A naturist’s view on children

Naturism and children

Always a worthwhile discussion, it seems. True naturists and nudists know that the naked lifestyle goes well with kids. Kids love being naked, and they continue to love it until the “grown-ups” tell them it’s a bad thing and they should stop it. Putting on the dreaded clothing parts is the normal way to go. Yes, it’s normal (since that is the norm, carried by most people).

We know that the norm isn’t always the smartest thing to follow.

I am NOT an expert on children, but…

witch and children menuTrust me. I am not. I do remember what it’s like to be a child (because a) I think I have a good memory and b) I refuse to grow up).

Also I have second hand experience with the daughters of my sister. They liked to run around naked as long as they could.

However, even when I’m not a child expert, I know that children and naturism mix well. When I visit our local nude beach I see kids running around and having a blast. They play, swim and just have a great time without feeling any pressure to cover up or ‘be decent’.

The naked swimming child

nude woman floating
I know, this is not a child, but to prevent problems concerning naked kids online…

Have you ever witnessed a naked swimming child? They are free as a bird (as far as birds swim, that is) and they seem to know this is the right way to be. And look at yourself. Have you ever skinny-dipped? Swam naked? How did that feel, the first time after some time in the ridiculous bathing suit? Would you go back to swimming wearing a piece of cloth if you had the opportunity to skip it?

We are born naked for a reason

And that reason is nature. Nature doesn’t make clothes, it makes living beings. We invented clothes to stay warm when things get cold. Children understand that just as well as we do and they will act accordingly when they feel like it, not because they know that clothes are the best thing since McDonalds. Oh, wait, maybe they do think that – but I digress.

I for one am glad that ‘our’ children (you know what I mean here, otherwise ask me about it in a comment) have the luck to grow up free and as naked as possible. It shapes them, in their way they perceive not only their own body but also how they see others. They know that nearly no one has a perfect body. They know that naked people aren’t out to rape them.

And I know they will grow up like people with a much healthier mind and view on life than most textile-based lifeforms have.

Mark Twain quote

Thank you, Samuel Langhorne Clemens!

A naturist’s view on animals

Animals are nude. Just like we like to be.

I don’t know if you have animals. Pets. Dogs, cats, horses, goldfish, chickens, to name a few.

They are all naked. You’ve probably seen that. And yes, furry ones are naked too – they don’t wear additional things concealing the way they are.

nude man on horseI’ve never had a problem with an animal whilst being nude. They don’t see it. They don’t care.

Animals care about the person inside that skin. Someone who’s good to them, who feeds them and makes sure they’re comfortable and healthy.

Clothes make no difference to animals. If you have different experiences, I would certainly like to hear about them, because I only have my life to draw from.

billenkatI have two cats. They don’t care whether I’m nude or not. Them being cats and me being human however makes that I do care at times. My cats like to lie in my lap. Cats have claws and they know how to use them, so when I sit on the couch I have a towel beneath me and a double folded one on top of me. I’ve once miscalculated the speed of a cat and the sharpness of its claws, and that is not going to happen again. Trust me. It hurt enough to make the memory last a lifetime.

I’ve been nude around dogs too. Dogs don’t care. Dogs want your attention. They want to play, run after balls and sticks, and get a good rub. Again, the vulnerable part is the human. Even when dogs don’t have cat-like claws, they can leave nasty scratches. It’s all a matter of common sense. Seriously, I have yet to come across a species of animal that is impressed by clothes (apart from those that have been indoctrinated into fearing someone in a specific outfit, like circus animals. They are sad.)

naked girl with a cow

A naturist’s view on sustainability

What is sustainability?

sustainabilityAccording to Wikipedia, sustainability is defined as “the process of maintaining change in a balanced fashion, in which the exploitation of resources, the direction of investments, the orientation of technological development and institutional change are all in harmony and enhance both current and future potential to meet human needs and aspirations.”

Naturism and sustainability

nude joggingWhen we look back to the origins of naturism (nudism), the movement was all about a healthy lifestyle in harmony with nature. I am convinced there are still plenty of nude walking people who share that idea in some way or other. And that, for me, already points into the direction of sustainability. The harmony with nature part already shows that naturism’s basic philosophy underwrites a world that is a healthier and better place than many areas in our current world.

A while ago I posted a blog about the fashion industry and the amount of pollution that brings with it. The clearest point of that was that wearing clothes has a severe impact on the environment, so less clothes means less crap in the water and the air.

But it doesn’t end with clothes (for me)

Mankind has taken control of the planet in a way that’s totally irresponsible. Mankind thinks they are lord and master (or lady and Earthmistress) of this ball we still live on. A tiny flaw in this mindset is that ‘mankind’ is very wrong. Just because humans feel invulnerable doesn’t mean they win everything. When air is no longer breathable and water is no longer safe to drink, the all powerful human will be finished quickly.
Humans who think that way should spend a while in the nude, outside, in nature. I wonder if they still feel invulnerable then. Naturists and nudists know the fragility of man when faced the outdoors. When there is no fabric or plastic shielding that thin skin from the rough bark of a tree, things quickly look different.

Man’s place in nature

The author nudeIf we find our place in nature again, I am convinced things can still be set to right.

It won’t be fast because we’ve been doing our best to mess this planet up for decades already, but the nude mindset would be a great help in that.

