It has been quite some time since I last posted here. I have returned to Canada following three months in Mexico along the Mayan Riviera, where I lived in a private studio with a private garden. For three months I lived mostly without the need to wear clothing.
It was only when I left the confines of the studio and garden when I had to wear clothing, at least until I was by a small clothing-optional beach not too far from the small town where I lived beside the Caribbean Sea. I returned to my home on the Canadian prairies, in a small prairie town located less than two hours southwest of the city of Saskatoon. I returned home to snow and cold. For three months in Mexico, I was without clothes for the majority of the hours of each day.
However, that time has come to and end, it has retreated into the past as memories, some of which were captured in photos, some in journal entries, and the rest into a quiet, hidden spot deep within me. Like then, I find myself living in the moment, in the present tense. It is easy to get caught up in the past, rehashing the challenges, and reminiscing through rose-tinted lenses the pleasures. It is as equally easy to project into the future facing challenges that exist only in the realm of “maybe.” Oh, I do think about the future and my time and places for clothing free experiences, among many other hopeful expectations, don’t get me wrong. However, I know that the “future” thoughts are just that, projections of “maybe.”
Living in the moment is not all that easy to do. It is actually exceedingly difficult as our minds are prone to “think” outside the experience of the present. We worry, we wonder, we conjecture, we wander. Just the simple and necessary act of planning for an event [I am planning on attending a Jungian lecture and workshop in just over a week from now], has one begin thinking about people who might be met, things that may be discussed, and the list goes on and on. Once the plans are made, worries about weather that may prevent travel along with a host of other imaginary issues that lay waiting in the shadows to sabotage the event, flood the mind. Of course, none of it is real with the exception that a plan has been made. The rest is all about fleeing from the present into some chaotic no-man’s land.
All of above is why I meditate. It teaches me how to stay grounded in the present. I find myself either nude or clothed in various situations of my choosing. And wherever I find myself, I make myself present to the situation and the people. It’s a good place to start.