AlexisFirst of all, can I get an amen that the year 2020 has been a shit storm of bad things? I mean, really? My 87 year old grandmother said it was been the worst year shes ever seen. This is coming from a habitual pessimist!! I’m going to speak a bit more freely in this post, so I’m warning you now that the rants will come and go. We as a country and as a world have suffered through so much this year that I’m shocked we aren’t at each others necks more than we are. It’s very shameful the way people have treated each other in general. We’ve had racial hate, massive earthquakes, Australia and California burning like the gates of hell, major viral pandemic, nearly saw World War 3, government lock downs, severe weather records, toilet paper pandemic, food shortages, and to top it off fucking murder hornets! Oh, we can’t forget a Christmas bomb in Nashville, and my life turning to shit by ending a 20 year marriage. If God is listening to us…Can we please have a break?
Accomplishments
There is always a silver lining to all the bad events which have taken place this year. I don’t want to downplay any of them because the bad events of 2020 far outweigh the good ones. At least in my book they do. The first thing I want to take a look at is what we have managed to accomplish as a network and community of nudists.
- Normalize Naturism movement started and still continues #normalizenaturism
- Saw an increase in the number of nudist during lockdown
- Utilized technology to ensure we stayed connected as a community
- We now have a nudist/naturist symbol (top right banner of my website)
- We have had a few different nudist be interviewed/featured by big news outlets
- Overall we continue to make forward progress in the acceptance of the naked body
Personally, I have had a few wins this year despite everything else going wrong in the world and my life. These may not necessarily be wins as a nudist, but they are wins for me nonetheless. I truly like to think I am blessed regardless of what has happened or what did not happen. So, here are mine:
- Fully recovered from a server failure. 🙂
- I have started to gain a bit of traction and attention as a nudist blogger
- I’ve had a number of nudist write to me asking to tell their stories
- I was able to get some advice from big bloggers like Naked Wanderings and the Meandering Naturist
- I have spent more time naked this year than any prior years
- I’ve met some new girl friends online who support me and have helped me get through some rough times.
- I have enjoyed getting to know you, my readers, with emails, comments, and other communication. It’s been a blessing.
Into 2021
I’m not looking for 2021 to start out with the best of them. I think we continue the Gong Show well into the year, and there won’t be much changes to our life until the middle of next year. I don’t want to sound like a Debbie Downer, but that is the reality of it all. Yes, we have a vaccine approved for distribution, but there are over 7.8 billion people in the world as of March 2020!! Do you know how long it will take to vaccinate at least half of these? What about the ones who don’t want the vaccination! Then what? Hell, I’m not even sure I want it given the bells palsy side affect. I guess we will have to weigh the two evils and see.
To be quite honest, I’m not sure I’m really ready for the world to go back to “normal”. I know that may seem like a bit harsh, but I have been blessed during this time in a way that I cannot measure. Sure, I’ve kept my job and didn’t have to worry about a steady income stream, but the older I get the more I realize that life isn’t always about money. This year has taught me one thing an that is you cannon put a price tag on your personal happiness and your growth as a person. Looking back over the years I never realized how unhappy I was as a person or how unhappy I was in my marriage. I thought I was doing well and things were good, but until we separated I had no idea just how much joy I was missing out on. It was like a burden of punishment had been lifted off of me. Sadly, I have no intention on reconciliation. Going forward, it’s the naked life for me, and I’m not going to allow anyone to stop me this time. Shame it took me over 20 years to realize that. Like my 59 year old aunt said the other night: “I’m happy being alone and I don’t want to change that”.
I have a few things in mind that are going to help me move along this new life of nakedness. First and foremost I plan to keep writing here and expressing my viewpoints on nudism, my journey deeper into it, and to encourage anyone to try out the lifestyle. I haven’t pulled the trigger yet but I plan to join a nudist/naturist organization. I feel like this is the best way for me to keep my ear to the ground on what’s going on, and personally legitimize my decision to commit to this lifestyle. I’ve started thinking about it more and more. How can you promote something if you don’t truly support the organizations behind it?
Throughout the course of the year I have turned to wine and cocktails to help make my life “better” to tolerate, but drinking all of that and not having gym open or taking the time to exercise has caused me to put on weight. So another change in my life going forward is only allowing alcohol into my diet on a rare, but special occasion. I won’t even buy it. I drank the last of my wine last night while watching TV. Now there is no more alcohol in the house at all. Along with that I am making small changes to my diet to eliminate certain foods like chips and bread. It’s helped contribute to my added love handles and leg fat this year.
