It’s been a while.

Priorities change, life goes on.

Many of my followers will have noted that it has been some time since my last blog. This is a bit of a disjointed entry, but hopefully it will clarify the absence.

It’s not that I have abandoned naturism; far from it. However, I have had other priorities lately that have absorbed most of my spare time.

Some of you may be aware that I enjoy photography, and it would be fair to say that this has taken up most of my spare time.

My genre is primarily wildlife, with a smattering of other scenic shots. I’d like to work more with people, but perhaps due to my naturist philosophy, I am acutely aware of issues of consent. I’m uncomfortable asking friends to step in front of the lens, and although I could hire models for photo shoots, I am loath to spend more money. I have spent enough on photography gear as it is, and I should be looking for some sort of return on my investment.

In an ideal world, I would like to combine my photography with my naturism, but I am not sure that making that association will be the best approach for a new business starting out and trying to attract paying clients.

I am part of a wonderful photographic community, which has given me the opportunity to travel within NZ and teach photography to several groups of beginners.

I have launched my own website and have been busy developing an online photography course, which I sell through the Ko-fi platform.

I recently had a change in employment, and am now working from 7am till 2:30 pm, which allows me time in the afternoons to teach or work on photographic projects.

Part of the reason for promoting my photography is to generate a small income as I enter the latter years of my working life. While I am unlikely to earn enough from photography to give up my day job, the change in work hours gives me much more flexibility and opportunity to follow my passion.

In reality, I am more likely to make money from my photography than from my naturism. As a male of my vintage, naturism is not easily monetised. Selling content to a willing group of bears and older-men fanciers is not who I am, and it goes against my core naturist beliefs. While it might not matter to that audience, it matters to me.

My online profiles clearly indicate that I am a heterosexual male in a committed relationship with my female partner. It still surprises me how many sexualised comments and offers I get from men on my various social media sites. The assumption that because I enjoy being naked, I must be up for sexually stimulating male bonding encounters is a common theme amongst many friend requests. I can only imagine how uncomfortable it must be for women trying to engage in naturism online.

I guess I have become somewhat disillusioned with online naturist spaces and the constant battle to differentiate between naturism and sexual content. Sometimes it feels like one step forward and two steps backwards.

I see others online making gallant efforts to highlight the inappropriate use of the naturism and naturist tags in sexualised content. I applaud their resilience in the face of a deafening silence in response to their efforts.

I look at so many people posting sexualised content under the naturist label, and I guess I am tired of trying to argue the difference between naturism and their posts to people who don’t understand or simply don’t care.

There’s a point where education turns into repetition, and dialogue turns into noise. I think I’ve reached that point on this topic.

I spent 2 years writing a weekly blog to try to sell the idea that naturism is a valid way of life. I feel I’ve done my bit. I’m still a naturist, I still believe in the naturist philosophy, and I still support the efforts of naturists to promote naturism and call out content or ideas that taint the naturist label.

One of the reasons I haven’t logged a recent entry is that I felt that I had little to add to the conversation. I have read some impressive writing from a number of naturist contributors, and can’t really think of things to say that haven’t already been wonderfully articulated.

In the six months since my last blog, I have been humbled by the number of new followers. I hope those followers are enjoying the archived articles rather than relying on new content, and part of me feels some obligation to produce new material, although I don’t want to just write anything.

I realise that this piece is less about naturism and really doesn’t contain any remarkable new insight into how naturism can become more acceptable within society.

The lack of a naturist focus may lose me some followers, but that is the nature of putting one’s ideas out in a public forum.

My naturist philosophy is still a major part of my core values, and I continue to live, as much as I can, the naturist life.

I guess that I am at the stage of my journey where I no longer care if anyone else gets it. I will welcome and support naturists and newcomers to naturism, but I no longer feel a reward from standing up and being counted.

Perhaps it is the increasingly fractured and hostile world, where being different is seen as an excuse to be mistreated, or worse, harmed, that has tainted my outlook. That may change, and in time, I may think differently.

I will continue to write when I feel that I have something to say, but for now, I am blissfully happy in my smug naturist kingdom, comfortable in my skin.

Sometimes you have to give up on people. Not because you don’t care, but because they don’t. - Jennifer Green

Thank you for reading. Have a comfortable day.

Naturism:
Good for the environment, great for the soul.

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For anyone interested in my photography

My Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chuffedbadger_photography

My website: https://www.chuffedbadger.co.nz

My beginners course: https://ko-fi.com/chuffedbadgerphotography