Nude and proud

Sharing my story about my biginnings as a nudist via the AANR website.
Some pretty nice stories there.

http://www.aanr.com/nudist-proud#content

Why Nudist and not Naturist?

Over the years I have noticed some refer to this lifestyle as Nudism and some refer to it as Naturism. Partly it depends on which part of the world you are from and also the social circle you have. I have always called it Nudism, for no particular reason, just because that's what I adopted as the term Id use.

It was only recently that I began thinking about the difference between the two, if any at all. Nudism is about being nude, Naturism is about being nude also, but why call it two different things? I believe it may be that a nudist simply enjoys the lifestyle of being nude at any time one can or feels like it. A naturist may feel the same but with a difference in that naturists feel it a natural thing to do to feel more connected with the earth and nature.

As a nudist, I simply enjoy being nude. If I had the choice I would do so at any possible moment I could. Myself along with a few rare hardcore folks out there would be the first to place a deposit on a home if there was an entire suburb dedicated to the nudist way of life somehow this conflicts with the whole getting in touch with nature idea. Somehow, I believe a nude suburb will probably not happen in my lifetime or even my sons for that matter.

So there it is, a simple unsubstantiated answer to the question of: Why Nudist and not Naturist?

Beginnings

I never thought of my self as a nudist. It was something that never really occurred to me, in fact I never even knew there was such a thing as nudism or naturism. I only associated my love for being naked with nudism when a friend introduced me to people at a party saying “this is Michael... he is a nudist”. It was only then that I realized I was probably part of something much bigger and that until then I never felt the urge or need to meet like minded people.

So lets take a journey back to when It all began. I was in high school around 15 or 16 years old and always used to come home on a warm summer day and feel like I just wanted to take off all my clothes and walk around the house naked. I had no idea why, but I did. I liked it so much so to the point that by the time I was about 17 I had already taken to sleeping in the nude and stopped wearing underwear. I soon found myself being naked whenever I possibly could. I would strip off my clothes the moment I got to my room, and speedily put them back on when my parents came home. This became a regular occurrence and before long was waiting for my parents to go out as I would nude up the moment they pulled out of the driveway. As time went on I became more adventurous and began making my way down stairs, at first for food or drink, then eventually to wander around or watch television. All the while keeping a close ear out for the car doors closing in the garage with just enough time to scramble two by two up the stairs to my room where I could dress, my parents none the wiser to my nudescapade.

Nudity was never an issue with my family however, it was something that was accepted in time and place. By around eighteen my parents had already figured out I stopped wearing underwear and that I slept in the nude. They had no issues with me walking nude from my room to the bathroom or toilet when getting ready for bed or having a shower. We even all shared the bathroom up until I moved out of home in my thirties. It was a place that was acceptable to be naked as we were always so in that space within the home. Until today they have no issue being naked around me and I them. It was and I believe still is difficult for them to understand that one could simply be naked while doing all the things he or she enjoyed, such as watching television or doing housework.

By my early twenties I was ambling about in the back yard and even had mowed the lawns a few times. My father had come home from work early one day to find me hanging the washing in the nude. He didn't say anything for a few minutes of conversation but then eventually asked me to put some clothes on. It was around this time that I began to feel that this is what I loved to do and would always want to be naked when I could. It was the moment my friend introduced me to someone as a nudist that awakened something in me and I consciously chose the path of someone that always wanted to be nude. I began searching the internet and tried to find out more about this thing called nudism. It was in this time of my journey that I realised there was something missing, I had no body to share my new found love with. So I began searching for friends, people I could meet with and go to nude beaches that until now never even knew existed.

I had moved out and back in to home a few times as a young person does in their life as they mature, and was always disappointed that I had to go back to a life of being clothed more often than not. My family and I had a restaurant by the peninsular which suited me perfectly as it was very close to the nude beach I loved going to. I managed to convince my cousin to join me occasionally in the nude and he also accompanied me to the beach once but still struggled to meet people that would share my love of a nude lifestyle. Sharing with people that I was a nudist was also a difficult part of this journey until now in my mid thirties. I had to be quite selective of who I told and was very apprehensive when I did tell them. Fortunately for me, all the people that know now have been positive and supportive of my way of life. They were very happy to talk about it and I was thrilled to answer questions about nudism the best I could.

At twenty nine I met my now beautiful wife and fell in love so quickly I ended up following her back to Japan to live for a year and a half. I grew to love the Japanese way of life and the culture and found myself longing for the hot springs and public bath houses. I was often asked by Japanese colleagues and friends if I wasn’t embarrassed at all to be nude amongst other people. I found this a great segway to open up the conversation of my lifestyle choice. For those of you who don’t know, Japanese bathing culture is quite different to the way we bathe in the rest of the western world which I will save for another entry.

I have discovered that regardless of being in Japan or Australia I have never met with negative response to the concept of being naked for the sake of being naked. Miss understanding and negative response are two different things. Of the people I have told the most negative response has been “ I could never do that!!” to which I ask why? And in all cases the answer is simply, “ I just can't” however, the most commonly asked questions about nudism I have encountered which stems from misunderstanding is “ What if you see a hot girl and you get an erection?” or “ Aren’t nude beaches full of old wrinkly fat people?” So as a result I have taken it as my duty to my self and to a greater extent to inform people around me and clarify some of the reasons for being a nudist, or even just being nude for no reason. I have recently by means of social networking revealed to all my friends and family that I am a nudist. I was tired of selecting who viewed what and decided that it was time they all knew. Generally this was well received however I had hoped to stimulate more conversation and have the opportunity to inform more about the lifestyle.

As a nudist and most would agree it is more common that friends or family would not be comfortable when one is nude in their company. This Is most certainly the case with my family. There are some among my family and friends who are absolutely fine with the idea even if I am the only one. I can only have dreams that may be one day they will skinny dip with me and feel comfortable enough to stay nude afterwards but that may ever only remain a dream. There is one thing that amazingly happened after the great reveal which was something I had been searching for for as long as I could remember learning that I was a nudist. It was almost as if the universe opened up to me and I was able to for the first time, begin forging friendships with families and couples that are enjoying the same model of life as we are. We had begun a new leg of a journey meeting people along the way and perhaps in the future live the dream of many nudist to operate an establishment friendly to nudists. My wife by no means considers herself a nudist tho her mentality and attitude toward the lifestyle and ideals of nudism and her attitude toward nudity is very much the same as the seasoned nudists that are ambling around the beaches today.

So here we are in the present day at the beginning of the rest of my life as a nudist. We have begun the next stage of a life long journey heading toward what we hope will be a bright future in nudism. I can only hope and wish that my contribution by means of informing my family and friends and the people I meet along the way of how wonderful life can be if one can accept their body the way it is, accept what others think of them and disregard any negativity toward them for how they look. Body image I believe is the one key element that prevent people from simple tasks such as changing in the change rooms or even in front of friends. This same body image problem stems from the lack of understanding and childish sexual behavior toward nudity in a natural state, openly joked about in media and pushed down upon children In schools and religious institutions.

From today I carry forward a task set upon myself by myself to bring knowledge and understanding of nudism and the normalisation of nudity to people who are willing to read. I will share my experiences, stories, thoughts and opinions in this space. I am no social scientist or psychologist and do not know anything about the finer points of social interactions, I am merely a person who is sharing ideas and opinions for the purpose of opening dialogue about the wonderful lifestyle we call nudism.