[at-l] Naked Hiking was Finding the truth WAS OT War & Hazardous Duty Pay

[jbullar1 at twcny.rr.com (Jim Bullard)]

At 12:08 AM 8/11/2004 -0500, Shane Steinkamp wrote:
> > > If I put a "None of the Above" sign in my yard, does that mean
> > > I can just go hiking?
>
> > Ah, finally someone from the anarchist party.
>
>Not really anarchist...  I just don't see any difference in the two stooges
>currently being offered.  If we had a third stooge, we could have a TV show
>or something...
>
> > I think everyone on the list needs to go hiking!
>
>Amen!
>
> > So Shane, I was working on the Companion today and the view from
> > Penmar was spectacular.  Di a couple of miles in PA.
>
>I'm jealous.  The view from my office window is of a concrete parking lot
>and a pine tree, and mostly I worked on this today because I was bored:
>
>http://www.theplacewithnoname.com/hiking/sections/naked/bodymind.htm
>
>Still needs some work, but it's on topic at least...
>
>How goes the Companion?
>
>Shane

Interesting. (Note to anyone else reading this response - This is a 
response to Shane's essay at the link he provided, not to the post itself)

As a young sprout I (and my brother) used to play in the mud and the rain 
(our mother allowed it as long as it was a warm rain) not entirely nude but 
wearing only shorts. We wandered at will about the farmlands, woodlands and 
a shale gulf near our home. As an adult I have been known to sunbathe au 
natural, engage in nude canoeing on remote waters and/or go skinny dipping 
but I can't say I've ever felt that clothing separated me from the natural 
world in any way. It does however shield me from other people or perhaps it 
would be more correct to say it is a tool to manipulate others' judgements 
of me. Take for example the common practice of 'dressing up' to go for a 
job interview in order to make a good impression. The *way* we dress sends 
messages to our fellow humans but it says nothing to the rest of the 
universe because it doesn't know And couldn't care less about the code.

Nakedness likewise carries a message to our fellow humans but is irrelevant 
to the rest of the universe. Well okay, bugs are an exception of sorts 
since it represents an increase of target area to them but that is a 
practical survival thing to them, not a psychological one (do bug societies 
have psychologists?). Unfortunately most of human society has evolved a 
negative or at least uncomfortable attitude toward nudity. As a result when 
I remove all clothing in the woods I find myself concerned about whether I 
have gone far enough from others to avoid unplanned encounters with someone 
who may well read something negative into my nudity and react in a negative 
way. That concern, far more than any clothing, intrudes on my mental 
ability to *connect* with the natural world around me.

I guess my inclination is to throw your own statement back at you "When you 
change the way you look at things, the things you look at change." I don't 
see clothing as a mask (something to hide my true identity behind) but as a 
tool (something to communicate who/what I am). I may use it to put others 
at ease or I may use it confront them. It is entirely situational but there 
are very few venues near where I live where the situation allows for 
"public nudity" without others getting upset and, right or wrong, their 
discomfort can lead to impingement on my experience of nature far more than 
wearing a Speedo. If the object of my trek is to get myself into a 
mental/spiritual space where I can connect with the universe, sending 
messages to others whom I may accidentally encounter that I am 'strange' or 
potentially 'dangerous' (yes, many people do respond that way to nudity) 
creates an atmosphere that is not conducive to achieving the state of mind 
I am seeking. Conversely wearing clothing does nothing (for me at least) to 
hinder that state of mind.

The Sauntering One
P.S. Yesterday I noted yellow and orange leaves on several trees as I drove 
into town. We've had a very wet chilly summer and now to add to the insult, 
the leaves are already starting to turn in the second week of August. Not a 
good summer for much nudity in the North Country. :(