Me: I’m continuing to work on my health and am doing GREAT. At this point I’m down around 35 pounds and am continuing to lose weight each time I weigh in. I’ve taken up running and am will start Week 3 of the Couch to 5K Program on Friday. I also go to Country Line Dancing Lessons on Tuesdays and Tap Dancing on Wednesdays. Who knew that I’d start a dance life at age 37??? I’m learning that health isn’t just about eating right and exercise- that’s just the body stuff. Health is in the mind, body, and spirit and I’m really growing in each of these areas. Those 35 pounds I’ve lost are most likely pounds of stress, anxiety, guilt, fear, and confusion. My Health Coach, Kevin Daugherty of Greater Life Health Coaching, has been such a huge help to me and I would recommend him to anyone. Though he’s in the Upstate NY area, he works with people via phone and Skype, too, so be sure to contact him if you want real help in changing your life.  Be sure to tell Kevin I sent ya!

YNA: I love Young Naturists America and the recent blogs have been of great interest to me. The newest one by Jordan about the death of Amanda Todd really struck home for me. If we are not a part of the solution of teen suicide, harassment, and bullying, then we are part of the problem. I have committed to being a part of the solution- how about you?

Young Adult Nudists: Some would say that I’m no longer a young adult nudist- I’m too old- but I have a heart for this group and feel very much like I belong when I attend events. There is a summit coming up to discuss the young adult nudist movement and how everyone can work together. I won’t personally be attending this summit, but I look forward to hearing about the progress that is made within it.

AANR: I now have a column in the AANR Bulletin called No Strings Attached and talks about being a single nudist. It’s been a fun adventure to write the monthly column. If you have any ideas for me to consider for the column, I’m all ears.

AANR-East: I’m happy with many of the changes that have taken place in our region, AANR-East. The website is constantly changing to better serve those who visit it and I’m happy to see change. Also, the Facebook page has gone through some positive changes and is increasingly active. If you haven’t liked the AANR-East Facebook Page, this is a good time to do so. I continue to work at Editor of the Speaking Naturally from AANR-East eNewsletter and enjoy that job greatly. The November eNewsletter is coming along nicely and will include some great pictures of the autumn!

Camp Life: Camp has closed for the season and I miss my people! During the summer I so enjoyed just wandering down the lane to visit friends and I do miss that. I’m happy, though, that I can head down to the big field with my pup, Little Bare, to play fetch, though: we both love that!

Little Bare: Pup is doing great! I haven’t figured out what she’ll be for Halloween yet but I suppose I’d better figure it out soon. Bare loves to go running with me each day and her training is coming along well. These days, we often go for walks and I just drop the leash because she stays with me so nicely. She loves fetch and visits from my niece and nephew, too.

I think that’s all for now. Life is good on this end and I’m busy LIVING rather than just writing about life. If you live in the northeast, take some time to notice the beauty of the changing leaves and enjoy the miracles of the world all around you. I know I will be.

Be well friends!

Melissa

This whole exercise question has been on my mind lately as I’ve worked toward having a healthier life, including drinking water, eating nutritious foods, and, that’s right, exercising.  After trying out this exercise thing, I find that it quite agrees with me- I feel GREAT after a good exercise session!  Why is it that I’m just discovering the joys of exercise yet it’s been around since people were invented?  I dunno, but I do know that exercise is great.

Sometimes I exercise while with clients- they are kids who have mental health issues and would really benefit from the awesome feeling of doing exercise.  But I can’t exactly exercise clothes-free with them, so much of my exercise occurs at home, which is my nudist camp.  Now my nudist camp is FABULOUS and filled with many awesomely amazing people, but I do notice that there isn’t always a lot of exercise going on.  Golf carts are used for travel rather than walking, the pool is more for standing and conversing than swimming laps or activity, and many of the events are more sedentary.  This is the norm at nudist camps and in America at large- it’s certainly nothing unique to the campground where I live.

Still…  I would love to go back to the old days that I see in the vintage nudist photos.  The old days of volleyball, active swimming, hiking, and sooo much more activity and exercise seem like forever ago.  I know that when Young Naturists of America comes to my campground in another week that we’ll have lots of exercise going on and I’m very excited about that!  But I wish we could have all that activity all the time.  A girl can dream.  Or maybe, just maybe, this girl needs to not only dream, but propose some events that include a bunch of activity.  Huh, I do believe I’ve got something to think on here.

What exercise do you enjoy participating in at your nudist location?  Do you have any big events that revolve around movement-kinds of activity and exercise?

