Through a Naturist Lens

I have just found a document that I had thought had vanished six years ago. The document was a reworking of a small booklet I wrote in 2009, the first in a series I called Though a Jungian Lens. Two of four parts were completed and the photos for both parts were safely in place. As a result, I am going to return to that work next week. The fourth part is almost fully complete as well. It is mostly the third part of the booklet that remains to be worked out.

The topic of that booklet is depression, or as I have also named it, the Inner Swamplands that signal the Dark Night of the Soul. It won’t be an easy task, but one that I feel is important. There is something stirring within me that is asking for a return to a more psychological, or should I say, more authentic presence here. Naturism is not all about freedom and joy, it is also about daring to be expose those things we would rather remain hidden. Do we dare allow our soul to be seen as we allow our bodies to be seen?

Sometimes in the naturist community, we keep things light. We want to avoid anything too heavy. We want to be entertained and made to feel good. However, the path to feeling good is often difficult. The path forward is riddled with barriers and hurdles. In the outer world, those barriers and hurdles are other people who would rather we kept our clothing on, laws that demand we keep our clothing on. In the inner world, our own self doubts and lack of confidence keep us from experiencing many opportunities for clothing-free time.

Fear is the biggest culprit. What holds you back from optimising your time for being clothing free?

This grandparenting gig is exhausting to say the least. And, it is a good kind of tiredness. I don’t know who gets more tired, the grandparents or the grandchildren. Yesterday we took the two littles [three and five] to a swimming pool that has so much to entertain young ones.

We made multiple trips up winding staircases to quickly descend waterslides, several visits to a variety of hot pools, bouncing around in the main pool when it turned into a wave pool, and playing in the kids’ waterpark – for three-and-a-half hours. And that was just one of the day’s events. Today it is more relaxing for us as both are in playschool in the morning, with one getting an additional daycare experience for the afternoon.

With most of our time here having a forecast of rain, something we hope also happens back at our home five hours further east, this is the perfect way to spend time while waiting for summer.

The last little pieces are being cut and placed in the garage. I am using scrap pieces as the “look” is irrelevant. Function is the main objective. After all, I live in a small town and it really is just a garage. And probably more important, I am a senior citizen who is frugal.

One wall, a short wall, has three different materials on the wall. One section is drywall, another section is cheap panelling, and the third is 3/8 inch chipboard. It looks ugly but it does cover the insulation in the wall that has the house on the other side.

It is kind of like the issue of clothing. Humans spend so much on buying clothing that is somewhat fashionable, if not the height of fashion. Then as fashion changes, the need to spend more has people scrambling to not be left behind. Appearances are everything. For so many naturists, clothing is about function. If there is any possibility, clothing is set aside completely. Yes, there are some who keep up to fashion and that is all about their choice, not about other naturists trying to control what others do and wear.

An example of mixing fashion and function. For most beaches in North America, and quite a number in Europe and Asia, bathing suits are required. The idea of not wearing anything would be counter productive. Since we are not wanting to have significant tan lines, there is the option of tan-through swim wear that meets the regulations. Again, it is all about function.

I am on the last stages of the garage fix-up. This afternoon, I was cutting the last of the boards as the sky began to darken. With the final cut, I felt the first drops of rain. I had just enough time to take in the saw and the rest of my tools before the storm descended with rain and then hail. Since it was time for some tea, I welcomed the break. The last two boards will be put up tomorrow. I have to admit that I enjoy being a handyman. That said, I would not be recommended for quality work so that I could make a living as a carpenter.

I am currently working on a new story. I had reached 5,000 words and was not happy with the direction the story had taken. As a result, I chopped of the last 2400 words and have changed the basic plot. What can I tell you about the story? Not much at this point. The story begins with a man dealing with the loss of his wife and the need to restructure his life. There will be a speculative aspect to the story.

On another topic, I am going to be a regional director for a national authors’ group here in Canada beginning in June. I will say more about this in June after the official papers are in order. I am pleased that they searched out candidates and reached out to me. I have been a member of the organisation for five years and have been very quiet, keeping a very low profile. I would never have thought that I would become a member of the organisation’s governing council.

Well, that’s it for today. It’s time for me to get back to the story.

As usual, I began the day with coffee. I have to admit that I am addicted to coffee for the morning. Though it froze last night, once the sun hit the corner by my garden shed, the temperature was bearable. With coffee and then breakfast done in this corner, it was time for me to get to work on my various projects.

First up was to take the bedding plants out of the garage and place them on the pathway in the backyard so that they could get some sunshine and toughen up with passing breezes and cool weather.

Next, it was time to go back into the garage and do some more work on the rough renovations which include a counter and new shelving for my wife’s use.

I still have a partial wall to finish by the cabinet and another wall to finish going to the overhead garage door. Later in the afternoon, weather permitting, my wife and I will go for another walk into the countryside. That walk, unlike my other projects, is not clothing optional.

On a final note: I have sold my first book for May. This means books have been sold every month this year via Amazon. And with that, I sign off to get back to work on my projects.

The forecast isn’t the best for Saturday and World Naked Gardening Day, so I decided to turn the garden with my small tiller today. It was a six-hour task to turn the garden making sure that the mulch was well blended. A bit of the garden was still wet and will have to wait for a while. That part of the garden will be planted in potatoes so it isn’t as critical to till it according to my wife who plans what goes where in the garden. Of course, this isn’t my only naked gardening day. Typically, every day that I work in the garden is a naked gardening day.

We have been putting all of our potato and carrot peelings, apple cores, and all sorts of vegetable discards into the garden for many years. The soil likes the gift of mulch. Tilling the mulch in helps the mass breakdown much quicker that trying to use mulch structures that give garden-ready soil.

