There’s normal. And then there’s nudity.

Or: is the world too sexualised for naturism?

Normal

The most common state of being. Accepted by the majority.

Nudity

Considered either weird and not normal, or exciting and something to be secretly enjoyed by (probably) that same majority, these days.

Sexual

What nudity is associated with, these days.

Coffee moment

Making people see what naturism actually is, seems to be an uphill battle more than ever. The entire world is so sexualised that anything involving skin is immediately considered erotic, if not worse.

Or am I using the wrong word and is the world sexually repressed? At times I’m not certain. Maybe it all comes down to the same thing, who knows.

It’s a sad state of affairs though.

Freedom

So many people could lead a much happier and carefree existence if they could escape their clothes once in a while and experience true freedom.

Every time I hear or read about the kind of freedom someone experiences when submerged in naturism the first time, I smile. A dozen people will say a dozen different things, and they will never really touch the essence. Maybe it is such a deep-rooted feeling that there isn’t even a word for it.

Sunday Noon Nudist

Natural

Lots of people also mistake ‘normal’ for ‘natural’. Most of the time they couldn’t be further from the truth. It’s not natural to wear clothes when it’s hot; it’s adjusting to the normal. Natural would be to take off the clothes and be less hot, instead of switching on an air conditioner (which is ‘normal’).

Normal in nature

It’s not natural to have a car, it’s normal for most people and very convenient.

This shows how far the ‘normal’ people have removed themselves from nature, where being ‘natural’ is normal.

I will keep my naked fingers crossed for a more natural normal. Maybe it’s not too late.

Clothing optional?

This is probably something people will never agree on. Should clothing optional be a thing?

Clothing optional
Image stolen from loopnews.

I think that clothing optional is a nice idea but that it will never work to make naturism more accepted.

The social pressure, instilled onto almost everyone of us from a very young age, to wear clothes ‘or else’ is something that most people won’t ever shed of lose.

At best, clothing optional places are good for when people in and out of clothes are very happy and comfortable together, disregarding the fact that some are dressed and some are nude. It sounds very simple. But it isn’t.

Why is it that people in some prisons are stripped naked while their guards stay in uniform? To make a difference. You may say, “I’m a naturist, I couldn’t care less”, but that’s just the physical part. The psychological part is there, whether you want it or not. The naked person is the exposed one, the one who can’t hide anything (regardless if you want to or not – you have no option), while the clothed one is ‘in control’. Because of our textile conditioning that’s always there, no matter how you twist or turn it. (Again, excepting the lucky few, this is the last time I will add this, so remember that 😉

Bathing suited family at the beach

Folks in bathing suits will usually feel just a bit ‘better’ about themselves, because they are following the ‘civilised’ guidelines of wearing clothes. Even at the beach, no matter how ridiculous those things are, and no matter how open-minded they are towards nudity and naturism.

Summer of 2019
Nude or nothing.

One of my sayings is “when everyone’s nude, no one is nude”. This creates equality. A nude banker is as nude as a nude construction worker or a nude astronaut. There is no equality in bathing suits vs nude people, and also – wait for it – no equality among bathing suit wearers. There will always be people with more expensive, fancier, more modern bathing suits than others, and so there is the social divide again that (my idea of) naturism aims to remove.

That’s why I think clothing optional will never really work.

Flow Fitness Runner walking belt

Yes, I got me a walking belt. That may sound weird, so here is what I mean:

Walking belt Flow Fitness Runner
Flow Fitness Runner

You may wonder why I got this thing when it’s perfectly possible to walk outside.

Correct on many levels. However, the nasty season is coming along again (a.k.a. autumn and winter), and then walking outside isn’t always a bundle of fun. Rain, cold, snow, ice, and that list has some variations, and all of those don’t really appeal to me to go outside.

Flow runner

That is why I bought this Flow Fitness Runner, although with its top speed of 6km/h it is not exactly ‘runner’. But I got it for walking. As you can see, it fits under a table when folded up (big advantage).

It comes with a remote control and an app on the phone. Using it is really simple. Switch it on, get on the belt and make it go. Then walk until you feel it was enough (or until you reached a goal you set).

The display shows speed, time, steps and distance in sequence, so you can easily keep track of your goals. And best of all: it works naked as well as clothed. And honestly, who wants to walk clothed inside the house?

