Category: Nudism

Memento Mori

You’ve probably heard or read that one before. Memento Mori. I was surprised to find something unexpected when I looked for an image for this.

Memento Mori
Remember, you can die.

Almost always this is depicted with a skull. Perhaps a common thing in the US, but not in the Netherlands, where I reside. Ah well, learnt something new today.

A few days ago I heard a podcast about Memento Mori. A good one, explaining that this is not a warning but a reminder. A reminder that we will all die someday, and therefore we shouldn’t postpone things until later – because later may never come.

The podcast speaker (presenter?) also said that Memento Mori is the opposibe of the oh-so-beloved bucket list, the list with things people want to do later.

Why wait? Why not do it now, because now you’re alive and able to do it – and remember doing it. And perhaps up to doing it again.

If there’s a nude beach you want to visit and you have the option now, do it. If there’s a nude resort you plan on visiting, do it now. (I can recommend the Mighty Oaks, the staff there is great! 😉 )

Body paint magic

Listening to this podcast I realised that there are 2 lives. 1 that keeps you alive (as in gets the food, the rent paid, and stuff like that) and 1 that you need to fulfill as much as you can when you can. The life that you want to live now. The body painting, the nude events, the naked bike rides, the nude swims.

Putting them off to a time that may never come is a sad thing. And trust me (or not, up to you), once you’ve done all those things, you won’t end up with nothing left to do, because each event, each happening will open a new door, new options to do and try too.

I think this is part of the magic we can create for ourselves and each other. Create options and events, and invite others. Together the magic is even bigger. And don’t put them on the bucket list. Put them on the list of things done, the list you can look at with pride.

Change what you can

We all want the entire world to become naturist. Or at least, that the entire world accepts naturists as sane and full members of society. We don’t want to be seen as weirdos, or – even worse – perverts and child molesters.

By now we all know that it’s easy to reach the entire world, because we have this crazy little thing called Internet. At the same time, we should realise that it’s not possible to change the entire world. Some folks will want to listen. Others are stuck in their ways and ruts so deeply that no mammoth tanker or Kenworth truck can pull them out of it.

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It’s important to know where our boundaries are. Not in the way of self-limiting where we want to and can be nude in nature, but in the way of recognising who we can (try to) change (as in perspective about nudity) and who’s beyond help / hope.

Some people will keep running into the same wall forever, hoping to bring it down. Kudos for determination, but minus several hundred points for smart, because it is a waste of energy and time. Energy and time that can better be used to be nude with others, to enjoy the time we have. It’s also possible that such determination will have an adverse effect on that wall (those people who don’t want to see our ways). The people who keep trying will be seen as annoying, pests and other bad things, which is not helping the reputation of naturists anywhere. “The wall” has access to this crazy little Internet as well, and they can spread anti-propaganda towards naturism.

P.Z. Walker
P.Z. Walker

So let’s be smart about this whole ‘conversion’ thing. Don’t go out of your way trying to change everything and everyone.

Go where it’s convenient, where you have a proper chance for change. Let that do its work, because the more people are in a specific mindset, the more overall consciousness will shift. That shift will be slow, and we may not see the definitive change, but it will happen if we do this the smart way.

Jerome Naturel

Last week I listened to the newest Naturist Living show podcast.

It’s an interview with a Belgian man who got to be known as Jerome Naturel.

Jérôme Naturel

I enjoyed this episode so much that I’m pointing it out here, and I hope you will take the time to have a listen. Jerome goes quite in-depth about his path to being where he is now, and I think it holds lots of interesting ideas and steps for many of us to copy.

So please, listen and perhaps pick up some good things from it!

Indoor naturism and social demons

It’s what I do, mainly. I’m an indoor person, definitely with the winter weather here in the Netherlands.

I feel very privileged to have this possibility of not having to wear clothes when I’m at home. I live high up, people can’t see me from the street – even when I’m on the balcony.

Many people are into social naturism. I sometimes try to do that too, but life has taught me that I’m not a many-people person. Do you count yourself a social one, who can’t get enough people around? (Which in the past weeks and months and… has been quite difficult!)

I don’t know why I am this way.

My parents were very social and outgoing. My sister is like that as well. I am not and I never was. The odd thing is that, when I do go to some social event, it usually feels like something that was worth the effort. (Because really, getting up and going there is an emotional effort, even if it’s just a 20 minute bike ride to get to the local nude beach.)

