Practical advice

I was first introduced to nudism about 12 years ago. It was a relatively positive experience at first, but it was not too long before I realized how difficult it is to try to retrain my own thinking about body acceptance in our culture. I joined here to make friends, but I soon noticed that it can be very tricky to identify who wants to develop real friendships and who is looking for someone to play. Being very introverted makes it even harder. Not all introverts want to be alone all the time. There are many who want to be with others, but in very small groups of 1 or 2 because larger groups are overwhelming. I figured making online friends would be possible, but when you are not outgoing and are also a bit shy, it seems almost impossible. I went to a nearby resort for a year, but being both introverted and shy, it was very difficult to say 'hi' to people I didn't know. My second year, I suddenly got push-back for being involved in nudism; I had to quit being involved in nudism or risk losing my job. My closest friend got real negative about it, too. I did stop, but I have been isolated since then, and it has very rough. Currently, I have a roommate who is not nudist friendly at all, so I can only be nude in my room. I no longer have that job, so I started to slowly get back into nudism again. However, it is hard to know how to navigate a place like TN because I don't know how to tell who is really sincere.

How does someone who is shy, and who lives in an area that is very much NOT nudist friendly, navigate these waters? Because my experience has been in academia, and I may very well get another job in that field shortly, I have to realistically accept that public knowledge of my being involved in nudism is very likely to make finding a job harder.

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