I spent a wonderful day on the beach yesterday. There weren't too many of the Black's Beach Bares regulars, but the volleyball players were there as usual. I finished the book I was reading - "Zen Wrapped in Karma Dipped in Chocolate" by Brad Warner. Another awesome book, just like his first book. This was his third book - I'll have to double back to the second book after this one. It called my name, and I had to read it. It's weird how his life seems to be a metaphorical version of mine in so many ways!
I did attempt to meditate/sit on the beach. The beach is a really nice place to meditate even if it isn't the quietest place in the world. The sound of the ocean successfully puts all other sounds in the background. There was only one problem ... the flies! I kept brushing them away while I read, but that was a background process. I didn't realize before I attempted to meditate how much of a distraction they would be. It's hard to clear your mind when all you are doing in chasing away flies. It was an interesting exercise while it lasted, but meditation in the beach will ideally have to wait for Spring when the flies have moved on. (I wonder where they go ... Do they move back North when it warms up there? Do flies migrate?)
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Monday, January 11, 2010
Spirituality and Nudism
There may be no inherent connection between spirituality and nudism, but for me they go hand in hand. Before I go further, I should define what I mean by spirituality. Webster's dictionary defines spirituality as "the quality or state of being spiritual", and defines spiritual as "of, relating to, consisting of, or affecting the spirit".
Taken in context with those definitions, nudism has been a spiritual experience for me. It uplifts my spirit, just as meditation does. And just as regular meditation gives me peace of mind, the ability to focus and a general state of wellness, nudism does too. Empirically proving that meditation helps me in the ways I've described is easy - if I stop, I see the benefits gradually diminish, and if I start again, I see the benefits kick back in. Similarly, if I cannot be a nudist for a while, I see the benefits diminish, and vice versa.
I concede that it may not be easy to make the connection between cause and effect. We are after all human beings with complex variables that continually affect us, so narrowing down the specific cause and the specific effect is not easy. I have however found a correlation in my state of mind and nudism, just as I have with meditation. Of course, I combine the two whenever I can, as the accompanying photograph shows ...
Taken in context with those definitions, nudism has been a spiritual experience for me. It uplifts my spirit, just as meditation does. And just as regular meditation gives me peace of mind, the ability to focus and a general state of wellness, nudism does too. Empirically proving that meditation helps me in the ways I've described is easy - if I stop, I see the benefits gradually diminish, and if I start again, I see the benefits kick back in. Similarly, if I cannot be a nudist for a while, I see the benefits diminish, and vice versa.
I concede that it may not be easy to make the connection between cause and effect. We are after all human beings with complex variables that continually affect us, so narrowing down the specific cause and the specific effect is not easy. I have however found a correlation in my state of mind and nudism, just as I have with meditation. Of course, I combine the two whenever I can, as the accompanying photograph shows ...
Saturday, January 9, 2010
Talking To Others About Being a Nudist
In the past, I haven't told too many people that I'm a nudist. I've wanted to, but I've hesitated. Lately I've mentioned it to some friends by steering the conversation towards the topic and there has always been acceptance, which has been mildly surprising.
From now on, I plan to speak about my being a nudist openly if it comes up in conversation, but not go out of my way to bring the subject up. Hesitation, worrying about what others will think, and bringing it up as though it is unusual will only lead to others thinking that I myself believe there is something wrong with nudism. Talking about it as a matter-of-fact will show others that it really is something normal; it's just another life choice. I guess this is part of my evolution as a nudist. Unless I fully accept my decisions myself, I really can't expect others to accept them, can I?
From now on, I plan to speak about my being a nudist openly if it comes up in conversation, but not go out of my way to bring the subject up. Hesitation, worrying about what others will think, and bringing it up as though it is unusual will only lead to others thinking that I myself believe there is something wrong with nudism. Talking about it as a matter-of-fact will show others that it really is something normal; it's just another life choice. I guess this is part of my evolution as a nudist. Unless I fully accept my decisions myself, I really can't expect others to accept them, can I?
Monday, January 4, 2010
This WILL be a Happy Nude Year!
This is a fairly long post, and at first glance it may seem to have nothing to do with the title of the post ... but stick with my long-winded thought process ...
2009 was a year of transformation for me. At the beginning of 2009, my mind was a mess. I had hit an all-time low personally and professionally. From the outside, things might have looked the same as they always had - I lived in the same house with the same family, I interacted with mostly the same folks, and I worked at the same job. But internally, it all came crashing down. One year later, at the beginning of 2010, my life is looking better than it ever has!
