-workers probably wouldn't accept it and it would impact negatively on my job and her friends.

Strange. I know several gay friends who are out of the closet, and it's wonderful for them to be “out”. But this isn't something I am, other than being human. It's just that I happen to like being human.