OK... I'm weird.

I admit that I'm weird.  I was born with "the knack".  Or as some would say, "the curse".  This video explains it:

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xto41p_dilbert-the-knack_fun

The video hits a bit too close to home.  My parents weren't technical people.  None of my family was.  Yet even as a young boy I was insatiably curious about how things work.  When it came to anything having to do with science, math, or later engineering, I couldn't stop myself.  Yes, I took things apart. Yes, I asked millions of questions.  And yes (hanging my head in shame), like Dilbert, I tore apart TVs and radios and made ham radios out of them before I was 12.  Even as an adult working as an RF (radio frequency) engineer, I kept taking PhD level courses in advanced mathematics, quantum mechanics, and various different sciences and engineering disciplines.

My curiosity wasn't limited to just "things".  I needed to understand what makes people tick.  To that end, I minored in sociology and psychology.  I was the top student in those classes, and my professors were extremely disappointed when they found out that I was an engineering major.

I learned early on that rationalizing human behavior was, and is, a waste of time.  The question of why people can't just be naked around each other nagged me as a kid.  But I knew my mother would tell me "because that's the way it is", which would have driven me crazy.  I eventually realized that people are conditioned by their environment, their culture, their beliefs, and their families to be what they are and to feel what they feel about things.  Most people aren't interested in objectively understanding their behaviors.  And most people aren't interested in what their natural unconditioned behaviors are, or would be.

I believe that accepting what we are and what we look like is, in fact, natural social behavior that we've forsaken to our own peril.   That being ashamed or embarrassed to what we are, is stupid.  And that to be offended by what other people simply are, is mean.   We evolved (or were designed to be) not only compatible with our environment, but to thrive in that environment, without the need, or the desire, to be clothed.  Clothing was an adaptation to our foolishly leaving the climate range our bodies were intended for.  And we've since become a prisoner of that adaptation.

Naked Ramblings

Yes, it's been a long time since I've posted anything, mostly because I don't have much new to say that I haven't said before.  I still answer questions related to nudity and nudism on yahoo answers, figuring it's a better outreach than just having a blog sitting around waiting for someone to visit.  I don't have a whole lot to say today.  So if you don't mind, I'll just ramble a bit.

I'm still bothered by the "-ist" thing.  Why is my accepting my own form and accepting others simply as they are, an "-ist" thing, when the culture instead has developed a perverted self-loathing of what we are and what we look like?  As if compulsively hiding ourselves in shame from each other is a good thing.  It isn't.  Sorry.  No thank you.  I'm tired of playing that game.

Moving on to "Dating Naked" and "Naked and Afraid", both of which I find too contrived and awkward.  I dated a nudist girl for a while.  Being naked with her either at home or at her club wasn't any different than when we were out clothed.  We shared a few common interests, of which that was one, but it didn't work out and we parted friends.  I understand that the taboo of nudity (annoyingly blurred out as it may be) draws people to watch those programs.  But I think for most people the novelty quickly wears off and there's not enough left to keep them (or me) watching.  Dating is painful enough to do, much less watch.  Especially when they're being so weird about it.

"Naked and Afraid" is supposed to prey on the audience's conditioned feelings of vulnerability with regard to being naked.  I'm sorry, but I spent many decades hiking and camping in the wilderness and I don't see how putting people who don't know how to survive in the wild out there without any training or equipment is all that entertaining.  It's painful to watch them being so miserable at night when it invariably gets too chilly for them to be able to sleep without sufficient shelter and warmth (clothed or not).

In real life, even in the most primitive tribes people band together, sharing chores and building on what people have done before them.  I've done a lot of long distance solo wilderness backpacking in my day, but it takes a lot of equipment (modern or otherwise) to pull that off comfortably.  On hot days, it was nice to get out of my clothes, sometimes while hiking, but mostly at camp.  Skinny dipping at a stream or lake was much appreciated, and it was nice to be able to rinse my clothes off (all of them) and let them dry on a rock while I stayed naked and aired out late into the day until it got too chilly to stay that way.  The few people that ran into me undressed, didn't mind.  Nor did I mind when I stumbled onto them.  Being naked in the wild is a luxury that's frankly too nice to pass up on when it's warm out.  BTW, one quickly learns that you sleep a lot more comfortably naked in a warmer bag, than clothed in a colder bag.  Clothing traps one's moisture against you, leaving you feeling cold and wet.  Modern sleeping bags are designed to let the moisture escape, keeping you warm and dry if you don't sabotage it wearing nasty smelly, and invariably damp, clothing inside.

Enough for now.  Happy New (Nude) year!

Practically Naked (Part 2)

In this post, I'm referring to the practicality of being naked.   Last weekend I pressure washed and bleached the patio, worked on the pool, and did some major yard work in the back yard.  Our fence offered adequate privacy, so I worked naked most of the two days it took me to do all that.

The practically of working that way was wonderful.  Those were dirty jobs that would normally have left me sweaty, wet, and dirty for long periods of time.  Instead, I could simply rinse myself off whenever I wanted to and air dried as I continued to work.  When I spilled something caustic on myself, which happened a few times, I realized it right away and could rinse it off, rather than have it soak into my clothes and have to go change after I finally noticed.

Any hot, wet, dirty or grimy job is more comfortably done naked as long as it's warm enough where you're working (rarely a problem here in Florida).

