The arrival of the Spring season is usually noted as a time of rebirth, renewal and hope. Our world opens up, gradually, as nature returns and the barren, cold and drab days of winter slowly begin to disappear. Growth and foliage are restored to our environment.
For those of us who are loyal bare practitioners, excitement accompanies this transition from one season into the next. Why all the anxious energy? Anticipation! A return to our home, our essence – and our nakedness in our natural world!
I know at this point some people are rolling their eyes, shaking their heads and thinking, “What the hell is his problem?” Seasons change. True. It happens annually. True. Why all the excitement? Anticipation!
Let us face reality. Some people become eager at Christmas. Some for weddings. The same is true for graduations. For births. For retirement. For the arrival of yet another weekend away from the job.
For those of us who are bare practitioners (gentle reminder: same gender loving naturists/nudists), our eagerness is the return of Spring and our return – clothes free, of course – to nature! Anticipation! Our excitement is based on the fact that we view nature as part of our bare existence: our home. This phenomena becomes our homecoming!
The 19th Century American author, poet, essayist, journalist and humanist Walt Whitman (May 31, 1819 – March 26, 1892) was an advocate for both nature and clothes freedom during his lifetime. Below is a sampling of his thoughts entitled: “A Sun-bathed Nakedness.”
“Never before did I get so close to Nature; never before did she come so close to me…Nature was naked, and I was also…Sweet, sane, still Nakedness in Nature! – ah if poor, sick, prurient humanity in cities might really know you once more! Is not nakedness indecent? No, not inherently. It is your thought, your sophistication, your fear, your respectability, that is indecent. There come moods when these clothes of ours are not only too irksome to wear, but are themselves indecent.”
Given the title and theme of his work, Whitman leaves no doubt in anyone’s mind on his observations regarding nature and nudity. Both my spouse, Aaron, and I agree with his opinions – to a certain extent. Our dissention is based on his generalizations about urban (city dwellers) feelings about nudity.
Even though his observations are from an earlier era and ours are on a more contemporary basis and the variations in language usage, the reality is that persons, regardless of where they live, usually have similar reactions to nudity. Aaron and I live in an urban environment (Arlington, Virginia – less than five miles south of Washington, D.C.) and despite the congestion, we were able to get bare together in an expansive neighborhood public park. The first picture above confirms this.
The above photograph supports our position on urban bare practitioners. Just as in our own personal experiences, Aaron and I are most definitely not the only two in our neighborhood who consider natural social nudity as “indecent.” We may be a minority, but we are absolutely not alone!
Be fore we condemn through assumptions and stereotypes, we should all take a moment and carefully consider every alternative. Certainly, not all of Walt Whitman’s neighbors endorsed his philosophy on the compatibility of nature and nakedness!
Naked hugs!
Roger Poladopoulos/ReNude Pride
Author’s Note: The next post entry here is planned for Wednesday, March 29, 2023, and the proposed topic is: “Your Buttocks = Historic Artifact!” (reprint)
ReNude Pride 