Surprise! I’m still here, sort of. Yet another year has passed in which I didn’t participate in any organized social nudity, or any unorganized social nudity for that matter. When was the last time I was socially naked? It’s been a few years since I went to a meeting of that local non-landed club. Are they still around? I don’t know. Other than that, I have to go back to 2010 when I did the naked hike in Chautauqua Gorge with the Northcoast Naturists, and the Skinnydip Challenge at Cedar Trails.
It’s not that I’m not interested in social nudity, nudism, or naturism. Far from it. I’m all for casual, non-sexual nudity with others, and part of me longs to do that again. I lost interest in organized nudism, clubs, organizations, and venues. I don’t recall exactly when I lost interest, but I started sensing a change in it. I was starting to see signs of the swinger lifestyle when I visited venues. Social nudism seemed to be turning away from a family activity and becoming for adults only. I was generally bored at venues because they didn’t offer much that interested me. One can lie in the sun by the pool or sit in a hot tub for so long. I found that I really didn’t have many common interests with other nudists. There was also the expense, ground fees and gas, the traveling distance. I didn’t care for many of the rules and restrictions imposed by venues and organizations. It never seemed right that I was usually not allowed to document my naturist experiences in the same way I would at a clothed venue or event.
I’ve been out of touch with the nudist/naturist community for some time, so I don’t know if things have changed. The restrictions on photography were one of the biggest reasons for leaving organized nudism. I would have enjoyed doing something on a laptop whilst naked outdoors, but that’s not allowed because my device might have a built-in camera and I might take a picture of someone and post it on the Internet somewhere. Cameras in electronic devices are ubiquitous, and they’re not going away. We need to learn to trust one another and stop assuming that everyone has an ulterior motive.
I also grew weary of having to travel at least a couple of hours to visit a resort and being unaccompanied. I rarely really felt welcome at a venue, my “singleness” always seemed suspicious as if it was assumed I had an ulterior motive. I knew from the moment I became interested in social nudity, my spouse would never be a participant. She didn’t understand it, but she accepted that I went to swims and nudist venues, and trusted me.
I still believe in many of the ideals of the nudist movement. To be nude is to be in our natural state and casual nudity should be more acceptable. It’s not going to happen within my lifetime. If it’s going to happen at all, it’s still many generations away. There is still a lot of ignorance and oppression to be overcome and a lot of enlightenment to be acheived.
Maybe I’m not a “true” nudist, but I still enjoy relaxing in my natural state when an opportunity arises. Labels belong on clothes and stuff you really need to identify. Generally, they don’t belong on people. They’re cumbersome and usually don’t fit very well. There’s a tendency to focus on the label and not the person. The person is much more important than the misapplied label.
MojoNude 