Treadmill

Now, some of you clever clogs might wonder why I didn’t straight away buy a big serious treadmill that also allows for running and has a cup holder (we can’t live without cup holders, right?) and all that jazz.

There are a few good reasons for that. 1 is: I don’t have the space for it. I looked for a fold-up treadmill. Didn’t find one. 2: I don’t run any more. I stopped after my back told me that running was not a good idea.

Work

Walking and calling on treadmill

The cool thing with this apparatus is also that I can have it in ‘sleep’ mode during the work day. Once I have a longer phone call to do, I can step on it, start walking and do the phone call. Easy peasy.

It is clear, I hope, that I won’t wear a suit, like the bloke in the picture. Working at home is working naked, so calls and walks are done in the same ‘fashion’.

No one notices and everyone is happy.

Do you own indoor fitness stuff like this? I hope you do, and that you can use it often.

A glorious day in September

Sunland_Holiday_Village_by_Tripadvisor
Glorious day

The past Saturday, my girlfriend and I were off to a sauna/wellness complex in the neighbourhood. It’s called “Thermen Berendonck“. We knew the day would be good, but it turned into a glorious day, because the weather was amazingly kind to those who want to relax in the nude.

Sunshine and 21C (70F), barely any wind and a wonderful area, inside and out, to enjoy. What more could you ask for? I mean, have a look at this:

Thermen Berendonck arrangement | Hotel Cuijk
Indoor swimming pool Berendonck

It was good to see “many” people there. The sauna still maintains a strict count on the people allowed in at one time, due to Corona measures, which is great, but to see so many people enjoying this place was nice.

Again it struck me that there are many folks who cover up to the nose when they’re not in a sauna, a steam bath or a pool. Bathrobes, towels, anything goes. These are the people who also keep their towels around them until just before the moment they sit down in a sauna. As if that small difference between standing and sitting makes that no one can see their nakedness. And some people actually keep their towels wrapped around, to keep their ‘dignity’, or whatever they would call it, intact. And that while there are plenty of people walking around naked and carefree, the way such a day should be enjoyed.

To each their own, of course, but I do wonder what could go on in the minds of the people who keep their ‘shields’ up. Are the appalled by the sight of all those naked people? Curious and peeking? Proud that they, at least, maintain their chastity and don’t throw themselves at the mercy of the world’s eyes?

Nude swim

For me it will probably always remain a mystery why some people are so scared to unload their clothes, even when so many nude ones are around. Don’t they see it’s normal to be naked? That not every naked one is the symbol of physical beauty-standards and youthful attractiveness? Or don’t they want to see that?

It’s probably something else. I can’t help but pity those people, but I do hope they enjoyed their version of that glorious day to the fullest. Like we did.

Habit is perhaps the problem

Monk in habit

As I write this, I got home from a walk.

The sun was out, it was warm. Perfect for a nude walk, but, being in a populated area, that’s not always an option. (Haven’t we all been there…)

When I got home, I was close to boiling, and I didn’t know how fast I should get out of my clothes. My body couldn’t get rid of the heat that had accumulated inside the textile prison, and only after a few nude minutes I actually started to feel better.

At that point I wondered: is everyone feeling that way?

Habit

hot flash

Most people are in the habit of wearing clothes. All the time. Even in bed (insert scary feeling). I suspect that those people are not affected by the same heat-sensation that I had gone through after the walk. Or at least not that much. They trained their body (or rather, their mind) to ignore this problem (for the most part). And the part that can’t be ignored is going to be fixed by switching on the air conditioner or a fan.

Nude-aficionados probably have ‘trained’ their bodies and minds to lose all that excess heat by releasing it immediately, or not even ‘storing’ it – which is possible when you’re nude. Not so much when you have the fabrics all around. And that, I’m sure of it, made me get that hot flash as I came back home.

Maybe I’m entirely wrong about this (correct me if you know better), but does this make any kind of sense?

Nude in Space

More and more I am convinced that nudity would solve a lot of climate problems, if enough people would go for it and stick to it. Look at damage done, and pollution created by the fashion industry. Look at the power consumption of air conditioning. Look at climate change. This place appears to move towards the situation as I described in “Nude in Space“! Parts of the world overheating, and those who can afford it, hide in air conditioned cities, making the situation outside even worse.

Let’s hope it doesn’t get that far. And let’s also hope we can find some kind of leverage to make the nude life more accepted.