Social Nudity at Private Gatherings

12/20/2014

I struggled with a title as I started with this blog entry. How do I express what we call the gatherings at homes of friends who are also nudists? Do we call them parties? Sometimes they are parties. Do we call them barbeques? Well yes, sometimes they are barbeques. Sometimes they are solely a group of friends and acquaintances who enjoy being nude who get together in private homes solely for the purpose of socializing without their clothing.

When my husband and I first became nudists, we heard conversations from our newfound friends at Mira Vista Resort about get-togethers in private homes around the area. My very first impression was brakes on… There is no way I am going to go to the home of someone I hardly know and be naked there! My husband was interested in expanding our network of friends in the nudist community, and since we found quite a few members from Mira Vista lived around the Phoenix area he thought this a great opportunity. Soon we began having conversations about the possibility of joining other Mira Vista members at social gatherings in their homes and without sugar coating it; I was not on board with it, at all! I didn’t want to be negative and I could see how much my husband desired to find alternatives to only being socially nude at our resort and in our home. I had the greatest trepidation over this substitution, and my mind kept leaping into contemplations of what would happen to us or our marriage if we began down this path.

I know this sounds like I truly went off the deep end on this matter and it may seem as though I’m giving the impression that private social gatherings most assuredly lead into some form of swinging or sexual situation, but I’m presenting this through my minds eyes at that point in our lives. We had only been nudists for a month or two when this subject began to frequent our conversations based on social invitations. Surprisingly, I felt quite comfortable being nude in front of everyone we had met at our resort, and no one had ever approached me or my husband in a manner which presented a proposition of any sort… So where was this overwhelming apprehension coming from?

I guess the first of my misgivings came from my prior marriage. I had an ex who had the most wandering of eyes (and other body parts) and I suppose part of my foreboding came from that. I also had concerns of women possibly thinking my husband was up for grabs because we were in a much more intimate location (I don’t know why it seemed so much more a possibility in this setting). Another stress point brought flashbacks of cautionary tales you hear from the bar scene. In other words, I feared the possibility of someone slipping some type of drug into our food or drink and then the fears connected with this behavior began to unravel my mind. Now, all of these hesitations appear so ludicrous from my current perspective, but at the time they were very real possibilities and I was fearful concerning the unknown.

To my husband’s credit, he was very patient with me and never made me feel pressured to do anything I was uncomfortable with. His patience touched me and then I began to feel so unreasonable, for I knew him to be a wonderfully sound man, and I knew he would certainly never suggest anything which would hurt me or us. Yet, every time I entertained the thoughts of joining a get-together, the tension would start to build within me. I was relieved and felt fortunate that we never had invitations at times when we were truly available to attend (again, not due to my husband’s insistence, but over my reluctance). I was glad to always have a better plan or prior engagement which was preferred.  That is, until it was Super bowl season.

By now, we had been nudists for about six months. I had gone round and round in my mind about this issue and still had not truly found peace over this topic. As I’ve mentioned before, my husband has been quite thorough in his exploration into nudism. He scanned the internet seeking every bit of subject matter he could find pertaining to social nudity. He had begun connecting with various nudist groups, one in particular named “Canyon State Naturists”. On this occasion in particular, when an invite was presented, I could find no good reason or previous engagement with cause to disregard it, so our invitation was confirmed.

We prepared for the Super Bowl Party with thoughts of what to bring (for everyone was to bring their favorite drink and appetizer for the buffet style event). Our choice, Mexican style shrimp cocktail along with crackers and tortilla chips to accompany. I tried to keep myself busy with thoughts of the preparation as we worked together formulating the variety of ingredients into our delicious cocktail. It’s a very involved process, lots of little steps go into making it just right, and so this is what I focused on to take my mind off my insecurity over attending this gathering.

Now the time had come, we packed our shrimp cocktail and accompaniments along with our drinks, chairs and towels, and off we went. My husband entered the address of the event into our GPS and I had the impression we were going a far distance to reach this destination. It ended up being only minutes from our own home. I wasn’t sure if this was a good or bad thing, I was hoping for a little more time to adjust before arriving, but then decided it just as well, for we could more easily go home if I felt too terribly uncomfortable with the situation.

We were running a little behind in time, so we encountered a little difficulty in finding parking. As we walked through the entry way of the lovely home which hosted the event, I paid close attention to detail; noting the elements the owner of this home had implemented once passing through the front gate to insure privacy. I felt a sense of seclusion as I noticed how lovely the enclosed patio looked; it was very romantic with plants, pottery, and sculpture with draped screening of some sort which gave the illusion of curtains overhead. How intimate, I wasn’t sure what to think about that as we continued toward the front door of the home. Now we were almost at the door, nervousness was near overcoming me, deep breaths, deep breaths I kept telling myself. I was so worked up over this, which I couldn’t understand due to my lack of fear over starting out in nudism in the first place. Due to the contrast in attitude I began to wonder if my intuition was trying to tell me something for I’ve always been the type of person who said, “If I feel fretfulness over a situation, there must be a reason for it.” I was a frazzled wreck inside, yet I tried to play it cool so as not to make my husband feel bad for how I felt.

As the front door opened for us we found the event was quite well packed with other members involved in cheering on their favorite team as the game was already in progress. I truly can’t recall if we were automatically greeted at the door or if it occurred after entering, but a lovely woman named Gwen welcomed us into her home. Within moments, a jovial gentleman named Fred came over and shook our hands and my husband recognized him as the person he had been conversing with on the internet, (he had been responsible for inviting us to the event). A spot was cleared for our chairs, they made a place for our dish, and we were directed to a bedroom in which we could undress.

I don’t remember how many people were at the event, but in my mind there seemed to be 20-30 individuals at least. We were introduced one by one to each person there and eventually settled into our chairs to participate in the games festivities. They had the usual pool for the game (I didn’t understand the rules of it then, don’t understand them still) and Mark put our money into the pool and gathered our numbers. Somehow, we won three of the quarters in the game and ended up winning $150.00 dollars, wow!

As the afternoon progressed, I found all my fear and apprehension was over nothing. We found all variation of dress at the function on that day. Some were completely nude, while others wore a wrap of sorts, or only a football jersey, and others completely clothed. No one paid attention to the level of undress, it was all about the game and socializing. Even after the game ended and only the social period prevalent, there was no gawking, no lewd or unwanted moments. Everyone at the function was pleasant, welcoming, and no one appeared out of order in any way. We had a great afternoon with a wonderful group of people… And we won a nice wad of cash!!!

I guess the point I am trying to make with this blog, is how I had many irrational fears about something I perceived poorly in my mind. I had no basis for this misconception, only my own senseless reservations. I marvel at the hurdles when they are overcome, and thankful that God has given me a husband who supports me and in turn helps me break through many of the misconceptions which at times bind me.

We have joined a couple of home groups here in the Phoenix area since that time. We enjoy the occasional pool party, barbeque, or whatever occasion happens to bring us together… In the homes of wonderful, decent people who are kind enough to welcome us. It has truly been an eye opening experience for me. Opening my mind to new friendships and to new ways of enjoying nudism, and to think, in the beginning I had the brakes on all the way! So glad I took my foot off the brake and have laid it on the gas… Go, go, go!!!

AZNudistCouple