Ideas for enjoying nudity while social distancing, part 2

Many naturists now find themselves having more free time at home because of the pandemic, either because they now work from home, aren’t yet able to go back to work, or simply aren’t able to engage in some of their customary activities.

In the previous article we looked at additional suggestions for activities that can be enjoyed clothesfree at home, based on 6 of the 14 ideas suggested in a Naked Wanderings article. But there are other good ideas to consider that weren’t among the 14 – yet should have been.

1. Work naked in your garden
   How could this idea possibly be overlooked? (At least, if you have a garden or are interested in starting one.) It’s hardly necessary to say more about this if you enjoy gardening or want to get started – and you have enough privacy from the neighbors to be naked in your garden. If you don’t have complete privacy, you could consider discussing your interest in naked gardening with your neighbors to find out whether they would object. You might be pleasantly surprised how many wouldn’t mind.

2. Do online research to learn more about naturism and find naturist opportunities in your area (for after the pandemic winds down)
   There’s quite a lot of information about naturism online, but a little time and effort may be needed to find it. Whether you are a beginning naturist or one with a great deal of experience, there’s always more to learn – because naturism itself is always changing and evolving. By looking around you may find new clothing-optional beaches, new naturist clubs and organizations, and new naturist activities.

   You’re probably well aware than all the major search engines are not useful for learning much about “nudism” and “naturism” if those are the only search terms. If you’re going to use a search engine for this, make your query very specific, e. g. “naturist resorts in Thailand”. Here are some ideas about where to start looking that should be more helpful:

   • Wikipedia: Naturism is a good place to start for anyone. See also the article on Nudity. If you live in North America, check this List of social nudity places in North America for a large list of places you could go. Most pages lead to many others (in Wikipedia and elsewhere) with more detailed information. If you’re a more experienced naturist, you might consider adding information to existing articles, making updates or corrections if necessary, or adding a new article on a naturist topic that hasn’t already been covered.
     

   • WikiHow isn’t directly related to Wikipedia, but it does have a number of good how-to articles that provide practical advice for people relatively new to naturism to become more actively involved.
     Examples: How to Feel Comfortable Naked, How to Practice Nudity in Your Family, How to Have Fun Being Naked. As with Wikipedia, you may contribute new articles on topics that should be included.
     

   • Naturist blogs are a good place to look for both practical information on naturism and a wide variety of opinions on how social nudity could or should be enjoyed. In the past two decades, there have been more than 500 naturist blogs started that are primarily in English. However, a large percentage of them are either gone or no longer actively updated. But you may still be able to find them referred to by more recent blogs. To start searching, check the Blogroll on the right side of this page for some of the best currently active naturist blogs.
     

   • There are “official” naturist organizations in most countries where a significant number of naturists either live or visit. Resources available from the organization websites include lists of clubs and resorts, information on naturist etiquette and how to get started in naturism, answers to Frequently Asked Questions, and notices of upcoming activities sponsored by the organization.
     
     For English speakers, British Naturism is probably the best and most informative naturist organization in the world, in part because of the large number of activities it organizes and sponsors. Living in Great Britain isn’t necessary for joining BN to receive their magazine and participate in a variety of online events and discussion forums. See this list for information about online events planned for the near future. There are three naturist organizations in North America, which provide less information but have good guides to local clubs and resorts: Federation of Canadian Naturists, American Association for Nude Recreation, and The Naturist Society.
     

   • A number of books exist to explain naturism to anyone who is curious about it or wants to become more involved in naturist activities. Most of these books are self-published, inexpensive, and available to download as eBooks on Amazon. Just search on “naturism” at Amazon’s site. I haven’t read most of the introductory books, so I won’t make specific recommendations. But even the least expensive ones may be helpful. The search will also turn up more detailed studies of naturism, as well as various “classics” from earlier times, which are also worth reading.
     

   • There are a variety of online discussion groups, forums, and networking sites for naturists. I find most of them difficult to recommend, since it’s not easy to judge the reliability of the information provided in such places. However, there are two groups on Reddit that have the advantages that they are moderated, many people participate, and responses to questions can be upvoted or downvoted, so there’s some indication of the best and most helpful responses. If you like this sort of thing, try /r/nudism and/or /r/naturism.

3. Start discussing naturism with people you know

   If naturism is to survive and prosper, there’s a strong argument to be made – that naturists who are still “in the closet” need to come out and let other people know about the many rewards of naturism. This may be the best possible time to do that.

   Sooner or later, people you keep in touch with by phone or video conferencing will ask you how you’re keeping yourself occupied while you’re confined at home. Seriously consider letting these people know about your interest in naturism.

   In the case of people you believe are open-minded, just be honest and discuss with them your interest in naturism. Perhaps you’ve been a naturist for a while but have been mostly secretive about it. Or else you’ve recently been thinking about it and have taken advantage of your additional time at home to experiment with going naked much of that time. Definitely mention that you’ve found the experience very enjoyable. Go on to explain what you especially like about dispensing with clothes, and give examples. People generally have many wrong ideas about naturism, since they don’t know what naturists actually do.

   Breaking the news of your interest in naturism may be more difficult when you’re less confident about how others will react. Assuming those you live with are OK with your nudity, you might let one of them break the news. They could say, “Oh, you know, Jim has discovered he rather likes not having to wear clothes around the house. And now he’s quite frequently naked. At first the rest of us found this a bit unsettling, but now we’re really used to it, so it doesn’t bother us at all. Honestly, we’re kind of surprised how normal it now seems for Jim to have nothing on. In fact, some of us are wondering whether we might also like being free of clothes at least occasionally.”

   Whenever someone who’s learned about your interest in naturism agrees there really isn’t anything wrong with it, you should continue to discuss with them why you enjoy it. They might become interested themselves.

4. Take up creative writing (with naturist themes)
   Have you enjoyed reading fiction – short stories, adventure novels, science fiction, or whatever? If so, have you thought about doing creative writing yourself? Perhaps you’ve actually tried it occasionally. In any case, you might consider getting into creative writing and becoming good at it with the help of any of a large number of books and/or online courses. To make it really interesting, try including naturist themes in the stories you write. Just let the ideas flow – perhaps involving things you’ve imagined doing yourself or wishing you could do.

   You should look into some fiction with naturist themes that others have written. There’s more out there than you might suppose. Famous authors like Edgar Rice Burroughs and Robert Heinlein (who was a naturist himself) have made good use of nudity in some of their stories. Try searching on Amazon with keywords “nudist” or “naturist”. But be warned. Frankly, quite a lot of what you may find is embarrassingly bad, either in terms of literary merit or how nudity is conflated with sexuality.

   Use your imagination and try to do better. Avoid letting sexual themes creep in (at least not as the dominant theme of the story). Try to keep the ideas plausible. (Forget about space aliens taking over the planet – à la Men in Black – and forcing everyone to go naked – unless you can make a very convincing case for the idea.) Write about what is interesting to you, while involving nudity in more than an incidental way. Make your characters interesting and believable. And try to include an actual plot along with the nudity.

   Don’t be afraid to share your stories with people who are close to you. The stories might even lead your readers to thinking about naturism and having interesting conversations with you. But don’t worry too much about whether anyone – except perhaps avid naturists and some of your friends – would actually read them.

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   Have you found other enjoyable naturist activities that can be done at home? If so, leave a comment about them.