As part of the transformation, I discovered who I really am. I discovered that I really do like simplicity, I really do want to leave a small footprint, I really am a vegetarian, I like to read a lot, I am comfortable with quietness, I function best when I have routine in my life - from meditating and exercising regularly to sleeping early and getting up early - and I really am a nudist. I sometimes wondered if some of these were just silly notions, but now I know that they are really who I am. Discovering, embracing, and accepting who I really am has given me peace of mind and calmness. As a result I also have a better relationship with my family and I am more productive at work.
A few good friends, and many good books helped me through this year. A couple of books had an especially large influence on my transformation - The Three Marriages by David Whyte and Hardcore Zen by Brad Warner. I read them both twice in 2009, and didn't get bored the second time around!
I also started to write in 2009. I had intense feelings that I just had to express, and decided to do so in a journal. To my surprise, they came out as poems. I had never written poetry, and had never thought myself capable of it, but there is was to my surprise. I also started writing this blog.
2009 started with sickness; not your normal definition of mental sickness, but it was sickness all the same. Let's just say I had a problem with all kinds of relationships - with others, with my work and with myself. Nudism turned was the key to my recovery. Initially, there was one problem with it - the problem of acceptance by my family. Patience and perseverance has finally led to their acceptance, and that's why I think 2010 is going to be a Happy Nude Year! On the 3rd of January, I went to Black's Beach for the first time with no reservations on their part, and it was a more beautiful and peaceful feeling than ever before.
The future seems bright and clear since the present is the only thing that really matters. Here's to many happy days at the beach, and continuous progress!
2009 was a year of transformation for me. At the beginning of 2009, my mind was a mess. I had hit an all-time low personally and professionally. From the outside, things might have looked the same as they always had - I lived in the same house with the same family, I interacted with mostly the same folks, and I worked at the same job. But internally, it all came crashing down. One year later, at the beginning of 2010, my life is looking better than it ever has!
As part of the transformation, I discovered who I really am. I discovered that I really do like simplicity, I really do want to leave a small footprint, I really am a vegetarian, I like to read a lot, I am comfortable with quietness, I function best when I have routine in my life - from meditating and exercising regularly to sleeping early and getting up early - and I really am a nudist. I sometimes wondered if some of these were just silly notions, but now I know that they are really who I am. Discovering, embracing, and accepting who I really am has given me peace of mind and calmness. As a result I also have a better relationship with my family and I am more productive at work.
A few good friends, and many good books helped me through this year. A couple of books had an especially large influence on my transformation - The Three Marriages by David Whyte and Hardcore Zen by Brad Warner. I read them both twice in 2009, and didn't get bored the second time around!
I also started to write in 2009. I had intense feelings that I just had to express, and decided to do so in a journal. To my surprise, they came out as poems. I had never written poetry, and had never thought myself capable of it, but there is was to my surprise. I also started writing this blog.
2009 started with sickness; not your normal definition of mental sickness, but it was sickness all the same. Let's just say I had a problem with all kinds of relationships - with others, with my work and with myself. Nudism turned was the key to my recovery. Initially, there was one problem with it - the problem of acceptance by my family. Patience and perseverance has finally led to their acceptance, and that's why I think 2010 is going to be a Happy Nude Year! On the 3rd of January, I went to Black's Beach for the first time with no reservations on their part, and it was a more beautiful and peaceful feeling than ever before.
The future seems bright and clear since the present is the only thing that really matters. Here's to many happy days at the beach, and continuous progress!
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Simplicity
Why do we humans make things so complicated that they become unsustainable?
As part of the re-thinking of my life that I have gone through in the past year, I've realized that one of the things I want in life is simplicity. The simplicity I seek isn't in the extreme. I am not looking to isolate myself from civilization. I'm seeking simplicity in everything I do as a functioning member of society. No more keeping up with the Jones' (something I thought I didn't do, but I now see I did to some extent), no more buying things for the heck of it, no more complicating my life just because I can.
Complexity in everything we do seems to be human nature. Take agriculture - we have made agriculture so complex that it appears to only be economically viable with large farms that pump chemicals into the ground and use more water than they should. The costs of this type of production are high because of the chemicals, effort and water used. The land used loses it's efficacy over time and eventually it takes a small change in the system to make it unsustainable. We should be working with nature rather than fighting nature. Besides, chemical farming only appears to be a better method because we subsidize it.
