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

[GoVolsKelly at aol.com (GoVolsKelly@aol.com)]

In a message dated 8/11/2004 9:07:38 AM Eastern Standard Time,  
jbullar1@twcny.rr.com writes:

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 
I always go nekkid in the pool or whilst sun bathing.  Well, as long  as it's 
just me and the Boy or my girlfriends or something.  Don't think I  could go 
au nautural at a big BBQ for the Boy's employees or anything. And as a  
youngin' we used to wander through the strawberry patches, pickin' berries and  
gettin' hot and dirty, and we'd strip to nothing and jump in the creek to clean  
up and cool off.  God, I miss those days...

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.
When I dress for a job interview, I could care less what the universe  
thinks.  The universe ain't hiring me.

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.  :(
Come to Florida.  It's 92 degrees right now... No, better wait till  after 
Charley leaves.