I may have mentioned before that, without doubt, the best way to swim is naked. But the sea and our lake are such large and public things. I suppose it is our cultural upbringing that makes us so self-conscious, embarrassed, even guilty about swimming (or doing anything) naked even when reasonable precautions are taken to ensure privacy. This attitude must be instilled in us from an early age because even children can be very embarrassed about getting changed in a public place. Please understand, I am in not any way advocating indecent exposure.
And so I was interested in a recent experience I had. I will not divulge the place or time as another party was involved, but I was running along the coast and chanced upon a small sandy beach far enough away from any roads and thus the mass of humanity to be relatively private. It was summer so I was in shorts and intending to swim. I noticed a family at the far end of the beach and as I got closer I saw that the father and his two children were running into the sea stark naked. The mother was dressed and sitting on the beach. By the time I reached her they were away swimming so decent enough, so I asked her if she would mind if I also swam naked? I added that I would go to the other end of the small beach and be discrete. She said she didn't mind so that is what I did.
The point I want to make is that, because I had obtained "permission", I felt so much liberty and was quite without reserve as I dispensed with shorts and ran into the warm, rolling sea. And I enjoyed that time of swimming possibly more than at any other time. Strange that "permission" from an unknown person made all the difference to my scruples. Surely my principles ought not to be so easily affected?
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