What Makes a Nudist?

All Nudist has MOVED to All-Nudist.com

A comment made on a posting in G+ got me to thinking:  Why is it that some people are irresistibly drawn to nudism while the majority of folks find it to be a strange behavior at best? There are a lot of legal, religious and cultural taboos against nudity, but I think that it never even occurs to most folks to want to run around naked. They take wearing clothes for granted and aren’t discomforted by it at all.  Why is a nudist different?

I can’t speak for others, but I’ve been shedding my clothes whenever possible for as long as I can remember.  Our household was fairly casual for the times, but not outright nudist.  Whenever nobody was home, I was naked indoors or out.  I grew up thinking I was strange, of course, and it wasn’t until I was well grown that I had the nerve to try real nudism.  I was hooked immediately.

I  don’t believe that most folks are like that.  The feeling of wanting to be nude is a peculiar desire separate from the sexual aspects of nudity but deeply ingrained, a mental deviation as it were.  Not a bad deviation, but something different from the norm.  Like those with a deep need to fly, or race cars or climb mountains.  I really don’t think that most people want to be nude or climb mountains but suppress the desire out of other concerns.  They just don’t feel it.  I think most do find nudism agreeable when they discover it, but not as a vital, necessary part of their life which leaves a void when not present.

That, I believe, defines the true nudist from those who simply partake of nudity in the course of doing other things which they like.  Skinny-dipping is enjoyable when nude, but most folks happily put their clothes back on afterwards, thinking nothing of it.  Naked bike ride folks are not nudists simply because the use nudism to make a point, nor are those espousing top-freedom as a right.  They may be naked, but they are so for a reason rather than being nude because they want to be nude.

To me, it’s that deep desire to be nude that makes for a nudist.  The social aspects are secondary, as are all the pleasing sensations that come from experiencing life nude.  Those things are the treats discovered after  one has finally been able to fulfill  the desire that was always there; the desire to be nude and find out what life is like that way.

Well now, here’s a real-time comment that follows upon what was just written.  As I wrote those words… how do I say this?  Ok, I’ve been sitting here in Wisconsin on a cold, rainy winter day in a chilly house wearing long-johns and fluffy slippers writing about the desire to be nude.  We can’t afford to keep the house warm, so for a couple of months now it’s been pretty much clothing-necessary around here most of the time.  But as I was writing about nudism I thought, ‘What the hell!’ and just shed my long-johns!

So yeah, it’s chilly but oh, how good it feels!  Yeah, there’s coldness on my skin, but I can feel it and it feels like life!

Do you have this feeling of a need to be nude?  Something that comes up often when you think, “I wish I could be naked now!” perhaps while at the market or a fair?  Or walking the dog or even at work?

There are few thing that I would not prefer to be nude while doing; I would be naked always if it was possible.  Is that extreme or is that how it feels to you, too?  Is that what being a nudist means to you?  A desire to be nude that is ‘always on top’ of your mind?  What do you think?  I don’t believe there are any wrong answers, just different viewpoints.  What’s yours?

Right now I’m thinking that being nude in a chilly house is great, but it might just be time for a nice hot shower!