My Own Personal Practicality in Nudity

01/12/2015

When asked by friends why I chose to be a nudist, I usually respond with a statement which includes something about loving the feeling of liberty and freedom. But honestly, I have a couple of personal reasons explaining why I prefer to be naked. To me my motives fall on the very practical side of nudity (which I’ve never really mentioned to others), simply put, its temperature control and my own personal comfort level that moves me toward nudity. This motivation is probably one of the most logical of reasons in my mind (though I’m afraid, after you finish reading this you’ll all determine I’m extremely neurotic in ways I hate to admit).

I guess I’ll start out with addressing the temperature control issue first. Though some might say I should just deal with it and many may not agree, possibly even question my judgment on my choice of location in which I live. You see, I live in Arizona and we have triple digit temperatures a good part of the year, for me to go without clothing appeals to me on a level I view as quite sensible and provides an entirely different variation of comfort for me. But also, there is so much more involved in my reasons than that.

Many days are “hot, hot, hot,” in the southwest. Though we have an air conditioning system in our home and it is extremely efficient, I do try to keep the house at a reasonable temperature level (the electricity bill in summer months can be pretty expensive). It’s a factor I hadn’t brought into the equation previously, but when I must wear my clothing in situations no matter how great or miniscule the activity, I feel as though I’m going to explode. Let me site some examples… If I’m rushing around at work or just sitting at my desk, or I’m at someone else’s home if they don’t keep their air cool enough, whether I’m active in any way, or even if I’m sitting watching the television, it’s whatever ( and I’m getting tense just writing about these things). When I become overheated, it truly sends me over the edge in a way which causes me to have to fight every instinct within me to prevent a meltdown (no pun intended).

Take today for example… I was preparing our Thanksgiving Day dinner and of course our oven was going at 350 degrees or higher for several hours (even though my husband smoked our turkey outside in his smoker… and boy did he look cute doing so completely naked). I am your typical over doer during holidays, trying to insure everyone has their favorite dish and dessert. And then of course there is the cleaning of the house and the washing and wiping while cooking which goes hand in hand with holiday preparations. Needless to say, throughout the day I was rushing about cleaning, stirring, sifting, shaking (and any other descriptive word you can think of to bring the picture to mind of my days activities). Now we didn’t have your normal Thanksgiving Day weather that comes to mind when one thinks of this holiday. Oh no, we had no frost on the ground, or snow in the air, no biting wind blowing about either.

We had temperatures in the 80’s here. It was yet another lovely sunny day here in Arizona (our weather forecasters have it tough… not!) Don’t get me wrong, I love the weather here. I grew up in New England and suffering through the cold weather eventually drove me to this part of the country (and let me repeat, I do love it). I am very thankful to escape the everyday frigid temperatures of New England’s winter months, especially when I get calls from family back home updating me on how many degrees below zero the thermometer has reached, or how many inches of snow are piling up. I’m sorry, I’m drifting onto other subjects, but I write like I talk. Which means, when I talk about a subject, I feel it necessary to give you the background info that goes along with it in order to help you understand? (This may not appeal to everyone, and to those of you who are bothered by this, I apologize).

The true game changer came when I entered menopause. I moved here before entering this condition, and though I love Arizona’s weather, it became much more extreme for me once it began. A woman in menopause is not a pleasant or pretty sight when she is in the throes of a hot flash (or at least this woman isn’t). Hot flashes are non-discriminating, they come whenever they feel like appearing, and it doesn’t matter how inconvenient the timing, (and they are merciless!). So when I am in the middle of performing practically any type of physical activity, and one appears, the first thing I want to do is rip off every article of clothing to release me from the suffocation I am experiencing (picture a blazing inferno boring a burning hole as it makes its way through to my chest while at the same time a gigantic boa constrictor has wrapped itself around my diaphragm and squeezes continuously… am I being too descriptive?). It feels so intense at times I believe I’ll go mad, I have to use every bit of restraint to make it through those moments when I am in situations where I must wear clothing, and as soon as I am able, the clothing comes off.

I don’t want to make this into a topic about menopause however; I just felt I needed to pinpoint some of the triggering elements for my deep desire to be unclothed.

So now you have all the background information, you also have the additional influences with which I hope brings understanding of what a stress factor this creates with my health, both physically and emotionally. It is at this point I want to bring this topic back around to the example I was speaking of regarding temperature control.