Last night I realized that the diversity that we, as nudists, cherish often ends at body acceptance. How did I learn this? I happened to be helping out at the sign-in desk at a Young Nudists and Naturists America (YNA) Event (I met the heads of the group, Jordan and Felicity, online and in person last summer and have been following the group ever since) and looked over at a group of about 10 individuals who were dancing with each other in a big circle. That circle was truly a circle of diversity, representing male and female, differing heritages, different languages, numerous ethnicities, varying dancing levels, and a wide range of ages. Such diversity is unheard of in nudist circles, from what I’ve seen, and I was in awe at the beauty of the diversity that I saw.

To be honest, I’d been “warned” about the YNA group. You know how “those young people are” with “only one thing on their mind.” Being my father’s daughter and having his stubbornness deeply rooted within me, I had to find out for myself. And I must admit that those warnings about having one thing on their mind were quite true: they did! The thing on their minds, though, was this: it’s all about the love. The people in this group truly, truly love each other. They embody the loving acceptance that nudism is all about.

Along with the love, the group definitely was about having fun. They had an incredible and funny show featuring various professional entertainers, naked Twister, dancing, refreshments, body painting (gotta practice for the Amazing Canvas Event!!!), and the general chatter that nudists so love. As I watched those around me interact and participate actively in all that was going on, I couldn’t help but be reminded of the nudist photos of old that showed the high activity level of nudists as the competed, participated in sports, and were just generally “on the go.” When did nudists… stop? Nowadays, I hear about Nudist Stew, which involved nudists sitting the hot tub chatting or laying on pool floats chatting or reading. Good stuff, to be sure, but this event made me realize that something is missing: action!

Speaking of action, there is one part of the night that really stood out for me: dancing. Now, I don’t dance. Mom made me take tap dancing as a child and I was both no good at it and didn’t like it. I have zero music sense and just don’t know how to dance. Yet somehow, someway this group of people managed to get me on the dance floor. I won’t be quitting my day job anytime soon to become a professional dancer, but I truly did enjoy it. And as I danced, I kept thinking that I wished I could have that moment videotaped and sent to my doctor. You know, the one who said a year ago that I’d likely never walk again (somehow dancing wasn’t mentioned.) Dancing with a bunch of other nudists at that event was my little act of defiance toward the expectations of me: you can have your expectations, but, really, I’ve got my own, thank you very much!

One other thing that was very obvious to me as I spoke to individuals who were attending was that there were many individuals there who were attending the event as their first nudist experience. I suppose we’ve all encountered newbies within nudism, but I’d never before seen the huge percentage of newbies that this group had! How do they get people to join in? Beats me- but you know I’m going to ask them!!! Those who weren’t newbies were often individuals who had been to YNA Events before and couldn’t stop themselves from attending again. Really, when having so much fun with amazing people in an accepting and loving environment, it’s hard to NOT want to go back!

As with any event, it’s fair to point out the negative parts of it, too. So here is my list, in no relevant order: 1) I didn’t like that my GPS hasn’t changed it’s hour with the hour change from daylight savings (not YNA’s fault- they definitely would have helped me with this if I had asked) 2) NYC is way too far from my house (I guess that’s my fault- I chose where I’d live.) 3) The Lincoln Tunnel is the scariest location on Earth AND it’s too expensive (I don’t think YNA can control that.) 4) I didn’t like the feeling of being jealous of Felicity’s relationship with her mother, who was also present at the event; they not only enjoy nude events together, but “mom” is clearly VERY proud of Felicity and for very good reason (I suppose this is the mom’s fault- but can I really blame her???)

Overall, I have to say that I’m VERY glad that I didn’t listen to the detractors and that I decided to head down to Manhattan for this event. It truly was the BEST nude event I’ve ever been to and I can’t wait for the next get-together. Even if the group does have a one track mind: it really IS all about the LOVE!

To me, nudism is freedom and acceptance. I see nudists as people who can love and care about people regardless of how dissimilar they are. This has been my experience in the 8 or so years of being a nudist.

Lately, though, I’m seeing a lot of difficulty in different nudist groups in getting along. Why? I don’t know. Probably in part due to just being human and wanting to “be right.” That’s normal, I know that. But it’s not optimal and it’s not what I’m used to in the nudist world.

Please world, get along. Please talk to one another, listen, accept, and work together. This will not only make you a better person and help you to meet your goals, it’ll help nudism as a whole.

You must be the change you wish to see in the world. – Mohandas K. Gandhi