Through a Naturist Lens

It seems that I am avoiding posting here, or writing in my journal. I realise that there is something behind this, but at the moment, I am not quite aware what is behind this reluctance to write. I had a lot to write about, including another trip to Green Haven Sun Club with my wife, gardening, book selling-signing events, and just ordinary life that is so extraordinary.

I noticed it about three days ago. Rather than write, I wandered through this site and saw a lot that needed pruning.

If you look into the archives, almost four hundred posts have been deleted leaving just over one hundred posts. Of those removed, most were short and of-the-moment and had no value for readers who come here looking for information or reasoned opinions about naturism, and about naturism as therapy. Likely, I still have a few posts remaining that should also be deleted. But, now is not the time.

As a result of this blog-site introspection, I am left questioning the motivation for posting here, and the motivation of others who come here to read. I noticed that when I use the images of others who are known in the naturist community that readership is up. I have deleted all the posts that have had images of other naturists even though they had all approved of the posts within which their images had been attached.

When I get too serious, readership declines. When I post frivolous “fillers” the response is predictably low in terms of readers. Still, more than two hundred thousand visitors have wandered through my blog site at one time or other since the first naturist post in early 2009.

Am I posting simply as an excuse to put up photos, perhaps as a subconscious exhibitionist? I can’t exactly rule that out as I do post photos of myself here in cyberspace. However, for the most part, there is little sexual intent in the photos such as the one above. Most of the time, the genitals are either invisible due to strategic cropping, or the use of shadow to darken the area. Obviously, each photo tells the reader that I am naked, but that is about it. So then it comes down to the story the photo is trying to tell, or perhaps attempting to illustrate visually, the content of the text in the post.

Perhaps the greatest motivator for posting here is the sense that I have found a cyber community in which I feel a sense of belonging. Though I haven’t met the vast majority of my readers, over time I have connected with enough of these readers via comments here, through social media interactions, e-mail exchanges, and for a few – face-to-face interactions. Without exception, the face-to-face meetings only confirmed the sense of friendship that had existed prior to the meetings where interaction was only on-line.

As I look back, I also see the “teacher” in myself offering what I know to others who come searching for … typically what they don’t even know they are looking for. Like myself, perhaps it is simply to feel a sense of belonging, that they are worthy beings who just happen to prefer being nude.

So I leave you with two questions that I hope you will answer, either here as a comment, or via e-mail, or as a comment on the social media platform from where you accessed this post. Why do you return to visit my pages? What is it here that you want most to see?

It’s a beautiful early July summer’s day here on the prairies. With my morning tasks taken care of, I got into my truck and drove about seven kilometres out of town to hike down a road that is rarely used with the exception of a few farmers who use the trail to get to their fields of grain and hay.

The trail began with a gentle downhill which within steps had me hidden from any dirt road traffic and fully alone with nature. As I walked along, I took photos of the wildflowers which were abundant and beautiful. The trail soon switched to a series of rises and falls which took me further and further away from roads and farmyards.

There were all sorts of photo opportunities which I took advantage of with the hope of showing you just how inviting the wild prairies are to a naturist. There is nothing boring about the landscape which is anything but flat near my home. Oh, there are relatively flat fields where grain and pulse crops such as canola form the economic foundation of our community and of the Canadian prairies as a whole.

The path came to an end at a fence line. As I looked back at the way I came, I noticed a “Road Closed” sign. I am thankful for having this trail fall off the radar as it gives me a private place for free-hiking without having to worry about getting caught with my pants down.

Partway up the hills, I stopped to get a shot that would include the start of Whitebear Lake, a lake that has just re-appeared in the past three years after an absence of decades. I continued to climb the hills for a little longer and realise that I had forgotten to bring water along with me.

It seemed that with that realisation, I got even thirstier. There was no doubt in my mind that I had to return home in order to re-hydrate. I wasn’t disappointed as I had spent two full hours hiking on the prairies. And since it is still early summer, there will be many more opportunities for other hikes in the hills.

Each time I have walked along this trail, there is always something new that catches my eye, whether it is a plant, an animal, or a curious bird. It is all good.

We are in the midst of a heat wave. It began last Saturday and is expected to last another two weeks with temperatures approaching or well above 30C. Naturally, that only encourages me to spend even more time while skyclad, outdoors. Today, I begin to take my writing back outside while the weather is suitable for this activity. It is here that I am writing this blog post.

My neighbour came over for a cup of tea a short while ago not long after I had set up the writing corner. As usual, she saw me in nothing but my skin. This is a common occurrence for her, seeing me without clothing and there is not the slightest trace of her being offended by my nudity. Sometimes I wonder if she deliberately comes over when I am likely nude and my wife isn’t at home

Because she and her husband are more my wife’s friends, I asked her if my wife were to be gone for one reason or other, would they remain my friends? I wanted to clear up the thought that they were only my friends because of my wife, a state that would change if she wasn’t here any more. My neighbour was quick to point out that they were indeed my friends as well, and that they would continue to come over and invite me to their place for meals, beverages, and simply for company.