While preparing my Thanksgiving dinner (with all the additional elements I described in great detail involved), I had quickly reached my internal boiling point. In previous years I have been irritable, grouchy, snapped and raised my voice at the loved ones around me due to my irritability. The difference was achieved this year by a couple of saving graces… First, was due to the fact no guests were here yet, and since it was only the two of us, I was able to strip down to nothing but an apron (had to protect the tender areas while cooking) once I realized I was feeling hot and uncomfortable. Second, my husband was able to do the same. We performed all of the stress inducing activities without our clothing and thus created a tension free environment for both of us. When our guests arrived, (we were able to dress shortly before the appointed time) they found us in great spirits, relaxed and ready to enjoy the holiday.

The second practical point for me towards nudity is that I have always had issues with the way clothing feels on my body. I have continuously been bothered by textures in clothing. I’ve also been disturbed by the feeling of being bound when donning any type of garb which feels tight or layered. So anything that feels tight or binding, itchy, prickly, rough, or has scratchy things in them, (i.e. tags, seams, hooks, zippers, threads, sequins…) to name a few, makes me more than uncomfortable. When I say more than uncomfortable, I mean overboard, bordering unstable type of concerns with this discomfort. So again, I’ll add to my story by giving examples in my drifty sort of way.

As mentioned previously, I grew up in New England. I hated living in New England because during winter months I had to wear layers of clothing to try to keep warm (I was always cold and suffered intolerably through the 9 months of frigid weather). I didn’t want to go outside because of my aversion to cold but yet fun things were happening out there like sledding, ice skating, building snowmen and snow forts… These activities could not be entertained from indoors so I would bite the bullet and begin the labor some task of pulling on layer after layer of winter apparel in an effort to be weatherproofed. As I approached the point which one would consider sufficiently dressed for the cold, a creeping sense of irritability would begin deep within me and before I knew it I would be overcome by an uncontrollable sensation of suffocation, fury, and panic. Fight or flight mode would kick in and I would pull from one direction, yank at another, scratch, twist and turn to try to avoid this unpleasant feeling that had quickly enveloped me and given me this intense discomfort. 

Sometimes I would successfully make it outdoors to play (my mother would say it took more time for me to get dressed than I would stay outside), but a good deal of the time I ended up pulling the clothing off and throwing it across the room in frustration, angry because I hated how the clothing felt and upset because I inevitably upset my mother (because it disappointed her when I couldn’t “control myself” in this manner).

I think I have loathed clothing since birth; I’ve never have had any memories of comfort while in them for they make me itch a good part of the time. I’m not sure whether my discomfort comes from the seams within the outfit, the thread they use to sew it, or how many times they repeated a stitch to bind the seam. Little things like these would not only irritate me (both in temper and body), but would chaff my skin and give me the equivalent of an Indian rub burn on whatever area of my body it may be brushing against.

I always wanted to like clothing, I wanted to be like my siblings who never seemed bothered by the coarseness of the material or the layering for warmth (I guess that’s how they are able to still live in NE), but I just never could get myself to a point where I felt comfortable. Being without, now that’s comfortable. If I found an outfit I liked it was generally something very soft and loose, one I would describe as “feeling like I have nothing on” (and I can recall saying this from a young age… I think I see a pattern forming).

So possibly, I have issues with confinement, maybe that’s part of why I like being a nudist. With this realization said, I’m taking my stand… Yes, I do have issues with being confined, my answer… Be nude. Yes, my skin is easily irritated from the texture and material, my response… Be naked. Truly I am someone who gets easily overheated, my solution… Take my clothes off.  Having my clothes off brings the greatest comfort to my body, mind and spirit. So there you have it, I have admitted to myself and to all who read this… I am truly neurotic when it comes to wearing clothing and being overly hot. It’s a good thing I found nudity; it helps save those around me from my experiencing my neuroticism.

So I will repeat my admission… I have issues… But here is my final response to all those who want to keep me imprisoned in the horrid torture some devices called clothing. Previously I’ve been taunted and demeaned with the following catch phrases, well not anymore! I’m not going to bite the bullet, nor am I going to build a bridge and get over it, and I’m certainly not going to pull up my big girl panties and move on… In fact I’m going to do just the opposite. They’re coming off and staying off when I choose and for as long as I want… So there!

 AZNudistCouple