(As posted to my Gazette blog)
Isn’t every day a “nude” day? I mean, you are probably nude at some point each day, yes? And you are naturally naked, i.e. born that way. There’s no debating it. The textiles we wear are not natural.
Still, someone somewhere decided that July 14 would be National Nude Day, “a serious event,” according to Holiday Insights.
And social nudism/naturism is a serious pastime for many people around the world, including me. I frequently write about it in both my blogs. I imagine that whoever dreamt up National Nude Day was trying to raise awareness about the subject. See Wikipedia entry for more information
Though, I confess I had never heard of National Nude Day before CHOM-FM radio host Rob Kemp mentioned it on air this morning (thanks, Rob!).
What do I like most about social nudism?
I like that it promotes body acceptance, no matter your size, shape and fitness. As the Wikipedia entry says, “clothes build social barriers.” Nudity removes those barriers. Social nudism makes us less conscious about our body image, and the images of others. That’s a good thing, because we live in wired world that bombards us with unrealistic and unattainable body images for most people.
Social nudity also helps me to shed my obsession with fashion, if only for the various naturism events I attend. Yes, I am something of a glamour girl when it comes to clothes, footwear and makeup. I know that it might seem like a contradiction for a nudist/naturist . . . which is one of the personal reasons naturism is so good for me. It brings Cinderella back to Earth . . .
And I particularly love the feeling of liberation that comes with an afternoon at the beach, sunbathing and swimming au naturel. To the point now that I simply cannot wear a bathing suit anymore. As Walt Whitman is quoted saying in the Wikipedia article:
Never before did I get so close to Nature; never before did she come so close to me… Nature was naked, and I was also… Sweet, sane, still Nakedness in Nature! – ah if poor, sick, prurient humanity in cities might really know you once more! Is not nakedness indecent? No, not inherently. It is your thought, your sophistication, your fear, your respectability, that is indecent. There come moods when these clothes of ours are not only too irksome to wear, but are themselves indecent.
Not that I don’t have body hangups. I do. Which is one of the reasons I am a nude model for an artists’ workshop on body image — where I am the only naked person. I am not always happy with some of the sketches done of me, as in “Ohmygawd, do I look like that!?” But everybody is so appreciative, so grateful that I shared myself with them. And nobody seems to care if I am not Cinderella. They accept me . . . and ask me to come back and model for them again.
So, if you give any thought to social nudism on National Nude Day, remember that it is a holistic, healing experience, and a way to celebrate your natural-born state.
– Jillian
Jillian Page: Reflections 
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