Naked thinking as the main idea of this post is about more than taking all your clothes off like the Cobble Sisters do. It is about allowing yourself to think anything it is possible to think about no matter how others might react. And then publishing this thinking, sharing the uncloaked thoughts no matter what they are about. I know that some of you will probably read no further than this. But others will read on because, like me, they are attracted to the notion of the truth laid bare. They want to see it, no matter how much shock and ugliness is being risked. And don’t worry that I am going to post pictures of my own naked carcass because the naked truth about that is that I am not a very social nudist like the Cobbles, especially not Sherry, and I am certainly not an exhibitionist.
At this point in the on-going story of Mickey’s incredibly awkward notions of nudism and naturism, I am totally going to share with you the distressing and undressed topics that my essay collection will attempt to lay bare. I know some things about being a survivor of sexual assault. And also as a result of that first distressing thing, I can also lay bare the truth about being suicidal, struggling with sexual identity, and the need for sex education before such things can befall mere children.
As a school teacher, I have learned a great deal about students’ thoughts about sexuality. I have heard stories straight from the students’ own words, both verbally and in writing, about dealing with homosexuality, transgenderism, body image, and relationships. I won’t reveal anybody’s actual names, but I can lay bare the facts as they were presented to me. A whole lot of naked ugliness, gracefulness, and even on rare occasions, beauty.
And I have naked thoughts about how I believe these things might actually be dealt with in the future, the how-tos and whens of sex education, how society might benefit from laxer rules about public nudity, how schools might be beneficially conducted in the nude, and other wacky notions that might get me banned in Florida and Texas, but might also be worth at least thinking about.
Thinking realistically about the times we are living in, I do know that Mickey-thoughts about nudity and naturism are a potential place for things to go way wrong, especially when books are being banned and schoolteachers can be fired for thinking that students should know about Rosa Parks, Roberto Clemente, and Harvey Milk. But I am old, and have practically no time left to me to get into “good trouble” for the good of the people and institutions I care about. And I am retired, so they can’t fire me. And having one of my books banned would probably be really good for me as an author. So, there is that. And besides, with my art, I hope to prove that the nude human body can be beautiful… even if it’s ugly.
Catch a Falling Star 