Today’s photo was taken a couple of days ago when the temperatures were almost summer-like and when we were experiencing a long dry spell. The weather has since cooled off considerably and rain has fallen with the promise of more in the coming days. This is all good as far as our garden and lawn is concerned and more than good for the farmers who were beginning to think they would lose their young crops to drought.
I love the days when I can go without the need to wear clothing, to be in the yard doing small things or simply to sit and enjoy the birds and the warm sunshine. Yet, when the sunshine turns to intense and blinding light that sears everything in sight, a retreat into shade and cool conditions is a welcome change, even if it means putting on clothing. I also treasure these private days and moments when my nudity offends no one because I am alone with no others around. Yet, after a while, I want and even need others around me, if only for a few minutes or hours. At those times, I again put on clothing to make sure that all is okay with friends and neighbours and even with passing strangers.
Fundamentalism causes problems, intrapersonal and interpersonal problems regardless of the nature and source of the rigid belief system. Religion, politics, lifestyle, food choices – they all serve to separate and create divisions. In the world of naturism, there exists the same problem, fundamentalist naturism or nudism. The debates rage online as to who is a true nudist or naturist as if there is a set of commandments carved into stone that require extreme diligence and maintenance in order to be acknowledged as “pure.” With this fundamentalist ideology, lines are drawn and flags are flown serving notice that “we” will not rest until all are “converted” into the true beliefs. Yet even within these small and exclusive enclaves, there is dissension.
And we wonder why the numbers of acknowledged naturists / nudists continues to decline in spite of the fact that more and more people are experiencing being in their natural state. Free-range naturism; where membership is limited to simply removing clothing whether alone at home or in an isolated nature location, taking part in an event such as a Naked Bike Ride or Naked Gardening, spending a week or two at a naturist resort, or finding a like-minded partner to go skinny dipping; is on the rise.
Is naturism, being a naturist an all or nothing proposition? Is it necessary to be nude 24/7? Is there a minimum amount of time per day required? And, who is to set these arbitrary rules? The truth is, it is always an individual choice, an individual’s self-definition that is the most important criteria. No two humans are exactly alike nor can they be defined in any way to be purely anything