Finally, one thing I need to focus on is having an actual plan for the coming years of my life. There will be no more combined incomes for either of us, and I need to determine an appropriate budget that will work for me. I need to figure out if the house needs to be fixed up a bit to be sold, and, if so, where will I go after its’ sold? Any type of house or apartment here is so expensive compared to five years ago when we moved here. I wish I had an easy answer or at least a big bag of money to live off of for a while. I’d like a little farm house on a few acres of land surrounded by trees. That way I could walk outside or work in the yard in the buff and tan my white ass. 🙂
Your Thoughts
Well, I’ve shared my thoughts on what I plan to work on and do during the new year, I’m excited to hear what plans you have to improve you overall life and well being. I hope part of that includes spending a lot more time naked, and maybe even branching out to tell more people about your naked lifestyle. I have shared mine with more people this year than any year combined. I think I was always a bit ashamed in the back of my mind, but I can certainly say I am not anymore. I encourage you to do the same and express yourself the way that makes you happy and proud. We’re not a bunch of weirdos. We’re just normal people who do normal thing without clothes. With that being said, I’m going to put on some warm clothes and go for a walk and enjoy the sun.
Get naked. Stay naked. Share your nakedness.
Alexis
Images Courtesy of Rare Earth Gallery
Happy New Year, Alexis!
You already know a few of my future plans, but I plan to continue to get in shape, model for art classes as much as I can, pose for nude photography again, travel out of state AT LEAST once to a nude campground, and visit the couple places near me as much as I can this summer (I hope you have a place near you if would like to visit any).
More people in my Nudist Facebook group have started reaching out to me, and I hope to expand my friendships in the community.
My life is not at all what I thought it would be, but I’m trying to make it the best one I can. And the best life I know is a naked one. As often as I can.
I hope you have a wonderful 2021, and this loyal reader looks forward to reading all you have to share!!
First, you’re right, this past year was really bad in terms of what we were used to live by, but it also was sort of a big slap onto our pretentious human-ego, a pulling wire for us not to forget about our real earthly position (for many it has been a first time realization though). We must unlearn that big old lie about us being on “top of creation” and all that mythological stuff.
I don’t know if everything worsened that much, or if it was just the pandemic that woke us from that oblivious state we’ve got into, if it was the pandemic that bursted the bubble we were living in, allowing us to see, to know about not only the Australia and California fires, but those of the Amazon basin, Argentina, Siberia, Central Africa, earthquakes, floodings, and many other natural disasters; the racial hate in the US, the religious violence in Africa and Asia, slavery, the European refugees crisis drama; other species mass deaths and killings, and all the damage we’ve been causing to this world.
You’ve mentioned about your marriage before, and I have to say that besides all the distress that situation may have caused you, I’d say I’m glad you came to that point where what matters is you, and that you had the courage to follow the path that is taking you to a better place in life.
This lockdown/social distancing time allow us, it certainly allowed me, to stay home a lot more, being able to take care of things I usually was delaying/too tired to get done, saved a lot of commuting time, thus more naked time at home (although it meant a lot less bicycle time per week). It was challenging because of all of us having to spend more time together, the school related issues of the younger one. It hasn’t been easy…
To be honest, I don’t want the world to go back to “that normal” we knew and “kind of enjoyed” until 2020. I’d love to witness a real commitment and action towards a healthier environment, more livable cities, less hungry/agressive economy systems, less mythologicaly funded ignorance and more critical-scientific thinking, a more ethical society, a more accepting and cultural boosting one, yet intolerant to abuse and hate (of all kind). We need a world in which we, as the “dominant” species, act as the guarantors of all the resources and life around, understanding the we cannot keep our population growing as if we were in risk of extintion, but we are going to get extint beacuse of that instead.
Sadly, this seems a hard one to me, most people want “their normal lives” back, no matter the cost. So for the time we have, that I have, I’d love too to move into the open, to a place I can grow and harvest my food, keep the social distance from greed and prejudice, and live life really free.
To you, my best wishes and love. Take care.
Happy Nude Year Alexis! 2020 was weird and all I want it not getting back to normal but getting more nude time this year, sharing nudity with more people and bringing more people to nudism. I want a nude 2021 to make it short. I wish you all the best and let’s together make 2021 a better nudist year!
Thank you Marc, and Happy Nude Year to you as well. I’m not sure I’m ready or even want to have some kind of “normal” anymore. I’m doing quite well right now working from home, being naked more often than not, and I actually have time to interact and make nude friends. I know the same can’t be said for everyone, and I know many people have become sick or lost loved ones, but given all the struggles I’ve been through over the past couple of years, having the opportunity to reconnect with myself and greatly expand my love of nudism has been a blessing. I wished the events of the past year never happened, but I have been able to find a silver-lining in it, thankfully. Cheers to a great year and to expanding our nudist network.
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