“The media’s the most powerful entity on earth. They have the power to make the innocent guilty and to make the guilty innocent, and that’s power. Because they control the minds of the masses.” Malcolm X

As a member of a family with a variety of people who make personal choices about their clothing, this conversation comes up often for me. My sister and I actually discussed it just yesterday and I see that it pops up on Twitter often. From my experiences I understand that some people would prefer be naked literally as much as possible, some people prefer to remain textile while in the company of others and then there are people like me. People who flow in and out of clothing from moment to moment.

Someone asked me how much of the day I spend naked. I have no clue. The percentage of time I spend naked is just not something I think about. I sleep naked, shower naked;) I truly enjoy being out in nature naked but I also like my clothing. I enjoy expressing myself through fashion. I LOVe wearing boots, even though I also LOVE the feeling of the earth beneath my bare-feet. As a child I attended nudist events and resorts, but so far, as an adult, I haven’t gone to a nudist resort, though it’s on my to experience list for 2019.

The beaches I go to in BC are mainly clothing optional. Sometimes I wear bottoms, sometimes I swim fully nude. It just depends on my mood and the people around me. The other day I was wearing a more conservative outfit yet I noticed a man legit gawking at my breasts. In my head I was like, “Seriously, WTF dude?!!” Then I looked down and my left breast was fully exposed lmbo. My bad. What I learned from that moment is that, sometimes being partially clothed can be more arousing and attract more attention than being either fully clothed or fully naked. This isn’t a new lesson for me but it reinforced what I already knew.

For me, it’s all about personal choice. I do not want anyone to push their view point on me (including telling me I have to be naked) and I certainly will not intentionally push my view point on another person. I will participate in a healthy discussion or even a respectful debate with a willing participant who happens to have an opposing point of view. But I have a need for autonomy and therefore of course respect other people’s need for autonomy. I do not feel strongly enough about being naked to make someone feel uncomfortable.

I do get naked in public on a regular basis, but I haven’t offended anyone to date (that I am aware of anyways). If I was out in nature and an individual, couple, or family walked by and expressed discomfort, I would immediately put my clothing on. I have bumped into a couple of families on a beach that was not clothing optional. They just smiled or nodded and walked past. However, I would not want anyone to feel uncomfortable because my of my personal choice. People fear that which they don’t understand. I would feel awful if the presence of my naked body made someone feel any level of fear.

When I lived in Iowa I was a bit nervous when I stripped down in public parks, natural settings, beaches, etc. I still got naked in public but it was rarely a fully relaxing moment. I am so blessed to live on the West Coast of Canada. Acceptance of the naked human form, especially women having the freedom to be topless is much more common on the Southern Gulf Islands where I currently reside. I’m sure there are still people who choose not to go to nude or clothing optional beaches, but there is far less resistance than in more conservative places.

I say do no harm, but to each their own. If you like it, it’s good. In my humble opinion, if we were all exactly the same with the same perspectives and we all made the same personal choices, life would be mundane.
I want the freedom to choose but I also want others to have the freedom to choose. So like I said in my hastag on Twitter today. I’ll do me. You do you. Peace!

From my heart to yours,

Joy

PS: I realized that the one aspect of my personal choice to be nude that I am not willing to compromise on is being naked in my own home. I have been lucky enough to mostly live in spaces where my nakedness isn’t visible to my neighbors, but I have also chosen to be naked in places and spaces where others could and did see me naked. In those situations I would simply say that if my nude form makes them uncomfortable don’t look. Luckily I’ve never had to face such a situation as my neighbors were all seemingly open minded or at least kept any negative opinion to themselves. I warn my neighbors that I will be naked in my yard so please don’t look if it makes them feel uncomfortable. On my little piece of paradise in Newton, Iowa, my neighbor would always wave as he drove the lane past my home. I guess he didn’t mind;)

Friday is the day of the week I post video content, but I decided to also post a few photos from my naked lake adventure yesterday. enJOY;)