It’s weird. I know the people there are nice and friendly, and most of the time, if you keep to yourself, they will leave you in peace, but that odd feeling remains. On the off chance that you, reading this, are like me, how do you handle things like that? Do you stay at home and indoors as much as well, or do you go out and face the ‘social demon’? (That concept just popped into my head, ha ha!)

And oh wow, as I was looking for a picture to go with social demons, I stumbled over this. It’s actually a thing. Not sure if this is something I am going to take on yet, but if you’re interested, you can find the book here.

Until I figure this out (and that might take a while) I’ll stick to the anti social social club and be who I am.

(It gives me a lot of time to focus on the stories!)

Nude art images

Via this post on twitter I was made aware of the work of two wonderful photographers: AdeY and Kersti K.

Images are a great way to tell a story, or to make something clear, and the following small set is no exception.

A few times I tried to get in touch with the artists, to ask for permission to display their work here, but unfortunately the website told me:

[contact-form-7 404 "Not Found"]

I hope they will get in touch if they object to the images being shown here (and that they will fix their contact form!)

The games people play

First off: I am not a ‘gamer’. I’ve tried to play video games a few times and they confuse me, annoy me, bore me and whatever me. I’ve found that some that look interesting are impossible for me to try because they depend on colour a lot. Being colour blind doesn’t make that a big pile of laughs, but I’ve lived without games for over 60 years. I’ll survive the next 60 without them as well.

laughing

What I’m wondering about, with the weather in the Northern hemisphere going south (insert laughter again), is two-fold.

Do naturists play games in the nude? And also, are there games that show actual nude characters (without going into the porn sector of things, obviously).

Nude gaming

This sort of answers my first question, and I’m not really surprised. Of course naturists will game naturist-style if they can. As far as video games and board games goes, there’s no limit to what can be done. Almost anything done dressed can be done even better in the nude.

Which gets me to part two of this post, and that’s where I will need your help, dear reader. (You are reading this naked, aren’t you? 😉 )

Are there naturist games? Games with naturists in them?

Nudity in games
“Gods of War”

It seems that there are plenty of games that show nudity. There are even people who think there is too much nudity in some games. Now, I doubt this is the kind of nudity I’m thinking of.

So that is why I ask you, here, in all honesty.

Do games with a naturist setting exist? Seriously, I don’t ask this for me. As I already said, I’m not into games. I’m a writer. But I bet there are lots of naturists, nudist, nakists and other -ists out there that would appreciate one or more video games that are in favour of their (our) lifestyle.

Researching this as I write this article, I suddenly came upon this site. PCGamer actually has an article about “Metal Gear for nudists: free action game Sabotage”. The article links to https://warpdoor.com/2019/10/10/sabotage/ from where there is another link to https://deepnight.itch.io/sabotage where you can play the (old fashioned looking, atari-style) game online!

Nudist video game
Screenshot of the online game ‘Sabotage’

It even has the old-fashioned game computer sounds.

Such fun, I hope this makes someone happy. And if you know of other nudist-friendly games, please share them in the comments, for others to enjoy!

Stay safe, stay naked!

Nudies down under

You may have guessed it. This post attempts to put the spotlight on naturism in Australia, and perhaps also New Zealand. Let’s see how far I can drag this out. 😉

Without a doubt, naturism is popular enough in Australia. There are plenty of Australian websites dedicated to naturism, there’s an Australian nudist podcast called The Naked Nerd, and on all the social media that allow nudity (i.e. Twitter and Mewe) you can find lots of naturists from down under as well.

As we all know, Australia has its special charms, in the form of creepy crawlies. Getting naked there requires some additional attention for those creatures, I would assume. Note that I’ve never been to Australia, so I have to rely on the tales of eye witnesses and other experience-experts.

Naturism in Australia is popular enough for its own magazine: TAN Magazine.

TAN magazine

I’ve scanned their website for a bit and I found lots of interesting articles there, for instance about problems with naturism vs. your loved ones, something on art, naturist communities like the Townsville Naturist Community, and much more. I was actually pleasantly surprised about this magazine!

Australia also has a Naked Gardening Day:

“Grin and Bare It” isn’t just about that though, it’s an extensive series of videos, well made (I watched a few) and ‘safe’ enough to be hosted on Youtube. It’s worth having a look.

And, of course, Australia has its own Naturist Federation. This shouldn’t surprise anyone.

Australian Naturist Federation

For more information on Australian naturism, please head over to the website of the Australian Naturist Federation.

And if you want to dive right in, follow this link to a site that lists the seven best nudist beaches in Australia.

(Sorry, New Zealand. Maybe next time…)