Through a Naturist Lens

It is cold out this morning, literally cold. I woke up to -8 Celsius temperatures, a “hard” frost as it is called around here. Summer is officially over and winter will soon make its entrance changing our lives here on the Canadian prairies. Outdoor nudity will become more and more of a rarity. With the coming of winter, I tend to shift from outdoor meditation to indoor sitting meditation. I’m not sure about most other people, but nude meditation has been a significant part of my life for more than a decade.

There are a few [actually more than a few] others who find time for nude meditation in some form or other. For some it is based on yogic practice. For others, it has to do with calming inner demons. And for some, the practice is all about spiritual connection. For me, it is a combination of taming the darkness and opening myself to the universe and connecting to my roots in the universe.

I have no religious attachment to meditation though I did begin meditation practice 49 years ago via Transcendental Meditation workshops with some kind of guru on the prairies. Ten years ago, I reached out to Tibetan Buddhism and learned to include conscious walking meditation while learning to be a Buddhist.

Today, I can’t claim to be a Buddhist. I don’t have the discipline or the inclination. My strong roots in Jungian psychology and my acceptance of being an individual [individuation] on a journey of self-discovery are barriers to my being able to commit to any outside authority when it comes to self and soul. My spirituality comes from within, not from some some guru, prophet, saviour, or cult leader. This isn’t said to diminish the paths and choices of others, it is simply a statement of who and how I am.

I meditate nude. This doesn’t define me as I do many other things while nude such as gardening, carpentry, writing, sleeping, and drinking tea, coffee and wine. Yet, meditating nude does add another layer that needs to be known if an “other” is to know me in more than a two-dimensional being.

For too many people, meditation, either nude or clothed, doesn’t fit into their lives. There is no time, no focus, no certainty that the time spent meditating will give them benefits. Though I began meditation, consciously committing to meditation, forty-nine years ago, there have been long periods where “life” was too filled for me to continue the practice. I gave up these sacred moments for stuff and activity and wasted hours, believing I had no time. Those beliefs crippled me for a long time. Thankfully, I survived and I retired [sort of] and pulled the pieces of me back together like some artist using powdered gold to make a lacquer to weld those pieces into a whole.

Do you meditate? Do you meditate nude? Why or why not? I am hoping to hear your story, your experience.

I have returned home after a month on the road. It was a good trip. I am surprised at just how much time I got to spend clothing free and my experiences during that month, such as my skinny dip attempt while in Tofino as seen in this image taken by my wife. I did get out far enough to take a short dip but the water was too cold to make it much of an event.

Since I have come home, I have been busy with doing some garden work – taking off the carrots and beets and the work around that to prepare them for the winter. Then, I began to do the first part of tilling the garden. We have two gardens, a small one which used to be a raspberry garden, and a larger one which we use for vegetables.

Today I turned over the small garden using a spade as the ground was too hard for a gas-fueled tiller. The second round of tilling that garden will be with the rototiller. The weather is turning quite cold outside with single digit temperatures in the afternoon, as well as brisk winds. As long as I keep myself busy and wear a tuque, all is well.

So why do I even bother with testing my limits? After all, it is cold outside. To be honest, I don’t have a good reason other than I “need” to do this. The more I am nude, the less stress that I feel. The nudity is for me, for my mental health and well-being. It isn’t an attempt to be seen by neighbours or to titillate. I share some images here to illustrate and nothing more. After all, a 70+ aged man naked man is never going to cause a rush of lust in other people.

I feel free and liberated and alive when I am nude. I know that I am alive and free when I am clothed, but it is different, a difference that only others who enjoy being nude can understand. There is a special kind of freedom when one is nude.

Today’s post highlights a moment from our cabin south of the town of Ucluelet, BC, Canada. For the past four days, the hot tub was enjoyed multiple times during the day. Typically, we would have morning coffee in the hot tub, with a second soak following the day’s hiking efforts. A final soak was left for the evening when a glass of wine was on the menu. Neither of us thought twice about not wearing a swimsuit when in the hot tub on the small front deck of the cabin My good wife took this photo of our last soak.

We have now left our hideaway and have begun a slow journey back to our small home on the prairies. The journey home began with a brief stop to hike before arriving in a sea-side town on the Island’s east coast for a planned visit with extended family. The next week will be filled with “duty” extended family visits. It is unlikely that we will get much hiking time during these visits, especially as the weather forecast is not very promising.

