There is Something Special About Communal Nudity

The Bare Platypus values naked time.  The Bare Platypus values times of solitude for quiet reflection.  Lots of both, actually.

But there's something special about communal nudity too.  Now, the non nudists who like to make jokes are likely to crack, "we know why people want communal nudity."  Wink wink.  Putting them aside, the truth is that there are times when group nudity does something for one's spirit.  And that something is closer akin to why group religious worship holds unique meaning.  Or attending a rock concert where the audience makes the experience so much different than listening to an MP3 of the same band... or even watching video. Sing the national anthem alone in your living room.  Then sing the anthem in a baseball stadium with thousands of other fans and you understand what we mean.

There are group dynamics at work here.  People in one place with one purpose.  It's often referred to as "social nudity" or "communal nudity" but the terms hardly seem to do full justice to the phenomenon.  It is just incredible when a sunning lawn fills with naked people reading books, tossing a Frisbee, pushing strollers, and a hundred other ordinary things.  Magically, it becomes extraordinary.

The Platypus remembers the first time that he set foot on Gunison Beach (a/k/a the Sandy Hook nude beach) on the Gateway National Seashore in New Jersey on a busy weekend.  Until then the bare beaches he'd visited had tended to be remote with sunbathers spread out over distances. The sight and sound of so many, many people of so many nationalities, and from so many ages and stages of life made a significant impression. Perhaps you have had similar experiences.  Or perhaps you have yet to venture beyond your own backyard.

We only hope you get to try it at least once in your life.