The ironic development of my daring dance with nudity!

Trekking to the river and finding a nice little secluded spot. Looking around, feeling nervous and yet excited. I take off my shorts, top, shoes and socks…
Finally the underwear comes off! I laugh, I feel like this is the most daring, adventurous thing I have ever done, yet realistically its really not that much of a big deal.

Travelling around the world solo, having large tattoos permanently adorning your body, climbing a 65 foot tree without safety ropes. Yes, these things are daring and adventurous but being naked outside by yourself. Its really not a big deal at all. Certainly not in the physical sense and yet…yet I felt like it was a monumental moment. I felt like I had disobeyed some unwritten laws, I had gone back to adolescence and rebelled and it felt good.

Now I’m not saying I am ready to be naked in front of people, or that I want to keep repeating the experience, but it was a liberating moment and one I shall remember for ever. Realizing that I am capable of really letting go of societies restrictions and doing something new, something different. Experimenting with something which is often misunderstood and frowned upon. Especially after recent experiences it was a big step for me.

Now here is the irony!

After talking to people and sharing my journey so far, it seemed the natural course to share this moment too. So, I decided I would take a tasteful photo. No frontal nudity, just a natural non posed picture of me standing by the river, on the grass. It looked nice enough, nothing pervy or in your face, certainly not a sexy photo, just a natural shot of a natural moment in a natural environment.

And I posted it to my facebook, to share with my friends and family, to include them in my journey. I received many encouraging words, some said I was an inspiration with regards to fitness, some said I was so strong, courageous and outgoing and they were envious I was able to do this, some commented on how beautiful the picture was…and one….one reported the picture to facebook as offensive.

Yep, offensive. Now I attach the picture below so you may judge for yourself and in the end facebook judged it non offensive and well within the rules on nudity but it still bugged me.

Is it offensive to post this on my own wall for my friends to see? Am I, to some one else, the pervy German??
Or is this a case of someone just being spiteful for the sake of it? Or jealous or incredibly closed minded and prude. I felt outraged that I was now painted in the position of the inappropriate when I had been so careful to avoid being what I had hated most about my recent nudity experiences and a lot of people agreed with this, showing support and insisting it was a tasteful picture, I had every right to post it and they enjoy seeing my progress, both in my travelling journey an in my body (I am a fitness fanatic).

Maybe the lesson to learn here is that there will always be people who do things you deem unacceptable, and on the other hand there will also be those who deem you unacceptable

We are not made physically the same, nor are we mentally balanced in the same ways, some of us are more easily offended, or thick skinned and you will always have haters for whatever you do, or don’t do and you will always have people you look up to. I guess the key is to avoid what and who offends you and search out that and those which inspired and interest you.

It has made me see that maybe my negative experience recently with a certain German was actually more to do with his personality and high sexually charged nature than it was with the actual naturalism he was practising. Perhaps when shirking off the restraints of clothes, we should also shirk off the social conventions that make us feel like we have to be nice and friendly with everybody. Why not keep some distance if someone just isn’t your cup of tea, why not just not be friends. Be polite, but be distant, there is no rule that you have to try to like someone and spend time around them.

Is it not more rude to be rude to someone because you dislike them than to avoid being around them unnecessarily?

My mind closing dance with the naturist!

Right to start off, remember I’m British and although I like to think of myself as liberal, open minded and not easily offended, I do still seemingly carry around a slightly naive and innocent view when it comes to such things as nudity!

Before heading out to Aio Wira, A retreat in the wilderness in Auckland, Newzealand, I knew there would be a very relaxed, hippy vibe to the place. I was there to work and expected the usual array of friendly faces, coming together to get the work done, pleasant social exchanges of an evening and I was even vaguely aware that there will most likely be the option to try being nuddy in public for the very first time!

Although I hadn’t thought much about this either way, I figured I was mature enough and chilled enough to either join in, or ignore the nakedness if I wasn’t feeling it myself, I intended to go with the flow, see how I felt and be liberated god-damn!