I have finally published my novel for middle-grade students [and those who are still young at heart], a story of three youngsters who don’t fit into their normal schools. They come from different countries and meet each other at the International Space Federation’s Reykjavik Campus with the objective of eventually becoming astronauts. The story was inspired by one of my grandsons who is a middle-grades student.

The art work for the cover was the creation of Fabien Barabé, an artist from eastern Canada. The book, Space Cadet Academy: Reykjavik Academy, is available only in paperback format for now from Amazon. I have written the second book to follow this one, however it will be months before it will be ready for release. I will let you know when that happens. A final note, the new book is not a Naturist Fiction novel. Nonetheless, it might be my best story to date.

Well, today is the last day in Ucluelet, BC. Tomorrow we head to Courtney as we begin to head back to our home on the prairies. Most of the return trip is about visiting extended family. Needless to say, I miss being in my own home and in my own bed after more than two weeks of being away. There is still another week and a half to go before then.

Hiking has made up the bulk of my activity for more than two weeks. During this time I hiked about 170 kilometres, hiking in sunshine, rain, and overcast skies threatening rain. I has been a blast. I am certain that the exercise, along with a reduction in boredom eating, has allowed me to feel so good about my body.

This is an important realisation – treat the body as though it is a temple. Eat well to feed the temple and exercise to allow the temple to withstand the ravages of time. The biggest winner in all of this is my psyche. The whole process is like a full body meditation. The Tibetans don’t just sit in meditation. They engage in walking meditation. Their daily chores are another offering of meditation. And, their exercise is purposeful meditation. I am no where near this level of mindfulness, nor do I expect to ever get there. And that is okay.

For the past four days, and for two days earlier in this journey, I have been enjoying time in a hot tub. Naturally, in all instances, even at my brother’s home, time in the hot tub was done while clothing free. Once inside our accommodations, clothing was again dispensed with as unessential. With the body uncluttered by clothing, the mind was uncluttered as well.

I’m writing from my first stop on Vancouver Island. We are in a rural location in a private accommodation. It is mostly raining though we are getting enough breaks in the weather to go for daily hikes in the cedar forests. The temperatures are hovering between ten and fifteen degrees Celsius as daytime highs. It is definitely not free-hiking weather. Weather aside, we are not in anyway hiking in remote locations. Despite the weather, the desire to be clothing free remains strong. Once indoors, clothing is unnecessary.

In four more days, we will be on the west coast of the Island where I will brave the elements and take on the challenge, if not dare, to sprint into the very cold water of the North Pacific. So far, there is no ocean or sea that we have visited where the challenge hasn’t been met including a couple of late winter dips into the Mediterranean Sea. Will there be a photo? Unknown. A photo is not the reason for the skinny deep. The reason is simple. Tradition.

I don’t imagine I will be writing another post until we are settled into a tiny cabin on the west coast, a tiny cabin with a hot tub on the front deck with the wild Pacific very, very close down a steep and wooded craggy coast line. Until then, be safe.

One thing that the political world is demonstrating with a vengeance is that what one person sees as good, another person sees with an opposite point of view. Though not currently in the crosshairs of the majority, nudity is a good example of how humanity is polarised with regards to the nude human body. I see simple nudity as good. Others who have internal alarms go off when seeing a nude human, don’t. For them, for a variety of reasons, nudity is “not” good.

I see nudity and experience as a pleasurable state while at the same time, I don’t find wearing clothing to be “bad.” I guess one could say that I am pragmatic when it comes to wearing clothing and being clothing free. There is no good vs evil visceral response for me. Perhaps it has something to do with living in a temperate climatic zone where mother nature has well defined seasons with temperatures alternating between -40 and +40 Celsius.

Despite what I think and believe, there are people in my orbit who would be shocked should they ever see me naked, people who would though they may have seen me in a positive light for decades, wouldn’t hesitate to call the police and have them deal with the pervert who is a threat.

“Good and evil are opposite poles of a moral judgment which, as such, originates in man [a human]. A judgment can be made about a thing only if its opposite is equally real and possible.” – Carl Jung

Naturists are well aware that good and evil have nothing to do with nudity or clothing. Good people do exist who are repelled by nudity. Good people exist who don’t care one way or the other, and good people exist who struggle with clothing. The same can be said with “Not Good” people. They exist in the same groupings. Accepting this reality, I then turn to what Jung said about good and evil – there are about moral judgments and actions based on these moral judgments.