On vacation a couple of months ago, I talked my wife into spending a down day and staying overnight at a distant nudist club along the way.  I guy came into the clubhouse covered in grease from head to toe from working on a bus he was fixing.  My wife still thinks of clothing as protective in those circumstances, where I just see it as making things worse by getting soaked with whatever you're working with, then grinding it against you for the rest of the day.  

Practically Naked (Part 1)

Maybe if I allow myself to post shorter messages, I'll do it more often.  But I'll still write something longer than I'd post to G+ by itself.

Part 1 is one meaning of the phrase "practically naked".  Part 2 is another meaning.  Here, I mean being almost naked.  I find that to be very awkward.  It's that gray zone between being properly dressed, and just being yourself (i.e. naked).  Whether it's being shirtless where it's not accepted, or being seen in your underwear.  Either way, it makes other people uncomfortable and they don't accept it much more than if you were naked.  So why not be naked instead?

I don't know.  I suppose it feels awkward to me to be "inadequately dressed" because there is something I should have or could have done about it.  Naked, I'm just me and I don't worry about being anything other than what I am when I'm free of my clothes.

I personally also find it awkward to be examined or left in a doctor's office wearing only my underwear.  Or worse yet, a gown that's open in back.  They, I assume, think they're doing me a favor.  They're not.  I'd be a lot more at ease if I were naked.  Instead, I'm left feeling that they could be missing something that's covered up in the exam, or that they've rushed through too quickly because they don't want to make me feel uncomfortable when they "peek" at those areas most people are uncomfortable showing.

Either way, it annoys me that I'm still so residually conditioned that I should care when I'm dressed inappropriately, when I'd not when I'm not dressed at all.  Either way, it makes other people uncomfortable, and I don't mean to do that.

Outreach

Sure, some people are curious and run into our web sites, blogs, and forums.  But for the most part, the general public doesn't hardly know we exist.  To them, we're a fringe group.  Something they've heard about, mostly as a butt of jokes, without a reason to investigate further.

Those of us who have tried social nudity know how odd it is that people have allowed themselves to be so conditioned to be ashamed, unaccepting, offended, and just plain uncomfortable to be what they and other people simply are.  Being naked in a social non-sexual environment is not only easy, but liberating, relaxing, accepting, friendly, practical, and yes, very comfortable and sensual.

Groups like Florida Young Naturists and Young Naturists America do a good job at offering young people the opportunity to try it.  I've met several of them and they're wonderful people.  If I were them, I'd be visiting college campuses, leaving leaflets, and doing meet and greets.  Man a booth at an art show and various other events.  Hell, set up a stall at a flea market.  Many won't let you set up, but if you push the boundaries and hold your ground, some of them will let you be there.  Most likely, your booth will be popular and if you're well behaved, you'll be welcome to come back.   I've seen AANR set up at outdoors and travel events, and they do fine.  When I see them, I go out of my way to stop by and thank them for their efforts.

Yes, these groups are on Facebook and do meet-ups.  But people still have to look to find them.  I'm not in a position to be promoting naturism directly, but I have found one outlet that allows me to introduce the idea and to challenge other's opinions on the subject.  I answer questions on Yahoo Answers, pulled up from keywords of naked, nude, nudist, and naturist.  Most of the questions related to the first two categories are related to sex and relationships.  Most of those are from teenagers and people with other problems.  But sometimes I even answer some of their questions.  A serious answer even to a stupid question gets read by other people, even if the asker isn't interested in my response.

Others do the same.  Some are official spokesmen for organizations.   Some are club owners or officers in various organizations.  But a few of us are just individuals, doing it out of a sense of trying to educate others.  And sometimes, just to amuse ourselves.

Hats off to those others who are trying to help.  You know who you are.  Thank you!

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.

Nudity and Sexuality

Well, I see that it's been way too long since I've contributed anything.  I finally have some time, so I'll give it a go...

If we're to convince others that being social nudity isn't sexual, we're going to have to face the 800 pound guerrilla that many, if not most, people do assume that it is. Most people seem to be terribly insecure about their own sexuality and they feel too threatened by other people's sexuality to be comfortable with the idea of being naked around others if they can't get their head wrapped around the whole subject of human sexuality itself first.

Our sexuality is something that's not totally within our control. When aroused, our inhibitions are suppressed, our judgment is clouded, and we find ourselves willing to do some pretty strange things to relieve the tension and to provide pleasure to ourselves and our partner. So it shouldn't be a surprise that most people don't want to tempt that reaction when they know it isn't appropriate. And at a nude beach or nudist venue, they quickly learn that it isn't appropriate, even if they aren't told explicitly that it isn't.

People assume that seeing others without clothing will arouse them, or disgust them, because they've been conditioned to have those reactions by our culture. We know those reactions aren't natural and don't occur once one simply gives it a try for more than a few moments. But other people don't know that and they're afraid of it.

The right attitude to project is that we're human and that we have nothing to be ashamed of for being human. Yes, we are male and female, tall and short, young and old, skinny and fat, and we come in many colors and body types. And isn't that wonderful! We're also sexual, but we're only sexual towards each other at certain times and places, and these aren't appropriate venues for that. So instead, we're just social towards each other no differently than we would be otherwise. And there's no reason why we shouldn't be.