The feeling

This is pretty, isn't it? A great view, and people enjoying it.

But something is missing. You may not see it immediately, but... they don't feel the environment.

I've mentioned things like freedom, clothes-free life and 'self-being' on this blog before. We all know how it is to feel the sun, the wind, even the rain on our skin.

That's what wrong in this image.

Clothes block a large chunk of experiencing life. These two probably think they're doing it right, because they don't know any better.

The two on the right are doing this a lot better.

They're naked. Nothing hinders their entire experience of the world around them. Textile-oriented folks will argue they can feel the sun, the wind and the rain as well, on their faces, their arms and legs, but... that is just a tiny part of the whole. A face, two arms and two legs don't make the majority of one's skin. Those bits are nice and useful, definitely, but clothes block most of the world.

Sunshine? Clothes will make you feel much warmer, because the heat has no way to escape.

Wind? Feels a lot colder because of the clothes.

That's why being clothes-free is so important. To sense the entire world around us, everywhere. Not just on the bits that are clothes-free.

It makes the connection with nature a fully immersive experience. And this is why I call myself a naturist. A nature-ist.

Nature is dear to my heart, and for that reason I want to experience it as natural as I can. We come from nature. Nature is uncovered, except where it has to be. Like the bark on a tree, to protect the tender parts from the elements, which is how humans should cover their tender parts as well, but not for status.

Being dressed, out in nature, deprives one of so much. The touch of a leaf on a shoulder. The sensation of a spider's web on your skin. (Sorry, spider!) A few raindrops from a leaf on your arm...

Maybe this sensation-connection to nature is part of self-being. The feeling who we truly are.

I have the impression it is. And I'll keep exploring it.