An example of this that is currently causing societal reaction, is the right of a woman to choose what happens with regards to a fetus. The prochoice and anti-abortion polarity begins with a personal judgment. And that, is okay as it is a personal response. However, when that judgment becomes a trigger for a significant sector of society, then bad things happen. The more the scales are tilted in one direction, the worse things get until they reach a point of real evil.

The women in Texas, USA, have just been legally declared criminals of the highest order should they abort a fetus that has passed six weeks of existence. Two Canadian provinces are making access to abortions very difficult. And a major political party is predominantly in favour of following the example in Texas.

The problem with any group getting extraordinary power, is the likelihood that the issues they view through a fundamentalist lens are very likely to become laws that punish. All those who hold an apposing view are enemies and are evil.

I have to admit that I’m not in the best of moods today as I sit here at the computer. The world around me is going crazy. In Texas abortions have once again become illegal with penalties that are stricter than what exist for terrorists – Wade-Roe had been overturned. Likely most other Republican states will soon follow. In Canada the newly elected provincial government has fired the complete Department of Health, that same group that had the best defensive response record in the country for Covid19.

Nationally, the Federal election is being covered by media with the intent on demonising the Prime Minister. Photos of him being hung, death threats, a group of American Patriots are following the Prime Minister around Canada to rile up and interfere with any public meeting [with the exception of in Quebec – an issue for the Patriots – where the language is French].

That said, this post isn’t really about the insanity that is running amok in the outer world. As Carl Jung once put it, “for in the self good and evil are indeed closer than identical twins.” It is something we all wrestle with, trying hard to be our best self. It is hard work, for it takes only a moment, a slim crack in our armour for our worst self to emerge and cause havoc. Yet, too many of us take that battle to the outer world and act out these two aspects of ourselves.

We self-identify with the white hats and project the darkness onto others who hold opposite views. Good versus evil not dealt with as an inner “self” problem, becomes a world problem. Balance gets lost within and without. That lack of balance within is the root cause of most mental-health issues. We internalise “shame” for what we know is wrong with us, and express it outward in anger, fear, and hate.

As the outer world is presented with more and more nudity, one is deluded if one thinks that normalising nudity will be the end result. Human consciousness doesn’t work that way. The motivations for being clothing free within the normalising-nudity community aren’t built on balance. All the prejudices, the us vs them, are alive and well. The us vs them dynamic exists within the community itself though we are loathe to admit it. Rather than deal with the problems, they are projected onto the rest of society.

Personally, I am leery about groups, about collectives. I find that to fit in, I need to basically stop being myself authentically. I need to put on a persona that will allow me to enter into the collective. Going without clothing is often the same thing. We shed clothing to fit in with a group. Sometimes it is a compulsory thing such as a naturist club , sometimes it is to take a dare to fit in with a crowd [I did this in middle school when challenged to go skinny dipping in a prairie dugout], and sometimes it is to ease the tensions in a relationship with a partner who is a nudist/naturist. Of course, the opposite is more often the norm, wearing clothing to fit in, to belong to a group, to ease tensions.

In the end, it becomes a question that is tied to one’s solitary being. If all things are equal, is one nude or not? Even then, there are environmental factors that often makes decisions for an individual. I am clothing free as often as possible. When someone other than my wife makes an appearance in our home or yard, I wear clothing. Yet, when it is cold and windy outside, even if I am alone, I find myself putting on clothing to stay warm. In the house? Alone? Then, I am clothing free … unless the house is too cold – think of a prairie winter.

So what does any of this have to do with good and evil? Nudity in itself is a battleground. The collectives in one’s life determine, for the most part, that nudity is bad, evil is bad, nudity outside of the bedroom between a married heterosexual couple – preferably white – is bad. Laws are made, Church doctrine is entrenched, nudity is determined to be sinful and evil. If one attacks all that is nude, one is on the side of goodness. If one dares to be nude, even as a solitary event, then one becomes the enemy to be targeted and punished.

And to return to Jung’s words: “there is absolutely no truth that does not spell salvation to one person and damnation to another. All universalisms get stuck in this terrible dilemma.”

Yes, the sun has returned, and with it, warmer temperatures. It appears that we will have at least four days of somewhat summer sunshine and temperatures before it cools down again. It’s already 17 C. as I write up this post, and it is supposed to get to 25 C. by mid afternoon. I will soak in as much Vitamin D accordingly.

