My Own Misconceptions of Nudism

12/10/2014

I’m sure everyone has their own concepts of what nudity must be. Not that I perceive non-nudists as people who sit around thinking, “hmm, I wonder what being a nudist is like” in their everyday lives. But when the subject arises, I’m sure a certain thought or image must come to mind. Well I’ll admit that I have had my own ideas and images of a nudist prior to becoming one and they certainly have changed since.

To start with the basis for my first misconception of nudity I must go back to my youth and memories of different events from that time. As I mentioned in a previous blog, my father worked for the area gas company and on many occasions he was dispatched to the local “nudist colony” (his name for it back in the day) for service calls. I remember having little drifts of the imagination trying to envision what this place where no one wore clothing was like. The area where the “colony” was located was positioned off a major route and we would drive past it when taking trips to our grandparent’s house. As we passed that point my father would call out with his customary comment of, “There’s the nudist colony”, and as was common with my dad’s customs, an updated story would follow about his most recent visit. I never really thought of what being a nudist might be like except in those moments when dad would bring up one of his stories. And if I did happen to envision anything, it seemed to include some silly thoughts of nude people running around; throwing beach balls to each other (don’t ask me why).

Rather than repeatedly calling it “the colony”, I might as well mention the name of the resort which brought forth my first imaginations about nudism. Its name is Cedar Waters Village (they have been in existence since 1950 and admittedly I had to Google them after becoming a nudist to see if they were still there) and it’s truly a campground, not a resort. Their location is announced by a very unassuming wooden sign with a half sun (I can still see the sign in my mind and they still use the same familiar sign to this day) rising up below their name.  The entrance into their facility is a meager little turn off the highway into a heavily wooded area. I remember peering through the window as we passed to see if I could get a glimpse of this unimaginable place I was trying to depict, looked like. I never could see a thing for the entrance was one in which you drove up a slight incline and then the road just seemed to disappear into the woods (very mysterious to me in my childhood thoughts).

I honestly couldn’t seem to conjure up any image of what they did there. I mean, they were naked, so I guess they’d swim, but what else? As I matured, more questions would come to mind, such as… What did they do about the mosquitoes; they had nothing to cover them to prevent their bites…? And what about during the winter, didn’t they freeze without coats, boots and mittens on? What did these people do? (I now know the campground is closed after Columbus Day so they have no winter worries there). And since I was maturing in age, that ever popular question would come to my thoughts… Don’t men walk around with erections all the time…? My mind would usually hit a stone wall after a time, and it just seemed to be too gross (my teenage word for anything offensive) to try to think further on this subject and I’d have to shake it from my imagination and move on to something else.

Now this leads me to my first realization that I carried misconceptions regarding nudity, for I thought if you were a nudist, once you’ve entered the facility, you had to remove your clothes (some sort of unwritten rule in my mind). I’m sure this way of thinking is related to my dad’s stories again, for in one of his tales; he told of how the guard at the entrance said he’d seen him there numerous times before and the rule was, after the third visit he had to remove his clothing. He promptly told him, “Well then, I guess you don’t want your water heater fixed.” (He always got a good laugh out of that one).

So I guess my impression was, no clothing allowed once inside, (and I’m blaming it on my dad’s tales, so keep this in mind as I go further with this story). So now we skip forward to our first day at Shangri La Ranch, and there happened to be a dance in the evening. We decided to check it out and as we strolled toward the dance hall we could see the disco ball and pretty lights through the windows. But what we saw allowed us no preparation for what we found upon entering… They had clothes on!

We suddenly felt very uncomfortable and promptly turned and went outside. What were we going to do…? My mind raced through thoughts of what we had packed for this trip. We hadn’t planned on needing clothing (who would have thought we would need them knowing we were headed for nude camping) and we hadn’t brought clothes for a dance, we didn’t know if we should just return to our camper or say, “who cares” and go in.

We must have seemed a little strange as we sort of peeked in through the door to see what type of clothing they were wearing. From what we could see it seemed casual, so we returned to our camper, found some articles of clothing that looked casual and threw them on. We returned to the dance and easily found a table since there was only a handful of people in the hall at this time. As people slowly filled the room, we got our first glimpse of a very curious pattern we’ve found and acquired ourselves since participating in nudity and it was a true eye opener for both of us… Nudists like to dress up for parties and dances. But “dressing up” in nudity and “dressing up” in the textile world are of slightly different varieties. What we saw were individuals dressed in anything from a little bow tie around a man’s penis to women with very sexy lingerie, as well as those who wore conventional dresses, slacks or whatever.

I guess that’s what is so appealing to me about being a nudist; it’s the “Whatever” about it. I like having the independence to dress how I want, when I want. I don’t have to conform to what everyone else thinks is right for me, but what I decide is right for me. Yes, certainly I’ll wear a costume or theme if it’s a holiday or party, but I don’t have to. And nothing says I have to keep them on either. Many a party has found me with an outfit on in the beginning and then completely naked half way through the event. I like not having to follow other individual’s idea of conformity; it’s whatever I’m in the mood for. So granted, I don clothing at times, but I also do so when I go to work, or to the store, even if I answer my front door I feel it’s required to put something on (or else shock the person on the other side and possibly get a visit from our fine police department). Nudity just happens to give us an additional option which we may or may not choose on occasion.

So now I know (and so all of you), nudists do the same things everyone else does, and they do it with or without clothing. They hike, swim; play volleyball, croquet, tennis, even lie about reading a book, you name it. They do everything clothed people do, following their own whim or discretion. As a nudist you have the freedom to wear the clothes, or not. I think it’s very appropriate to call them clothing optional resorts or facilities. I have seen members playing tennis at Mira Vista, some with clothing, and some without. I’ve seen some hiking the trails naked, others with clothes. Same goes for walking around the compound, working out in the gym, going to meals, or just sitting in the lounge… It’s whatever suits their fancy and the option and freedom to choose is what’s most attractive and satisfying to me. One thing we’ve noticed all conscientious nudists are consistent with, and that is always carrying with them a towel for sitting upon and this is done for sanitary hygiene reasons.

So there you have it, my first misconception documented and dismissed. I know I’ve had others and when they come to mind I’ll write about them for future posts. This truly has been an evolution as we’ve grown in our experiences in nudity, it’s a journey we’ve found relaxing, liberating, exciting and so very pleasurable. We hope you’ll enjoy reading what we consider revelations as we encounter them, one step at a time.

AZNudistCouple