One thought I’ve had since commencing this series is how often I’ve witnessed ‘the debut’ by others. Last year, you remember, I invited two non-naturist friends to accompany me on holiday and by the end of the week both had embraced the naturist lifestyle very easily.

Often, the only thing that appears to be holding people back from becoming naturists is a lack of opportunity. Given the right circumstances, it’s likely that an overwhelming percentage of the world’s population would quite readily embrace naturism as a lifestyle choice.

In my book, that would be a good thing. When nude, it seems that we often become more attuned to the earth’s pulse. Naturist beaches, in my experience, are spotlessly clean. Something deep within our DNA tells us that we must look after the earth we inhabit, and you will never see a naturist get up and walk away from their spot on the sand leaving behind the day’s detritus, the empty plastic bottles, the plastic bags, uneaten slices of pizza. The rubbish bins at the back end of the beach are filled, the sand and water left as they found it. This extends into the textile aspect of a naturist’s life, too. We all seem to be particularly good recyclers, and at lifting rubbish within our environment. My French neighbour in Spain will be out on the street with her brush if she sees any rubbish around, muttering under her breath about ‘les textiles’ who don’t care for our pristine Spanish paradise.

Of course there’s always going to be a few people who brand the lack of swimsuits as ‘disgusting’, but essentially my view is that where the opportunity exists for naturism, many people take it.

So much so that the shedding of the swimsuit, for the first time, is almost a naturist beach meme.

You see it so often. In Europe, at least, most women will have some experience of going topless. It’s accepted as normal beach dress. So there they are, the people who’ve arrived on holiday and maybe not been aware there is a naturist beach nearby. Its certainly something they’ll want to witness. So they arrive, bikini and board shorts clad, the female(s) probably going topless.

Bikinis and board shorts aren’t, however, readily designed to survive the rough and rumble of the waves. The swimwear is pulled this way and that, to the point where keeping bikini bottoms or board shorts on is a major task. By the time the man or woman has reached this point they’ll have been exposed to their naturist surroundings and fellow beach users for an hour or so. After arrival, they sit in the sun for a while until the heat becomes intolerable and a dip is necessary.

Off they go, bottom halves covered on the way into the water. And here they come back again from the sea, swimsuit in hand.

It is that swim, that fight with a truculent piece of fabric, that makes them conclude ‘to hell with this…I’m getting this off me now!’

 

 

And yes, often it is such an exhilarating moment that, as seen above, and particularly in the era of digital photography, there will be a proud posing for their partner. I have to say that had digital technology been widely available when I was making my debut I would almost certainly have thrust a camera into my cousin’s hand and asked her to take a photo of me that first time. How lovely it would have been to look back on it, nearly twenty years later, and have that pictorial memory of that day.

I’ve asked Diane if she could experiment with bikini briefs being hand held, as opposed to worn, so we can replicate the moment in SL, and I’m also scouring the SL Marketplace for an appropriate pose so we can try to do a little gallery of SL avatars making their entrance to the world of naturism.

Ella