You’ve probably figured out by now that I’m a nudist. In fact, you probably think it ridiculous that I even put that first sentence out there- of COURSE I am, you’re thinking. In this society, telling someone that you’re a nudist can be a very weird conversation.
Many people have told me that they don’t tell anyone that they enjoy Nude Recreation. The reasons typically have to do with the belief that those around them are too conservative/ too religious, wouldn’t understand, or they’re scared of how this conversation might effect their work status. I can appreciate these concerns, sadly, though I don’t necessarily see things that way.
For me, I’m ok with people knowing that I’m a nudist. Why? Because it’s simply the way I choose to live my life- it’s legal, social, healthy, fun, and within my morals. What is there to be embarrassed about or afraid of? The first person who I told about joining Nude Recreation was my best friend Laura. She laughed to the point that I thought she was going to fall off her chair- me? A nudist? She thought it a joke. It was not.
My family members learned about it soon thereafter. Again, they thought I was joking but when I explained that I wasn’t, they were fine with it, though it is something we joke about. One sister (I have five sisters- I’m the youngest of six girls and truly believe that my parents stopped having children because they “got it right” when they had me. Lol) didn’t understand what I was saying as I told her. The phone call was boring until I mentioned that I’d been to the beach and had gotten sunburned all over. She assured me that I wasn’t burned all over but I told her that I was. Then she said, “Well, you’re not burned where your bathing suit was.” That was a great lead-in to telling her that I wasn’t wearing one.
Through the years, I’ve honed my technique of talking about Nude Recreation. Where I once sat someone down and explained my choice to them, now it’s far more natural. For example, I freely talk about how much I love my campground and I tell of the wonderful pool, conversation pool, game room, and facilities. Many times someone has asked where the campground is and whether they can come. Of course, I tell them. Several people have looked up my camp after hearing the name and location and got a bit of a surprise. Others learn that it’s a clothing optional camp when I mention that we don’t bother with soggy swimsuits, we dry our selves off and all is well.
Nude Recreation is natural and comfortable. It’s nothing shocking, nothing strange… it’s just a way of experiencing life. The more I tell people about it naturally, the more it’s accepted. And, I’ve found, people accept my choice to participate in it without flinching- with something so wonderful, so healing, and so comfortable, it’s a wonder that not all of my friends and acquaintances have tried it!
Tags: conversation, family, freedom, friends, honesty, nude recreation, nudism, skinny dipping, skinnydipping, truth
I’m with you Melisa I tell everyone I’m a nudist. Ssimply because I refuse to be ashamed of something that has been so good for me. I love it, it has cut way down on my stress levels. At first my family and friends were like uhh, okay, I guess? But as they have learned more about it from me they realize it is just a part of who I am. I think this is the only way to legitimize social nudism in the eyes of the public one person at a time through interaction with real people who just so happen to enjoy social nudism. Simple when you think of it. I mean how to a lot of us learn about the world? Through interaction it is the things that are unknown that are mysterious and weird. So let the cat out of the bag you never know who else might be one too.
A couple years ago, a local reporter came to our Branson MO home and interviewed me, presumably for my recently reading every Pulitzer Prize winning fiction book published in my 60+ year lifetime. But the interview took off to cover my experience with tarantulas, etc. etc., and the resulting front-page newspaper article even mentioned that Micki and I and our growing family once lived in a nudist camp for 2 1/2 years. Suddenly everyone in town knew about our nudist experience. Retired now, I was at the time the mailman in downtown Branson, and so countless people on the route and at work commented on the subject and asked me about it. No one criticized me for it. As a matter of fact, everyone was delightfully interested. It inspired me to make copies of my story “Dale Sneaks into a Nudist Camp” (see http://oldelephantwings.blogspot.com/2010/01/dale-sneaks-into-nudist-camp.html) and share it with them. They loved it. Since then I’ve gone so far as to write and include in my blog “Who Told You that You Were Naked?” (see http://oldelephantwings.blogspot.com/2011/08/who-told-you-that-you-were-naked.html). I think that we tend too much to be ashamed of what we should be proud of.