naked dreams

I started having some recurring dreams back in 2010, soon after I decided to stop lucid dreaming. In the dream, I am suddenly in some public situation, naked. 

Sounds like a typical naked dream, right? Wrong. To me, these dreams were a challenge. They were a challenge to overcome embarrassment, to disregard what people would think. So I’d be dreaming about whatever, and suddenly I’d be walking nude down State Street, or on my college campus or wherever. I was challenged not to react with embarrassment or shame.

The iteration of this I remember most clearly had me in two or three different scenes, and in each one I was initially startled to be there naked, but then said “Fuck it!” and stool proud and tall in all my naked glory. In the final scene, I was in my Dad’s very conservative evangelical church, and every person in there had turned to look at me. I felt a jolt of adrenaline, but then I said “What? This is who I am. I like being naked!” and put my hands on my hips and stared all those disapproving old biddies and others down. Then I woke up, from that little burst of adrenaline, probably.

I still have these dreams occasionally, probably when my subconscious thinks I need a reminder not to feel ashamed of who I am. Of course, embarrassment is a much less painful feeling than shame.  I love these dreams. The challenge in them is so much fun.

I think these dreams stem from a real-life occurrence, when I was about 18. I was taking a quick dip in Rattlesnake Creek on a very hot summer afternoon, wearing only some sheer white panties. My boyfriend and I were talking, and not paying attention to the nearby trail, and suddenly there was a solo hiker right there. We were all a little startled. My dog immediately charged him and went nuts barking at him. My first impulse was to cover myself up with my arms while calling my dog off, but then I realized my dog was not backing down and this guy was actually pretty intimidated by her, so I stood up tall and went into full alpha mode with my dog, commanding her to come over to me and leave the man alone. I made her sit, then turned to the man and apologized, still basically naked. The man blushed crimson, stuttered out some reply, and continued on up the trail. We passed on the trail an hour our so later and when I apologized for my dog again, he smilingly informed me that it was no problem, as I’d made his day, while once again blushing crimson.

Update: I had a real-life version of this happen again for the first time in years! I went to a company picnic at a private beach, and my daughter, my sister and I were the last ones on the beach after every one else had departed. My sister and I were wearing these multi-layered one-piece bathing suits that were wet and cold and not getting dry, and plus, it was a private beach, and we had it all to ourselves! So as soon as that last truck was out of sight, we stripped off those soggy suits and laid out on our bellies to dry in the sun. Minutes later, my daughter warned us that someone was driving up. Busted! I was one of the owners of the beach, presumably checking to see if everyone was gone. My daughter held up a towel to hide us, and we quickly put our suits back on. He was very disapproving, and scolded us that this was “a family-friendly beach.” We were polite enough to him, but as soon as he was gone I laughed until I cried. 

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