Naked and Unfinished
I can believe my body deserves respect and still hate the photo someone tagged me in.
I believe in body acceptance.
I also have days when one bad photo makes me forget every damn thing I thought I had learned.
Naked and Unfinished is where I write about that gap. What I believe about bodies. What I still say about mine. Getting older, dealing with other people’s opinions, finding company, and taking my clothes off without expecting it to fix everything.
I have had good days naked. Days when I stopped checking my stomach and got on with whatever I was doing.
Then I picked up my phone, saw somebody else’s photo, and started comparing again.
There are fourteen essays here. Anger, courage, company, grief, and the awkward business of believing something I cannot always feel.
Start with the first essay and read through in order. The complete list is below.
1. Naked and Pissed Off: When Self-Acceptance Still Feels Like Bullshit
I know better. Tonight, I still stand in front of the bathroom mirror and tear myself apart.
2. Nudity Didn’t Heal Me. Honesty Did.
I take off my clothes. The shame stays. I have to get honest about what I expected nudity to fix.
3. Naked Courage
I write about the courage it takes to be seen before I feel ready.
4. Naked Beyond the Binary: When Naturism Still Has Work to Do
I question what “every body is welcome” means when the rules still leave people out.
5. Finding Your Tribe: How Other Naked People Saved Me
I walk into a nudist park and find company on a volleyball court.
6. The Voice That Won’t Shut Up
I listen to the things I say about myself. Some sound reasonable until I hear how cruel they are.
7. The Weight of Other People’s Opinions
I can dismiss a stranger’s opinion out loud and still think about it hours later.
8. Naked in the Locker Room
I look at who changes freely, who faces the wall, and who waits for a bathroom stall.
9. What If I Never Get There?
I wonder whether I will ever feel as comfortable as I keep hoping to feel.
10. The Body That Changed: Grief, Loss, and Learning to Accept
I write about missing the body I remember while living in the one I have now.
11. Naked at 50: What I Wish I Knew at 20
I look back at the years I spent worrying about how I looked.
12. A Beginner’s Guide to Sleeping Naked
I start with bedtime. No audience, no resort, and no promise of waking up transformed.
13. The Stigma of It All
I write about the assumptions that follow me when I say I am a naturist.
14. The Final Layer: A Letter to Anyone Still Hiding
I finish the series with a letter. I still have bad days.
