Do we need a new “back to nature” moment?
In this #UndressedThread, we’re exploring what naturism looks like in an always-online world
Naturism has always been a kind of reset. It emerged as a response to industrialization and urban life, a way to slow down and reconnect with something more grounded as the world sped up. Now we’re living through a different kind of acceleration. Screens, social feeds, AI, and more time spent online, often at the expense of real social interaction. Meanwhile, real-life naturist spaces are increasingly threatened or disappearing. There is a loneliness epidemic. We’re more linked than ever, but not always more rooted.
It raises a simple question: does naturism still have something to offer in a moment like this? Or maybe, what does this moment demand of naturism?
So, in this week’s #UndressedThread, we are asking:
What would a modern “back to nature” movement look like?
What helps you step out of the scroll and into real-world naturism?
What’s one way we could create more of that in everyday life?
Share your thoughts in the comments. 🪐
How about a back to civilization moment? Being One with Everything may have its appeal, but that's been the sales pitch for the past fifty odd years and we are where we are. What social nudity requires is social trust, and that's what has been eroded most in the past few decades. Restoring social trust may require less of a grand vision and more just reintroducing people to the idea that things can be pleasant. And that pleasant is, more than often, enough. Pleasant doesn't need to be instagrammed or vetted for ideological purity, pleasant can simply be getting along with people, having a conversation, and a warm spring or a cool lake can be great aid to that. We may find we don't need to go all the way to the wilderness if there's a perfectly serviceable garden right there.
I've been a "back to nature" guy for most of my life and I'm old enough to have lived most of my life without being tied to technology. My happy place is in the woods, preferably alone or with my husband, far from any cellphone signal. If I can be skyclad, great, but just being outside in the natural world is more important. I'm fortunate that we live on 5 acres that's mostly private, so when the weather cooperates I can be outside in our garden or woods without the bother of clothing. We like to think of experiencing our world through all five senses, including feeling breezes or the soft touch of plants on our skin, breathing the scent of warming soil or blooming flowers, hearing rustling leaves or singing birds, seeing the fresh new growth of spring ephemerals emerging from the soil, and perhaps bringing some wild plant to our taste buds. I absorb the calming energy of the natural world, which helps shut out the chaos of the built world.