A naturist’s view on co-workers (part 2)

Before

nude at officeIn a previous post I wrote about telling the people at work about your lifestyle. I received some interesting comments on that post, either on the post itself and also through various social media (yes, I pretend to be social, like on Twitter, Mewe and occasionally even on Ello).

It’s clear that by far not everyone has the good fortune to have colleagues or co-workers with open minds that will accept the clothes free way of life. That basically sucks, even when there’s little you can do about it. Going out to find a new job because of that is rather drastic.

Another side of things

One day at work, this past hot summer, I had a very interesting encounter. A co-worker came to me and whispered, “I saw you in your car yesterday”.

The reason for her whisper was that she’d seen me just before driving off. When it’s really hot I don’t want to wear clothes in my car so once in there I take everything off before leaving the parking lot. Since the building where I work is in town it’s hardly surprising someone sees me. Honestly I don’t care one bit about that. It’s my car and my sanity. If they really want to look into my car they should be prepared to deal with what they see.

To said co-worker I said, “Good for you. Have you tried it yourself?” Hardly surprising that the answer was ‘no’, followed by the question why on earth I was doing that. Was I some kind of exhibitionist?

No. I am not. I simply want to be comfortable and I did my best to explain that to my co-worker. Of course the concept of being comfortable made sense, but… “we have air conditioning for that.” This response is the default for modern people. I explained that taking your clothes off often makes that you don’t have to switch on the A/C in your car. Nor in your home if you have such a thing there and that is a huge cost saver. That information in turn triggered even more disbelief because “you don’t walk around naked at home.”

To that I could only say, “Wrong. I do. You clearly don’t, but that’s not my problem.” It was nice to turn things around. Dear co-worker wanted to make my way of life my problem but with a simple statement I turned that into the opposite. It also made for a surprised person who had nothing more to add.

Of course I drove home naked that day.

A naturist’s view on driving naked.

Driving naked

I talked about this before. Intrigued as I was by the comment of Artur, I decided to look into the Dutch laws about the need to be dressed while driving. I spent several hours going through all kinds of law texts, searched for stuff on a Dutch law website, and I came up with nothing related to the need to be dressed. The only law article that came up several times was the famous 430a, which ‘regulates’ the options for being nude in places. It decrees that you can’t be nude in public places. Places that are obviously not suited for it. Places where lots of people pass by.

This brings up the argument if the inside of your own car is a public place or not. I would assume it’s not. In a public place everyone can come in and sit down. That is not the case with my car. Now you may argue that it’s public enough for people to look inside and see a nude person in there. Correct. However, in the Netherlands it’s legal to be nude in your own house without having all drapes or curtains closed. People looking inside do so on their own risk.

back road trailAlso it is okay to be naked in outside places where people can ‘look in’, meaning that you can be naked without having to take precautions not to be seen (a.k.a. ‘offend’ others). Places like this, on the right. Hardly a through road, right?

United States

I know, having read many accounts online, that lots of people drive naked in the US of A. I actually found this interesting website for Americans about it at compare.com: Is Driving Nude Legal? (And Is It a Good Idea?)

woman driving nakedApparently it’s mostly illegal over there, but restrictions happen on a per state basis, so know your rights. The most important thing there is what I’ve always said and thought also: don’t do crazy stuff. Drive like a normal person. Don’t attract attention. If there is no reason for people to look at your car (and you), they won’t. They’ll just drive on, paying attention to traffic as they (and you) should.

England

Considering the post I made about freehiking in the U.K. which details quite precisely what is okay and what isn’t, I would guess that driving nude there is safe also, provided you are in control of your vehicle (wear shoes).

Again

Yes, I know, I’ve posted about this several times before because it’s a topic I really am intrigued with since there are (at least in the Netherlands, as I said) no actual rules that I’ve found. And I love driving clothes free because of the liberating feeling that nudity gives me.

Have you driving naked? In what country? Do you have tips and suggestions? With enough feedback I might compile a ‘driving naked’ page with them!

A naturist’s view on ‘days’

Days

We all know them. Workdays, weekend days, vacation days. But those aren’t the days I mean here.

Secretary dayI’m taking (or rather, writing) about all those fancy, thought up days, like Father’s Day, Mother’s Day, Secretary Day, Naked Gardening Day and so on.

If you post attention to them, there is a day for just about anything and so each calendar day is the ‘home’ of at least 1 special day.

Naked Day

The author nudeThat is one day I miss in this line-up. You might argue that Naked Gardening Day is Naked Day but not everyone is into gardening or has a garden readily available. Most nudists and naturists however like being naked, so a simple Naked Day would be very welcome.

How do you get a day?

Naked bike ride
Naked bike ride

The days in the list up there all have a great commercial value. Every …. day comes with gifts of all kinds. The problem getting Naked Day accepted everywhere presents a problem in that respect because it wouldn’t bring much in the view of gifts. It would just yield a lot of naked people (but by far not enough).

Still I think it’s a shame that so many occasions have their own day, whether we like the occasion or not, but this one’s missing from the line-up.

Hemispheric issue

There’s that. When would that day be? Seasons on the Northern and Southern hemisphere are opposite, so picking a day for Naked Day would be interesting to say the least. Is Naked Gardening Day also a Southern hemisphere happening or do they (or you, Southern hemisphere citizen) have their own version of it? Does it even exist on that side of the planet?

I’m interested in hearing your thoughts about this…