I was a bit of a nudist as a child. Who am I kidding? I’m a bit of a nudist as an adult. It isn’t that I frolic naked in public, I don’t, but I love being naked. I always have. It was an ongoing (true) joke among friends and family that you HAD to knock on my door before entering because I was probably naked. It didn’t matter what I was doing, I just wanted to do it naked. I saw nothing wrong with that.
College and roommates definitely put a cramp in my naked style but eventually Naked Nights were started. It was the precursor to Skanky Tuesdays. It was the night where whatever roommate I had at the time and I knew that we were both going to sleep naked or mostly naked and that we weren’t going to get awkward about it.
Eventually naked nights became unnecessary because when I was living with Schnookums, she had no qualms about just plain stripping down and changing. The taboo was lifted. Sports bras and pajama pants were very fashionable in our room.
I noticed, though, that for the past year or so I’ve preferred to stay fully clothed. It wasn’t a conscious decision and I only noticed it after the fact. Today, though, I’m starting my campaign to bring back nakedness.
Why not? I’m more comfortable with my body now than I’ve probably ever been. When did inhibitions win out over wild abandon? When did self consciousness win out over comfort? Probably around the period when I first purchased spanx.
I’ve known some people who were never comfortable out of their garments, those who even slept with a bra on. Can that really be comfortable or is it done out of not wanting to let things “hang out?” My guess is the latter.
I stopped being comfortable naked when the small jiggle of my flesh became a dangerous wobble. I didn’t like being aware of that or feeling the movement of the wobble when I moved. It was better to clothe and contain it. Hello spanx, goodbye breathe. I mean, who needs to breathe when you’re keeping all your wobbly bits in place anyway?
While I certainly can’t wait until said wobbly bits are sized back down to the jiggle and even, dare I hope, become firm and lean, I have to become happy again with myself just as I am. That’s what Naked Nights and Skanky Tuesday are all about.
So many people are unhappy with their bodies and try hard to hide them. They won’t move in certain ways or do certain things for fear of how they’ll look. Do you feel this way about your body? When did you start disliking your body? If you love your body, though, tell me about that too!