Stories, reflections, and essays on body acceptance, naturism, identity, and the messy human stuff in between.
THE DEBRIEF | PART 1 of 8
B-team finally wins the trip A-team has owned for six years. But the celebration starts feeling different the moment they arrive at Sundrift.
How to Find Clothing That Fits When You’re a Nudist
Nudists do not hate clothes. We hate the betrayal. A funny, practical guide to finding clothing that actually fits, feels good, and does not make you regret leaving the house.
Potlucks Aren’t Killing Community. Passivity Is.
I skipped a nude social event to do laundry and didn’t regret it. Potlucks aren’t the problem. Neither is age. The real danger to a social club is becoming so comfortable that nobody is excited to show up anymore.
Is This Your Family Too?
Some families do not just raise you. They install shame through comparison, silence, conditional love, and stories that follow you long after childhood ends.
A Very Normal Amount of Self-Deception
A darkly funny essay about procrastination, fear, avoidance, self-deception, and the lies we tell ourselves to keep pretending we are fine.
The Final Layer: A Letter to Anyone Still Hiding
The final essay in Naked and Unfinished is a letter to anyone still hiding, still struggling, and still learning how to exist in their body without apology.
The Stigma of It All
Naturism can offer freedom, community, and a different relationship with the body. But first, many people have to push through the sexual assumptions, judgment, fear, and shame attached to simply choosing to be naked.
A Beginner’s Guide to Sleeping Naked
Sleeping naked did not cure my body shame or transform me overnight. It simply gave my body a few quiet hours to exist without apology, performance, or panic.
Naked at 50: What I Wish I Knew at 20
At 20, I thought my body was the problem. At 50, I know the real problem was all the years I spent fighting it. This essay is about aging, body shame, naturism, grief, freedom, and learning to live in the body you have before more time disappears.
The Body That Changed: Grief, Loss, and Learning to Accept
I used to know this body. Then life changed it. Time changed it. Illness, surgery, weight, hormones, grief, aging, scars, and survival changed it. This essay is about grieving the body you used to have without punishing the body you have now.
What If I Never Get There?
I have done the work. I have taken off my clothes, challenged the shame, and told other people they deserve to live freely in their bodies. And some days, I still feel like I am right back where I started. This essay is about the fear that healing may never feel finished, and learning that a bad day does not erase how far you have
The Weight of Other People’s Opinions
I know I should not care what people think. I know people will always have opinions about other people’s bodies. And yet, one look, one comment, or one fake compliment can still get in. This essay is about body judgment, shame, strangers with too much to say, and learning that I do not have to carry their opinions forever.
The Voice That Won’t Shut Up
The cruel voice in your head can sound like honesty, discipline, or concern. But sometimes it is just shame wearing your voice. In this personal essay, I write about body shame, self-criticism, naturism, and learning that healing does not always mean silence. Sometimes it means refusing to obey.
Finding Your Tribe: How Other Naked People Saved Me
Body shame does not just make you hate yourself. It isolates you. In this personal essay, I reflect on walking into a nudist park for the first time, finding community on a volleyball court, and realizing I was never as alone as shame told me.
Naked Beyond the Binary: When Naturism Still Has Work to Do
Naturism loves to say every body is welcome. But what happens when non-binary people enter spaces still built around old binary rules? This essay challenges naturism to move beyond slogans and prove that body freedom includes every body.
Nudity Didn’t Heal Me. Honesty Did.
Taking off your clothes does not magically heal shame. It does not erase trauma, silence insecurity, or fix the private war so many people have with their bodies. In this personal essay, I reflect on body acceptance, nudity, self-compassion, and the quiet honesty it takes to stop treating your body like the enemy.
Naked and Pissed Off: When Self-Acceptance Still Feels Like Bullshit
A raw essay about naturism, body shame, and the nights when healing feels less like freedom and more like a fight. This is for the bad mirror days, the doomscrolling spirals, and the ugly truth that knowing better does not always mean feeling better.
Dinner Party Confessionals
Jamie and Terry get outed as “the naked couple” over roast and green beans. What could have been another humiliating joke becomes a masterclass in backup, boundaries, and the power of one friend saying “we go too.”