Try Part 2

People like to tell me that they admire my confidence, and they like that I know who I am, and I'm not afraid nor ashamed to show it. As flattered as I am by a compliment this great, I must admit that I am still figuring out who Krisha is. I have a pretty good idea, and I can say that everyone is always evolving, always learning new things about ourselves, so we can never truly know ourselves, but I think I still have a long way to go. I am confident in many areas. I speak my mind plenty of times, and I'm not afraid to show my silly side, or to look ugly every now and then. But in so many other ways, artistically, sexually, beautifully, gracefully, I run and hide.

One of the areas I'd really like to work on is my body image. As silly as it sounds, I deny myself the simple pleasure of wearing whatever the hell I want because I become too shy or too hard on myself about my body. Constantly do I put on an outfit, wear it for a few minutes, then shake my head and tell myself, "you look stupid" or "I look like I'm trying to hard. My friends are going to comment on how I look different, and I don't want them to say anything". Then I change back into my comfort zone. Well, I have finally decided to take some steps toward changing my ways. Last Saturday I went out without any clothes on at all.

How's that for a step?

Last Saturday was the annual World Naked Bike Ride and I, yes I was a part of the naked action!

OK, I'll admit, I was wearing some clothes. I donned a helmet (safety first), my 20-hole Dr. Martin's, and my Oregon-loving skivvies (it says "The Beaver State" on the front and "I Love Oregon" across the bum)...and that's all, folks.

Let me tell you a little bit about my night....

The ride began at midnight, and several hours before that, I was enjoying the company of good friends, worrying the night away. My nerves for what was to come later that night were getting the best of me. I will confess that I did need a little liquid courage to help me calm my nerves, but my mind was still racing with thoughts of the worst: What if I fall? No one looks good when they fall, but falling naked? That would suck. What if I can't keep up with the rest of the riders, and I end up cycling all by myself- naked? Aaaggghhh! But my friends reassured me that everything would be alright.

We had planned on wearing costumes that night- we are in Portland, after all. Along with the aforementioned few items I wore, I had planned on also wearing my aviator goggles and a cape. As the night continued on, and as more and more great socializing happened pre-naked ride, we lost track of time and wound up running late, so we quickly had to grab our bikes, strip down and hit the road.

As the riders got into position, a marching band played us off and the ride began. A flurry of flesh, tape, skivvies and chrome, slowly rolled onto the streets of Downtown Portland. There were easily over a thousand participants. It was exhilarating, to say the least. Wearing not much more than the smile on my face, I pedaled to my heart's content. Several minutes passed and as we got deeper and deeper into downtown, crowds started emerging from the nightclubs and restaurants, all wondering what exactly it was they were witnessing. By the time we were in the heart of downtown, the number of spectators had turned from a few onlookers to hundreds and hundreds of people. Many were cheering, giving us high-fives, or just standing there speechless, unable to believe what they were seeing. I saw a few spectators mouthing "oh my GOD!" into their cell phones, trying to quickly describe to the other line what was happening. It was the ride of a lifetime.

I loved every minute of the ride! I loved being a part of riding in celebration to deliver a vision of a cleaner, safer, body-positive world to the masses- to show how fragile we can be in comparison to cars, so we must drive with care and compassion when we share the road with bikers. I loved that during the ride, I was never afraid nor was I ashamed to show off my body. I loved it.

Now, whenever I start to feel shy, intimidated or self-conscious in any situation, I can look back at this and say, "What's there to be nervous about? You rode through Downtown Portland naked, for Christ's sake! You can do this, too."