On a different topic, in two days, I celebrate 50 years of marriage with an incredible woman. Luckily, we are both in good health – physical and mental health. With the grace of the gods and goddesses, we may yet have a decade or two of life worth living ahead of us. So how did this happen? I mean, we were strangers from different parts of the country when we met. I proposed the same day I met her and she accepted. A year, less a week, later we got married. A city boy and a country girl somehow “fit” and that was the beginning.

We are different, not just in terms of biology, but in many ways. I have an INFP personality and she has an ESTJ personality – thing of fire and water, with me being the water [Cancer astrological sign]. I am a naturist, or at least a man who is more comfortable out of his clothing, and she is “normal” in today’s world and likes clothing.

The tie that binds us is not legal or social, it is something much deeper than that. Like all couples, we reach the breaking point time and time again, but somehow pull back at the last minute. What ever it was that brought us together is determined that we stay together despite common sense.

And now, I wouldn’t have it any other way.

I can’t believe it has been so long since my last post. As expected, my site stats have taken a hit with nothing new to read. However, life isn’t about visitor statistics to a blog site. With Covid taking a bit of a break [it is gathering up steam again] and with my wife and I and all of our children and grandchildren over the age of twelve, our time has been fruitfully spent . Truth be told, I enjoyed my time away from the keyboard.

Now, with a space of time than has opened up, the pull to write here has surfaced. Other than short visits in the near future with two sets of extended family, there is nothing on my agenda for the next two weeks. From that point on, it looks like an extended five weeks of activity might once again limit my presence here. It is amazing how much Covid has become an agent for having a person spend more time in the face-to-face world when opportunities for gathering come to the surface.

It seems that now I have finished the revisions requested by Ted Bun and Will Forest for the Holiday in the Nudist Colony Anthology. The story is one of many included in the anthology that will be available later this autumn. I am using my pseudonym, René Beauchemin, for the story. It is part of my shifting all of my naturist works to the authorship of René Beauchemin. For example, A Small Company of Pilgrims has been retitled The Half Naked Pilgrim. This will create needed separation between the naturist and non-naturist works that exist, and any future works that I create.

Most naturist fiction authors use pseudonyms for a variety of reasons. This is my one and only reason – a clear separation that keeps my readers foremost in my mind. My family knows I write naturist fiction, so that isn’t a factor. They also know I am a naturist, so there is nothing there to hide as well. Of course there is a cost to this – I can’t import all the ratings and reviews for the new versions based on author’s name and book title. But then again, perhaps that doesn’t matter. After all, there are so many more readers out there who might weigh in with their words and opinions.

It’s that time of year when the garden begins to produce food. This morning I picked the first batch of green beans, enough for a meal this evening. Then, I clipped off a few dead branches from the crab apple tree. I enjoy these kind of tasks, especially since I don’t have to get dressed to do them.

Earlier this week, I went for another seven and a half kilometre nude hike in the hills as it will likely be my last opportunity to do this type of hiking for almost two weeks. Also headed to the sidelines will be my taking time in the afternoons for some sunbathing. I have my three youngest grandchildren coming to my house. The two youngest will stay for two days with their father, then only the eldest of the three will stay for another week at our place with his friend. A lot of activities are planned so that they will leave with positive memories. My life isn’t all about nudity.

I have just watched a six part series called the Making of a Tyrant. Though the series was focused on infamous tyrants in our relatively recent past, the series highlighted the concept of tyrant that could extend to very small circles such as families, social groups, and modern political parties. The first program is about Hitler and the last one is about Kim Jong-un. However, the tyrants studied are more about illustrating concepts than about the men themselves – and yes, they are all men.

The issue is control and how determined people will do anything to keep control or punish those who refuse to be controlled. I strongly advise each of my readers here to watch this series, if possible. I don’t want to get into modern day politics other than to say that the issues and conditions and the intentions still exist in today’s modern world. I do simply ask that you think about our world through a wide-awake lens.

Now back to the grandchildren. We have a trip to a water park, backyard adventures, a trip to a First Nations archeological site that was once a buffalo jump, a couple of rounds of golfing with the eldest of the three and his best friend with whom I have done most of my golfing over the past two years, time in the local swimming pool, and free time for their technology. Hiking and a BBQ are also on the agenda – but not nude hiking, obviously. It should be a good time with grandchildren.