When one is in a relationship, one enters into relationships with the others in the partner’s orbit. Some of these relationships fall away for one reason or another, and others become shared relationships between the partners. Think of how many men’s guy friends become memories that fade into time. The same goes for many of a woman’s female friends. Only the friends who have carved out a deeper relationship, one that is open to sharing that relationship with their friend’s partner, survive the passage of time.

With years of relationship, new friend relationships are created, “couple relationships.” They in turn change into “couples with children” relationships. And when the nest is empty, with a corresponding change of lifestyle, typically a couple find new friends who share preferred activities, or simply closeness because of proximity such as our neighbour friends. Are they “her” friends, or “his” friends (of course this holds true for a gay or lesbian couple as well)? While there may be a dominant relationship, both partners in a couple are friends, for in these situations, it was the “couple” who connected with other “couples.”

Strange how I shifted once again into the realm of relationships and bypassed the subject of writing nude.

Today I have a continuing task begun yesterday in the late afternoon. With a neighbour’s help, I got the last four branches, the uppermost branches, off a Green Ash tree, which needs to come down to make room for three young birch trees. All turned out well with no damage to the younger trees, or my wife’s rose garden, or to the power line connecting to our house. Of course, that work was done while I wore shorts and a ball cap. Today’s task can be completed sans vêtements.

First task is to clip smaller branches off the larger ones which then go into my truck parked in the background. Then I will be taking a look at the remaining branches to see which ones can be salvaged for use in the garden as bean poles, and which ones need to be cut up for use in the fire pit by my grandchildren on their next visit in four more weeks’ time.

Once that is all done, I will take down the tree itself using one of my swede saws. Everything is done without power tools of any sort. I don’t care for the noise, and the satisfaction of doing it all by hand is immense for me. Thankfully, all of the remaining tasks can and will be done while skyclad. Though it seems to be a destructive task, it isn’t as the leaves and branches will return to the soil over time. As well, the three young birch trees will become healthier and stronger because of my efforts. There are trade offs, even in nature.

There are trade offs in the realm of relationships as well. To make way for changes, something old must be pruned. What worked in the past stops working when one, or both partners begin changing. A shift is needed to accommodate change for the relationship to return to a thriving state. It sounds simple enough, and it can be if only we would dare to let go of our need to have our ego call all the shots.

It’s one of those days here on the Canadian prairies with cloud, wind, showers, and a temperature hanging around 9 C. This is a sharp contrast from yesterday when it was in the mid-twenties, sunny, and enough breeze to keep mosquitoes hiding in the grass.

Of course, this is all to be expected. Nothing stays the same for very long. Though appearances may be deceiving, change is constant, and that includes pyramids, stone castles, and old Roman structures found all over Europe. So why do we expect anything different when it comes to people?

So often I hear the complaint from either or both parties in a relationship – “He’s/She’s not the person I married. She/He has changed.” And always, without exception, that is stated with the belief that the other has betrayed them by changing.

For the most part, the biggest change that happens in terms of the “other” in a relationship has nothing to do with the actual changes in that “other”. Rather, it is how the “self” changes their perceptions of the other. The rose-tinted glasses clear up and we now begin to learn about this strange person we’ve committed ourselves to in a relationship.

We withdraw projections, those unconscious things that come from within us that somehow attach to another person with whom we find a compelling attraction. We then come face to face with the reality of the other person. With hard work and commitment to make the relationship work, both parties can remain relatively happy and satisfied with their lives joined together. That is, until midlife seems to open a Pandora’s box within each of us. And believe me, the box will open whether you want it to open or not.

What emerges once passed the crest and sliding into the downward journey towards death, the ego begins to crumble. All of the barriers that hold the dark contents within oneself begin to crumble. Long lost aspects of oneself: the good, the bad, the ugly; begin to leak out and contaminate and confuse our sense of self. To survive, and even perhaps thrive following this dissolution of the old self, one must acknowledge what emerges and somehow integrate what emerges in a psychologically healthy manner. Too many abandon their partners, throw themselves into causes and lifestyles that anaesthetize the psyche. Meaning becomes invested in stuff, in dollars, in a new partner where the focus is projected outwards rather than face the facets of oneself that begin to emerge.

So what then happens to relationship when one, or both parties, begin to honestly deal with the shadows that begin emerging within themselves, and correspondingly, within their relationship? I think I will leave answers to another post. I invite you to respond to what appears here in this post. What resonates? What grates?