At the other end of the technology spectrum, take cars. Cars have become amazingly complex. The backyard mechanic is practically non-existent. A lot of the change in cars has been for better safety and so on, but companies like Lotus demonstrate that we have gone too far. Most manufacturers throw technology at a problem to solve problems created by other technologies until we have a behemoth that guzzles fuel and consumes more resources than it should at birth. Lotus on the other hand is based on smart design so that you get supercar performance combined with great fuel consumption from a much cheaper, much lighter car.
In whatever I do, I'm going to think simplicity. I'm not going to be a fanatic about it, but I know it will improve the quality of my life as it already has.
As part of the re-thinking of my life that I have gone through in the past year, I've realized that one of the things I want in life is simplicity. The simplicity I seek isn't in the extreme. I am not looking to isolate myself from civilization. I'm seeking simplicity in everything I do as a functioning member of society. No more keeping up with the Jones' (something I thought I didn't do, but I now see I did to some extent), no more buying things for the heck of it, no more complicating my life just because I can.
Complexity in everything we do seems to be human nature. Take agriculture - we have made agriculture so complex that it appears to only be economically viable with large farms that pump chemicals into the ground and use more water than they should. The costs of this type of production are high because of the chemicals, effort and water used. The land used loses it's efficacy over time and eventually it takes a small change in the system to make it unsustainable. We should be working with nature rather than fighting nature. Besides, chemical farming only appears to be a better method because we subsidize it.
At the other end of the technology spectrum, take cars. Cars have become amazingly complex. The backyard mechanic is practically non-existent. A lot of the change in cars has been for better safety and so on, but companies like Lotus demonstrate that we have gone too far. Most manufacturers throw technology at a problem to solve problems created by other technologies until we have a behemoth that guzzles fuel and consumes more resources than it should at birth. Lotus on the other hand is based on smart design so that you get supercar performance combined with great fuel consumption from a much cheaper, much lighter car.
In whatever I do, I'm going to think simplicity. I'm not going to be a fanatic about it, but I know it will improve the quality of my life as it already has.
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Are we fooling ourselves?
One thing that I've wondered through my foray into nudism is, "Am I fooling myself into thinking nudism is a wholesome activity and that it really brings me peace of mind or this a fringe, slightly crazy activity as those who oppose it claim?" For that matter, are all of us nudists fooling ourselves into thinking that nudism is what we think it is and not what opponents and critics claim it is?
I recently read a book called Stumbling on Happiness by Daniel Gilbert. In the book the author, a Psychologist, talks about how inaccurate we are when we try to remember the past or imagine the future. It's amazing how inaccurate we are when we try to imagine what an experience will feel like based on a description of the experience.
"... imagination fails to provide us with accurate previews of our emotional futures. ... when we imagine our futures we tend to fill in, leave out, and take little account of how differently we think about the future once we actually get there."
The most accurate method of estimating what something will feel like is to base that estimate on what someone who has experienced the same thing felt like, while they were going through the experience. This is more accurate than trying to imagine what the experience will feel like.
"... when people tell us about their current experiences, they are providing us with the kind of report about their subjective state that is considered the gold standard of happiness measures."
So what should we do when we want to know what an experience will feel like? We should trust in others' experiences!
"... we should give up on remembering and imagining entirely and use other people as surrogates for our future selves."
We tend to think that we would feel differently from how someone else felt during an experience because we are unique people and the other person may be very different from us. However, the other person's experience is still more accurate than trying to imagine it ourselves.
"... the experience of a single randomly selected individual can sometimes provide a better basis for predicting your future experience than your own imagination can."
So how does this relate to nudism? The subject matter in Stumbling on Happiness suggests that we are not fooling ourselves. We have time and again seen or heard how folks who were sceptical before they dove into nudism have absolutely loved nudism once they tried it. Even among those who tried it and stopped many did so because of societal pressures, or some idiot who bothered them, but not because they realized nudism is a weird activity or any such realization.
I don't think I'm going to have doubts about nudism or naturism again. I have experienced it, and that experience is as real as it gets. Someone else's opinion, based on their imagining what nudism is, will never be any more accurate than my experience. The peace and joy that comes from nudism is very, very real! And I know that social nudism is as wholesome as any activity as you can be involved in.
