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.
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.
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’).
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.
This is probably something people will never agree on. Should clothing optional be a thing?
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 😉
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.
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.
Yes, I got me a walking belt. That may sound weird, so here is what I mean:
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
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.