The bucket list you didn’t know you had.

I ticked something off my non-existent bucket list yesterday. It was quite the achievement. Something I had not really considered to be a thing I would ever do. Something that I hadn’t even thought was an item to mark off as ‘completed’ in my list of things to say I had done in my life.

However there I stood, in the magnificent waters of  a secluded beach at Torquay, on a truly perfect summers day, without a shred of clothing proudly proclaiming to my equally naked friend that I could tick ‘that’ off my bucket list.

I don’t have a bucket list!

What’s with this bucket list? Do we have Morgan Freeman and Robert De Niro (Oooops!!!! It’s actually Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman) and the American film industry to thank for the requirement of a bucket list? It was a lovely movie gentlemen, but now people find themselves having to think of things they need to achieve before they die and tick them off a list.

Imagine the horror as you take your final breath, knowing that you didn’t do the things on your list. OMG!! Especially if you had that list written down and it was stuck on the fridge door with a Mickey Mouse magnet. Family members would see your list and KNOW that you did nothing with your life. Let’s ignore the fact that you lived and had a life……..but you didn’t complete your list!!!!

How about just living your life to the full and experiencing the opportunities that are presented to you? That’s what I am doing.

You don’t need a list.

I’m sure the starving in Africa don’t have a list. I can’t imagine the farmer in the rice paddy of Vietnam has a list nor the Amish woman in North America or the bloke living under the bridge in Melbourne.

Life is not about lists. Life is about living and yesterday I felt incredibly alive.

I have no idea how many of you have done it, and I am definitely not telling anyone that you should or shouldn’t do it, but I cannot even touch on the emotions I felt as I took the last item of clothing off and bared my imperfect self to the elements.

Yesterday was a sterling summer beach day. Low 20’s, clear skies, gentle breeze and clear blue waters. The stretch of beach that has been the designated nude beach for decades is magnificent. The sands were not crowded and the vibe I sensed was wonderfully calm. Many people had brought their dogs which only added to the sense of normality. The only difference on this beach was that the people swimming, throwing balls for their dogs to chase, walking or laying on their towels on the glorious sunshine was the absence of fabric.

Also absent was the self-consciousness. This was a space where men and women accepted themselves and their perfect imperfections.  Hallelujah!

So I took all my clothes off and walked alone to the water and I laughed and cried at the wonder of it all.

 

I want to share…………but they won’t let me. :-(

 

I am not happy with the ‘nipple police’.

I have some incredible photos that I want to share, but I am not allowed to because the so-called protectors of moral decency (aka: nipple police) would very quickly block both my Facebook and Instagram accounts. Why? Because I would be showing the nipple of a woman.

They have no problem at all with the male nipple. Just the female nipple.

Again …….. why?? Because the nipple police are perverted old men who still believe that the sight of a naked female nipple is pornographic.

I am a photographer (still can’t believe that I can actually call myself by this title, but there it is). I am an artist. (Me!! Artist??!! But there it is. Hold an exhibition and you’ve got to claim the moniker) I create images. I do not create pornography. I have done a photo shoot with a fabulous woman who happened to be unclothed during this exercise and I can’t show anyone any of the shots where you can see her bare nipple.

Bloody, frustratingly ridiculous!!

The nipple police don’t and won’t even raise an eyebrow at the photos that show her bare arse, but woe betide me if there is exposed nipple. “Hold out you hand Miss, there are 10 licks of the cane coming to you, not to mention the weeks of suspension.”

Where are honest, tasteful examples of the art nude genre permitted to be displayed? I need to know, because otherwise I’m going to feel as though taking these images and creating this art is a waste of my time.

Let’s find out if bottoms are ok?

Now that I’ve discovered that Facebook has a 19th Century attitude to the female nipple, I’m fascinated to see what they think about bottoms. Naked bottoms. Naked female bottoms.

And yes, I am emphasising the word female because I do think it is all about the gender of the naked/uncovered body part.

I’ll let you know how this little experiment goes.

 

 

Is it just female nipples you have an issue with?

 

God love you, Facebook.

I have just had my very first image blocked and removed by the self-appointed judge and jury that is Facebook. They took umbrage at the photo in last night’s blog.

They have a problem with nudity……..Nipples in particular. Female nipples. You’re not allowed to show them in photos on Facebook. You can, however, post as many photos of semi-naked men with bare chests and their nipples showing as you like.

Why the double standard? They’re just boobs. They’re nipples on both sexes. Boy nipples. Girl nipples. Nipples!!

But just to keep you happy, I will ensure that they are covered up tonight. I don’t think I could ope with having my wrist slapped two days in a row.

 

****** But I want to know how an online social media service such as Facebook was able to pinpoint one nipple in a silhouette style photo and decide that it had to be removed?????  Did someone complain?? And if so……….who?? And if they did…………..get a life!!!!

 

It’s all about seizing the moments

I cannot even begin to tell you about the week I have just had.

If anybody had said to me on Monday morning that I would be meeting incredible photographers and doing a nude model shoot in an abandoned building by the Sunday, I would have laughed in their face.

And to think that this time last year I was virtually a basket case, going through a debilitating bout of depression.

I don’t quite know where all this good fortune is coming from, but I am not going to look a gift horse in the mouth. There is a reason for what is happening to me. It is not clear right now but I’m certain that the good-fortune angels will advise me in their own good time.

There is nothing for it, but to grab these moments and opportunities with both hands and to soak up the experiences and learning that will come from them.