I recently read a book called Stumbling on Happiness by Daniel Gilbert. In the book the author, a Psychologist, talks about how inaccurate we are when we try to remember the past or imagine the future. It's amazing how inaccurate we are when we try to imagine what an experience will feel like based on a description of the experience.
"... imagination fails to provide us with accurate previews of our emotional futures. ... when we imagine our futures we tend to fill in, leave out, and take little account of how differently we think about the future once we actually get there."
The most accurate method of estimating what something will feel like is to base that estimate on what someone who has experienced the same thing felt like, while they were going through the experience. This is more accurate than trying to imagine what the experience will feel like.
"... when people tell us about their current experiences, they are providing us with the kind of report about their subjective state that is considered the gold standard of happiness measures."
So what should we do when we want to know what an experience will feel like? We should trust in others' experiences!
"... we should give up on remembering and imagining entirely and use other people as surrogates for our future selves."
We tend to think that we would feel differently from how someone else felt during an experience because we are unique people and the other person may be very different from us. However, the other person's experience is still more accurate than trying to imagine it ourselves.
"... the experience of a single randomly selected individual can sometimes provide a better basis for predicting your future experience than your own imagination can."
So how does this relate to nudism? The subject matter in Stumbling on Happiness suggests that we are not fooling ourselves. We have time and again seen or heard how folks who were sceptical before they dove into nudism have absolutely loved nudism once they tried it. Even among those who tried it and stopped many did so because of societal pressures, or some idiot who bothered them, but not because they realized nudism is a weird activity or any such realization.
I don't think I'm going to have doubts about nudism or naturism again. I have experienced it, and that experience is as real as it gets. Someone else's opinion, based on their imagining what nudism is, will never be any more accurate than my experience. The peace and joy that comes from nudism is very, very real! And I know that social nudism is as wholesome as any activity as you can be involved in.
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
More Zen Than Nudism!
Sometimes things slow you down
Whether it's work or play
You try to keep moving on
But circumstances force you to stay
When things get bad, realize this
It usually comes from something
You can't get, it starts to bug you
Like objections to your lack of clothing
At times like these, take a deep breath
Don't worry about future or past
Right now, live in this moment
It will go fast, it will not last
To further expand on my previous post on Zen and Nudism ... Nudism gave me peace of mind and helped me get past some of the mental blocks that were holding me back. And then ... when the objections to my nudism came fast and furious (literally!), I had to make choices. The choice I made resulted in restrictions to my nudist lifestyle and that started to get me down. I know - and knew - that I myself had made that choice, but every now and then I couldn't help thinking that it would be perfect if I could have it both ways.
The thought of having it both ways plays a number on my mind. I start to live in the future, and miss out on the present. But the present is our only reality. I would squander away minutes, hours or days of my life before I snapped out of it. And that's where Zen has helped me. Meditation gives me the stability that I seek and the ability to see things the way they are, to see reality for what it is. Having goals and a vision for the future is good, because it prevents me from drifting, but living in that future is a waste of time. I find it easy to intellectually understand the concept of living in the moment, but difficult to live my life by it. Meditation gives me that ability.
Whether it's work or play
You try to keep moving on
But circumstances force you to stay
When things get bad, realize this
It usually comes from something
You can't get, it starts to bug you
Like objections to your lack of clothing
At times like these, take a deep breath
Don't worry about future or past
Right now, live in this moment
It will go fast, it will not last
To further expand on my previous post on Zen and Nudism ... Nudism gave me peace of mind and helped me get past some of the mental blocks that were holding me back. And then ... when the objections to my nudism came fast and furious (literally!), I had to make choices. The choice I made resulted in restrictions to my nudist lifestyle and that started to get me down. I know - and knew - that I myself had made that choice, but every now and then I couldn't help thinking that it would be perfect if I could have it both ways.
The thought of having it both ways plays a number on my mind. I start to live in the future, and miss out on the present. But the present is our only reality. I would squander away minutes, hours or days of my life before I snapped out of it. And that's where Zen has helped me. Meditation gives me the stability that I seek and the ability to see things the way they are, to see reality for what it is. Having goals and a vision for the future is good, because it prevents me from drifting, but living in that future is a waste of time. I find it easy to intellectually understand the concept of living in the moment, but difficult to live my life by it. Meditation gives me that ability.
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