Dear DOMAI
I would like to share two DOMAI stories in hopes to contribute to the debate that has been going on over the past while here on DOMAI. Just as a little introduction, I am a Canadian university student in his early twenties and have been keeping an eye on DOMAI for a while. Also, I am a casual naturist.
Both stories take place back in my high school years and both are quite similar but with two different girls. The first is in early high school with a friend of mine whom I was not romantically interested in at all, the second at the end of high school with a girl whom I had been romantically interested in for a long time. I was chatting with this friend of mine one day and somehow the topic came to skinny dipping and what each of us thought about it. At the time this girl was the most bashful girl I knew and I did not find her particularly attractive. She at first said that it sounded fun but she wouldn't try it and, thinking that she'd never agree to it anyway, tried to talk her into it. Arming myself for a big debate I began by saying "You know, we should go try it," and she was quiet for a moment, and then said "Okay, when?"
We found ourself on a secluded beach the next evening at dusk starting a campfire. The lake was still, the moon was out, and we were having fun. We had been there for a while and had been swimming clothed in the afternoon, but eventually the time came. We looked at each other and decided that part of the ritual was getting undressed at the camp fire and running to the water, and within a few minutes the two of us were running to the shoreline. She was ahead as I am not terribly fast or light on my feet, and she stopped a moment at the shore to test the water. At that time the way she stood and the moonlight played upon her hips and shoulder, it was one of the most beautiful images I had seen. There seemed nothing so beautiful. It was not just her either, it was the whole scene. A lake at night, some lights on the opposing shoreline, stars, the glow of a fire behind the dune. It was quite breathtaking. I had never thought of this girl as particularly pretty before and I realized that at that point she was the prettiest girl I had seen. The night ended quite innocently, we played around in the water, roasted marsh-mellows, and even got lost in a swamp trying to find the boat ramp in the dark. We still talk about that night with fondness.
Another night, three years later, I was out with a girl whom I had been romantically interested in throughout high school. We had been great friends all this time and had even acknowledged that a relationship would be quite nice, but it had never materialized. We had a falling out earlier that year and had not talked, nor expected to again, in months. One evening I received a phone call. It was her and she wanted to get together before I left for university. I grudgingly said ok as I was restless and had nothing else to do and at first the meeting was rigid and uncomfortable. As the evening progressed, however, we fell back into our usual comfort and ended up going to a beach we had spent much time at together. It was a beautiful Canadian August night. The stars were out, the moon was bright, and there was just a small breeze off of Lake Ontario. We had been walking through the surf earlier and I commented at how nice it would be to swim but I didn't have my trunks. Through our friendship she had been opposed to us skinny dipping and so I was quite surprised to see her spring to her feet and undress on her way to the water's edge. I followed quickly behind. And then, almost like deja vu, she stopped at the water's edge to check the temperature and the moon played on her hips, and she looked back at me smiling before crashing through the waves into the water.
Both of these evenings were quite similar. Even the location was similar. One instance however, the first, was sheer beauty and the other was something more. Both instances were extremely beautiful but the first time was completely innocent while the second ignited great passion within me. Looking back, the beauty of both girls was at these moments equal yet the second meant much more.
I believe the debate that has been going on is assuming that all "pure" nudity is created equal. It is not. There are many factors at work and what one person may find completely innocent and pure another may find quite risque. When I look at DOMAI there are some pictures that, much as the first evening, simply make me feel happy to share in the beauty of woman. Other pictures, for instance ones that remind me of the second girl, I find sexually exciting. What a photographer finds innocent, someone else may not (this undoubtedly happens even here on DOMAI). It is all based on context and everyone has their own unique context. Where one might find glancing at a girl's exposed breasts in the hallway acceptable, she may not. In fact, it may depend on who is looking. Mayhaps that boy doing the looking reminds her of someone she would not want looking, a brother or someone she has had differences with. What I am saying as that each instance is completely unique and there are so many factors at play that we cannot possibly be cognizant of that sometimes things will go one way when they should go the other while some things will go perfectly. Everyone loves to be appreciated and looks are no different, but if they think that you are appreciating for the wrong reasons then the situation will turn bad. It is a high-stakes roll-of-the-dice, but usually well worth the gamble.
Seamus
