World Naked Gardening Day.

It’s not actually for the naturists.

As is the norm on official days to mark the awareness of naturist events, I post to my various social media platforms an image of myself to mark the occasion.  Although I do not consider myself green-fingered, I did post a picture of me tending some plants on World Naked Gardening Day.

Down in the South Pacific, World Naked Gardening Day happens at the wrong time of year to be enthusiastic about either gardening or being outside naked.  Here in New Zealand, we have celebrated Naked Gardening Day since 2018 during our spring in October, when participation is significantly more likely and is definitely more comfortable.

Despite the colder and wet weather, in the spirit of supporting a global event, there was no real inconvenience in getting a photo to mark the day.  I happened to be naked anyway, so all I needed to do was get a small garden fork out of the garage and pose by a pot plant while Emma took a photo.  I was careful to pose in such a way that the leaves of the plant were in a suitable position so the image could be posted on those sites that are a little more sensitive or delicate when it comes to nudity.

After posting, a good friend and regular reader Graham correctly pointed out that any day in the garden should be a naked gardening day.  For the most part, any horticultural activities that I do are largely carried out naked.  We are lucky that our property allows us the privacy to spend as much time outside as naked as we like without being overlooked by neighbours.

While many naturists happily post their naked gardening images on a broad range of social media platforms, we should not forget that World Naked Gardening Day is not just for naturists.  We are already naked in our gardens and outside spaces as often as we can and already understand the simple pleasure of the sun and air on our skin and the connection with nature that being outside naked brings.

World Naked Gardening Day started in 2005, from an original vision by organisers Mark Storey and Jacob Gabriel, as a Body Freedom Collaborative (BFC) project and has grown to be observed around the world.  New Zealand garden company Yates has had several supportive campaigns since 2018 tying in with New Zealand’s National Gardening Week, around the last weekend in October.

Of course, World Naked Gardening Day is for everyone, but it could be argued that it is largely for non-naturists.  Textiles, clothed-minded, call them what you will, this is a day that they have an excuse to join in and try something that they might not otherwise consider.

Even if people never move on to social nudity after taking part in a World Naked Gardening Day, having tried it they may be less likely to be overly critical of other naturist activities and events that happen.  Perhaps they may even be supportive.

There are other days that are set aside for specific naturist-type activities, such as National Day Without Togs (the last Saturday in January), or National Skinny Dip Day (US) in July.  There is a Work Naked Day (the first Friday in February) and of course, the World Naked Bike Ride, which happens at different times in many cities all over the world.

These days all give non-naturists an opportunity to shed their clothes in various situations.  Encouraging people to skinny dip focuses on an activity that I dare say most people have done at some stage in their lives.  The World Naked Bike Ride has an environmental aspect that many non-naturists may well agree with, and events like Work Naked Day have become more popular as more and more people work from home in a post-COVID world.

While it is important for naturists the world over to support all these events and commemorative days, we must remember that it isn’t all about us.

Giving one day a year as an excuse for everyone to get their kit off and give it a go in the privacy of their own yard, without shame or ridicule, is as powerful an advertisement for the naturist philosophy as you can get.

Some people will never consider naturism, but there are a large number of people who are indifferent to social nudity and might well give it a go in the right circumstances.  Either by design or by complete accident, giving people a reason and an opportunity to try naturism in a non-threatening and private setting appears to be a masterstroke in subversive marketing.

The more people that are exposed (pun intended) to the simple pleasures of naturism, the better.

“If people were meant to be nude, they would have been born this way.”
– Oscar Wilde

Thank you for reading, have a comfortable day.