What happened though was altogether un-liberating and has closed my mind to such things! I know this is probably just a bad example, a bad experience and I shouldn’t let it taint my future ideas towards this increasingly popular…Um…Exhibition of ones self! Anyway on my first day here a fellow German helper kindly asked if I would like to go for a walk to the river. Innocent enough right? Nice stroll with the father age, friendly German man. I should go, be polite and partake in the walking!

Well upon arriving at a certain point at the river, he asked if I would like to swim, It was cold and I didn’t but politely said I’d wait here for him on the bank, so I sat, watching the water, all at ease. Even took off my jumper to catch the few rays of sun starting to show through the clouds and then…
Something changed…The atmosphere felt a little strained, and I heard” oh you have a nice body, I can tell you workout” so I’m like OK, its a compliment. Take it, its just a compliment. It sounds a little pervy but maybe its just his accent. So I turn around to thank him and BAM…Penis right there! He’s standing, I’m sitting…Well it brought a whole new meaning to the words ‘in your face’!

I was a little surprised but quickly dismissed it, keeping my cool I turned back around and averted y gaze. Oh boy did I avert my gaze! I have to say it was the least attractive member I have ever seen, but then in fairness I have only ever looked upon them in a sexy frame of mind before, this penis viewing in broad daylight and in a non sexual manner(for me) was very strange! And then.. He doesn’t even swim, oh no he goes in and then walks about in the shallows flopping it around all over the place whilst trying to make conversation so I’d have to look…Well I never!

This episode was followed up with a couple of days of excessive compliments in a manner which I could only take as slightly pervy. Still I thought, I am probably being prude, I should give him chance to just be a nice man…non naked! We shall stay away from the river! The next day as I worked out he came in asking if he could join in…Um…well, OK! And then proceeded to make what I can only assume is his sex face at me whilst making appreciative noises and telling me “this is goooood yvar?” Um, no! This was not good for me!

And THEN, still trying not to judge and be nice, I went to walk to the car with him. He’d asked if id go with hi to collect it, its a nice walk he said! What he didn’t say was that it was past the river, and oh yes you’ve guessed it, there he goes again. Birthday suit, waving it all about, by god I thought, I’ve been tricked!! Well not again!

Until today that is, I thought we would be safe seen as it was myself, said helper and another helper Markos who was more along my lines of modesty and we were all going out to a rather public lake and waterfalls. After reaching the top pool of the waterfalls, there was a lovely young couple enjoying some togetherness at the top of the falls, Markos and myself climbed up to explore and I hear “oh! What the, oh no…lets go” and I know what’s happening, I turn just in time to see our lovely nudist emerging from behind the bushes smack bang in front of this couple. I swear its an obsession for this guy, I mean does being nudist mean you HAVE to be nude at every opportunity, even in non nudist places??

Does it mean you continually do it around people who are clearly not comfortable with it?
So all nudists constantly compliment each other all the time?? The amount of comments about my body and how I should swim or do the yoga in my bikini, I am just left feeling naked even with all my clothes on! It is by far the most uncomfortable I have been in as far as I can remember.

Is there not some sort of etiquette for such things and being too ‘in your face’? Like a religion, I kind of feel its one of those things, each to their own but exactly that…Your own, or people of the same inclination…Its just good manners not to force people to bear witness, surely?

And the worst bit of all??? This is the last penis I saw, and the last one I will be seeing in quite a while, I can’t erase the image and I wont even get to replace it with a nice one, one I wanted to see, one I felt good about! Its all tainted now! Ha ha ha. I am scared for ever…Or until I WILLINGLY come into contact with more male anatomy to wipe the memories!

Now I’m aware this is probably a bad experience with someone whom I obviously don’t connect well with, but It leaves me wondering if I am not too prude for such things after all? Am I too reserved to be the free, fun-loving hippy I envision myself to be?

I am left more confused than ever with regards to my feeling on naturalists and participation or witnessing!

The whole thing was certainly an eye opener and a mind closer for me!