Thursday, September 3, 2026
Imagine being in front of a campfire with some like-minded people. Get naked. Sit in a circle around the fire. And as your shock and horror diminish about being there unclothed, what would happen? Truth would.
We would not sit “behind” our clothes, or behind a computer screen, judging, condemning, and spouting off vitriol. We would have nothing behind which to hide. How easy it is to be “behind” a screen—hidden by a device, your own inhibitions, and your high-and-mighty judgment! The irreducible must be brought out from hiding. That is when real bonding would begin. Communion.
Transparency would heal the world. But we have made it far too easy for a human to hide, making him or herself appear “bigger.” I want to get to the lowest common denominator: presence.
In that vulnerable and susceptible state, naked around a campfire, the judge vanishes. Who are you to judge, with your saggy bottom, skin tags, and back fat? Try condemning someone when you have nothing to hide! Try hiding yourself when you have no clothes on! The ego would manage somehow, however—especially the “hot one” with ripped abs and much to show off. What do we do about the “gifted ones”? Expose their intellect?
Irreducible states reveal tender confessions. We would tell each other the weird things we think, the malignant things we did, and the tender moments we felt. The inner landscape would be painted more honestly.
Imagine the Supreme Court in such a state. Nine vulnerable bags of skin, sitting not behind a bench or a robe, but “out there.” Flabby, sweaty, hairy, mole-ridden, hunched shoulders. Genitals dangling, exposed.
Who is afraid of a naked child? Who is afraid to be a naked child?
If only we could get past the surface. What irreducible treasure would we find?
That we’re all basically in the same boat? Quelle surprise.