Eight days of hiking and 215 kilometres done not counting the extra kilometres walked in various locations once our destination for each day is completed. It’s enough to make a man feel a little fatigue.

Many spots along the way would be conducive to nude hiking, however, not with the group I am walking with for the EPW. As well, some wilderness locations demand full body coverage with nettles growing more than waist high. They bite.

I imagine that some enterprising individual could create safe trails in Hungary for a nude version of the Peace Walk. That said, I am enjoying the walk as it is designed.

Since our lodgings for the night are in the community centre in Szentpéterfa, which includes a library, I took advantage of the opportunity to check it out. The library showed no signs of human activity, so I risked a few photos such as this one with a bank of three skylights. From what I found out, the school uses the  library with rare visits by other community members during the day.

All the books are in Magyar, the language of Hungary which made for no desire to sit and read for relaxation. Knowing that my alone time in the library was coming to an end, I put my clothing back on. Moments later, I was thankful with the sounds of people coming up the stairs verifying my intuitive guess.

One interesting thing I learned was that the community was predominantly Croatian,  making up about 80% of the town popular. Our accommodations were in the community gymnasium which meant we all slept on the floor in our sleeping bags.

The past two days have been busy with more than thirty kilometres walked as we wandered through the cities of Bratislava and Budapest. Bratislava was a city that was rough around the edges, but we’ll worth the time spent there. A contrast to other cities we have visited was the fact that so many statues featured women.

In Budapest,  we were surprised by a sense of pride and grandeur,  a place of culture that was unique. It was both European and reflective of the Magyar history, and Asian history. Like other European cities,  statues of Nude males were found in abundance. Even with this statue of a nude man, the woman was wearing clothing.

We made it to Sopron with no difficulty and we’re soon busy with finding a late breakfast and taking too many photos. Five hours later, we checked into our apartment.

This photo, and a series of others were taken in the apartment when it time for both of us to freshen up with a shower and change into clean clothing before heading out for a final three hours on activity, including a supper out with five others who will begin the European Peace Walk tomorrow. Now, it’s time to get our bags repacked in anticipation of a twenty-five kilometre hike into Austria.

There haven’t been any opportunities to be clothing free in Vienna outside of the apartment i rented for three days. So, this second day in Vienna, I resorted to taking a selfie in the apartment with my tablet which I am using to write my blog posts.

Tomorrow we will  be having plenty of social nude time while at Therme Wien hot springs. Today, we wandered through the western half of the city core. Sites taken in were the Freud Museum,  the Votive Church, the University, the Parliament, and Volkspark.

While in Volkspark, I made sure to get my own photo of the Vulnerable Man found in front of the Temple of Theseus. After a late lunch, we visited the Holocaust Memorial and two more museums. My camera was kept busy. I wanted to put a number of these photos here but decided against it as I also have another blog site dedicated to our travels without the issue of nudity. In the evening we headed back out for a concert of Strauss an Mozart.  I found this statue of a man holding up a live pigeon in the tiniest of parks not far from our apartment. We had a full day which left us pleasantly exhausted.

I took another lawn-mowing photo. As usual, I mowed my neighbour’s lawns. I didn’t take a photo while in her backyard, mowing while nude. Once both back yards were done, I mowed both front lawns while wearing shorts. Well, all was fine or so I thought. My neighbour watched me mow her back lawn and commented to me wife about it. Discussion on what I did is being tabled until our return from Europe in June.

Anyone who claims to fully know themselves is likely less aware that those who admit to some confusion. We are complex beings What you see and get to know, for the most part, is the tip of an iceberg that floats in the sea. What is hidden from the ego, in the personal unconscious, is also “self.” We all have wondered, did I really do that, say that?

With this thought in mind, there is always something to discover about oneself. Usually, we learn from what others see and say about us. Rarely do we realise that we could learn even much more about ourselves by how we see and relate to others. Those whom we see in a positive light are usually mirroring positive things about ourselves about which we are unaware. Those whom we see in a negative light – anger, envy, annoyance, jealousy, fear, etc. – are mirroring inner aspects about ourselves that we aren’t ready to acknowledge. People such as myself in the fields of psychology, call these responses to others, “projections.”

We see naturists and nudists who seem much braver than ourselves, not realizing that within us lies the same hero or heroine. When we smile inwardly at naturist images, we are smiling at the same capability that lies within. We just don’t realise it. It takes work and a lot of reflection to take back our projections and “own” what we put onto others. We all project onto others, but we don’t all come to understand what we have done and to withdraw those projections. Why? Likely because one would then have to own the darkness within as well as the light. We would rather live with illusions (delusions) about who we are. We work hard a believing and trying to convince others about the persona we create for ourselves, telling them, “what you see is all there is.”