Most people we know don’t use their kitchen clippings for the garden. Some put it in special bins for some distant mulch production. Most just put it in the garbage. There is a curious distancing from the “garbage.” It is better and more psychologically acceptable to buy chemical fertilizer. It somehow feels “cleaner” for them. I accept that they have their own ways with their own rationale. I am not into trying to control others and make judgements. For me it is all about living what I believe is right for me. And in the garden, that means homemade compost mulch. And in terms of clothing, it means gardening nude.

How do you garden? Do you garden?

The sun is out and there are hopes that it will climb into double digits today. Regardless, there are chores that need doing in our back yard and I am loathe to put on clothing if not 100% necessary. Cleaning off the deck is first on the list as we will be having company come in the late afternoon. Ordinary life means ordinary tasks. I once heard a description of what awareness means that bares repeating here.

A wise man, a Buddhist monk of some sort who had achieved full awareness was asked to explain what was in store for him by a novice monk.

“Before you start on the path to awareness, you carry water in pails from a well, work the garden, chop wood, and perform mundane tasks. The work is done unconsciously without any awareness of the mysteries of becoming fully conscious. When at last, usually at a ripe age, when all the mysteries of life are learned, you become a guru, a teacher.”

“But why are you still carrying water from the well? Shouldn’t others be doing it for you?”

“Ah, but that is the reward. Now I get to do these vital tasks fully aware of their importance. Now, I can be fully present when doing them. The water still needs to be hauled, weeds still need to be hoed, and wood still needs to be chopped. I may as well enjoy these tasks.”

I can’t claim to be fully aware nor fully enlightened. However, I can be fully present when doing mundane tasks. It makes life so much more enjoyable.

It’s -2 Celsius with a feels like temperature of -7 because of wind. The rain water in the blue barrel is full and has frozen. I adapted and hooked on a different spout to move rain water into an alternate barrel, an old hot water tank. Saving rain water is vital for our garden. Once the alternate tank is filled, I’ll add on to the spout to have the water go directly to the rose garden. Nothing is growing yet, but it is best to be prepared. Naked gardening has a lot of work that goes on in the background.

Okay, this post isn’t about naked gardening. As some of you know, I have been restoring old posts from cached archives. As a result, about 200 post that I had thought were permanently lost have been retrieved. There are a few more that will make their way to the archives on this blog site, mostly posts from 2013.

For those that may have lost or deleted old blog sites, some of those old posts can be found using something called the Wayback Machine, which was where I found my old posts. I do know that ALL the missing posts aren’t able to be found. I have likely only recovered about 20% or less of my old posts, most of which weren’t worth keeping anyway. At least I have some continuity.

One of the problems is the typical loss of photos that were in the original posts. So, if you didn’t archive your old photos, that could become a problem. Now, is all of this worth the effort, and believe me it was a lot of work? I mean, they are old posts. In my opinion, the posts were mostly about recording my navigation through time. They are there for me much like a diary. I guess one could call it the Diary of a Canadian Naturist Man.

Why do people keep journals or diaries? For the most part, they are written in booklets created for that purpose. We give diaries to our children, sometimes with keys attached so they can feel the sacredness of their words. I know as a writer, I have found immense use in reading journals of long dead, famous authors. As a psychotherapist, being able to read journals of Jung has taught me so much. The world would be so much poorer without those private thoughts being brought to us through time.

Do you keep a journal or diary? Does it matter if it is in an off-line format? Why? I am interested in what you have to say. And yes, I keep a journal that is not published online. To safeguard it’s privacy, I keep my journals secure. Once I am gone, I imagine my children or grandchildren, whoever finds them, will be shocked at what is read. But that is important too. There are no saints. We are all flawed. Some of us need to admit that safely, in our journals.

Yesterday, it was more like early spring with the temperature climbing to 8° Celsius by the afternoon. This morning, the wind is howling at 50+ km/hr winds out of the north and snow is falling. It’s a good day to remain indoors. Needless to say, I didn’t spend any longer than necessary time to have this image captured.

The challenge was there. One of the things I have come to realise is the fact that if we play it safe, we don’t learn much about ourselves or others. Why disturb the status quo? Why rock the boat? Taking risks increases the heart rate flooding the body with endorphins. That surge of energy more than makes up for temporary discomfort. Believe it or not, I didn’t feel the cold north wind as much as I had thought in terms of freezing.

When I go outside in weather like this, I still feel cold when bundled up in layers. Yet, when my skin is exposed, I feel much warmer. Two afternoons ago, my wife and I sat out on our deck for tea. Because it was sunny, I quickly lost my clothes to feel the blast of sunshine on my body. My wife was wearing a sweater and commented that it really wasn’t that warm out. Had I been clothed, I would have agreed with her. It’s strange.

Well, I didn’t go for a free-hike as I had hoped though I did manage a bit of clothing-free time before turning back for the return half of my 8 kilometre hike yesterday. The sun never did break through the thick cloud cover which cast a gloomy mood on the day. Despite the dreariness of the skies, I walked at a good pace until I met with mud on an old dirt road. At that point, I was forced to walk in the ditch to avoid the mud. It is too early for free hiking. There will be ample opportunities and time for long free hiking treks in the months ahead.

This morning, Easter morning, the sun is out though it is -8 Celsius. We are at home alone for Easter, something that is not typical. We usually have one or more of our children with their children home for the short holiday. When they are here, the tradition is that I make pancakes. Even though I was at home alone for the morning with my wife at work in the nursing home, I made a small batch of pancakes that will feed me for four days. I have planned this for a few days. It is a small thing, but even small things count in the big picture.