What do these two have in common? This may seem a strange question but there is something to it.
Have you ever tried to explain naturism to a person? I have. You may have as well. And did it work as in did you make someone go along, become a naturist or at least try it? Not exactly for me. If you managed it, do share your magic in a comment, we’re all curious.
I think naturism and oranges share the same trait: they have to be experienced to be understood. Try explaining the taste of an orange to someone who has never seen or heard of one.
Imagine someone coming up to you and talking about a purple thing you can eat. It is triangular, you need special tools to open it but it tastes great. It can taste a bit salty, or sour, or bitter-sweet, “but you’ll love it”. Would you know what this person is talking about? Do you think you would like it? (I admit I wouldn’t since I made the whole thing up right here.)
That goes for oranges as well, even when they aren’t purple. And for naturism, which isn’t orange unless body-paint has been applied.
We all know naturism is a great thing. A great “fruit”. The trick is to make others eat it. It’s always worth trying to convince someone but, as with oranges (or aforementioned purple fruit) it may not suit everybody’s taste.
The power here is to accept that.
That doesn’t mean I would give up on someone. Give the talk as well as you can and leave it at that for a while. If they are genuinely against it, they won’t mention it again. It’s your guess and estimate to figure out if you want to bring it up again.
Maybe you triggered their curiosity but they need time to get to the point where they want to know more. Or they read about it and they want to experiment/experience it on their own for a while.
Maybe… who knows… they will find a way to naturism as if they would find a way to the store where triangular purple fruit is sold. With the tools to open it. And then they might surprise you:
