Path of self discovery

This time I'm writing about blood, not water anymore. Though, to be honest, we humans – like little cucumbers – still remain creatures of water.
🩸 Why blood?
Because it's a very basic thing: blood, bones, nerves, muscles… All of this is inside us and runs our lives. No matter how smart, knowledgeable, emotional, popular, leadership-oriented, generous, etc. we are – all of it stems from these simple (well, maybe not entirely simple, but basic) systems.
I want to talk specifically about blood donation – giving blood. Yes, everyone knows it saves lives. And that blood transfusions happen millions of times daily in large countries, fewer in smaller ones, but still a huge number.
​But… not everyone knows what it gives to the donors themselves. Especially in countries where no perks, money, or anything else is given for such an act – where it's considered completely altruistic, voluntary action.

🩺 So why do I do it?
And again – starting with how I got to this and why I do it at all.
1. When – 2018–2019, somewhere in that period.
2. Why – because I read about :D the older-days "treatment" of people with mental illnesses by bleeding them (there were even worse ideas, really). And then – about treating any diseases exactly in the same way. And it turns out this was almost paracetamol-level method. It fit everything, was used for anything, almost any illness or disorder. If something wrong – boom, bleed the person, and they should improve. Seriously, they applied it almost in every case.
3. I'm a trans person, and in reality in Lithuania, for example, no one would take my blood :D Well, unless you didn't say how it is. Though cis people use hormones too – say, during menopause – and that's considered completely normal. But all this also pushed me to go check if my "juices" are really suitable in UK clinics :D
4. And anyway… since teenage years I've liked vampire stories. Around sixteen we watched "Interview with the Vampire" in the cinema, and after that for a week or so I walked in the footsteps of that film in my imagination – replaying dialogues, moods, meaning.

💉 How it went in practice?
I went, donated – liked it. Went again. Then there was a break: after all the changes in a new country, I mentioned heart palpitations for the centre stuff, they told me to get checked. After the tests there was another "lost in translation" moment, so I had to go back undrained.
But later everything resumed, and now I've given about 14 times. I have a 10-times badge that I wear on my coat.

❤️ Real benefits experienced
I don't know… I put all the benefits in the visuals. But what else I can mention – after donating blood, on the second or third day (because the first day life is a bit slower), a surge of energy comes. Cosmic. Speed, focus, sensations, lightness, drive… Wow.
At first it was even hard to hold myself back :D but later I got used to that effect.

Give blood, people.
It's an eternally proven panacea.
(Well, of course, if you can donate – not everyone can.)

🌊 Swimming & Wild Waters
This time, I'm writing about dives, swims, and everything related to wild waters: lakes, ponds, reservoirs, rivers, seas, oceans... maybe even waterfalls. In short — anything that's not a pool.
Over the last few years I've chosen them specifically. Although before I swam in pools — with jacuzzi, saunas, showers, gym right next door. The full package.
​So... why did all of that stay in the past, and now it's all lakes, all lagoons, little ponds, lochs as the Scots call them here in Scotland, where I live.

The story is pretty simple, even a bit comical, but it leads to a purer, more natural self.
Everything, of course, started with a lack of money and time. The car breaks down, electronics in it — a separate kind of hell, garage guys jacking up prices like they're selling an apartment. Time passes, money melts, sports get sidelined. And if you're paying as much as they charge here for a gym/pool membership, you want everything: sauna, gym, not "splish-splash and out." Plus, visiting a pool wouldn't work out quickly anyway, because you need a proper shower before and after entering it.
Time passes. Summer comes. Things finally moved with the car, some spare time appears again. Social media — full of people swimming in lakes. You start looking. You try few. Gradually you find the ideal little lake, reminiscent of childhood: swimsuits hanging on a branch, irregular water, no chlorine smell, no crowds, especially on cooler days.
And for me personally, this is a very important moment — the not boring swim. Not like an animal in a cage back and forth, but like an animal in freedom. Birds, trees, and when floating on your back — the sky, clouds, sun.
After such paradise, I simply no longer understand pools. Seriously.
Okay, the dude with fins swimming at slow boat speed annoyed me (so you swear to yourself to reach the same speed, just without fins), and those Poles leaving piles of trash after bonfires, but that's still a minor stuff. And in summer you pick blackberries around, in autumn — mushrooms. Wow.

❄️ Winter & Dips
And then this discovered idyll, euphoria, gets a bone-chilling hit. Autumn comes, and with it the message that you need to move out, of course, not by your own will. Financial situation — total shit (had no time to recover after the car fiasco), so every day is like a battle: with emotions, with awareness, with self-motivation ESPECIALLY.
The weather cools. But the lake is still beautiful. People still come — with safeguard floats, tea, experience. September — great. October — possible. Housing still not there... almost got one flat, but it slipped away. Every cooler day swimming feels like almost proving something heroic:
manliness — yes, not everyone swims at 15°C,
endurance — yes, that's needed now for myself, self-empowerment — also.
November... I got an apartment, moved houses. Gradually found lakes around the new place... continue... Lake water barely reaches 10°C, but I still dip in, because you can't shake off euphoria that easily... even if it's numbed by events. :D
I don't always swim or dive in fully. Sometimes just dip in. But that's more than enough.
​Why? Reasons galore — you can see them in the pictures. I don't want to explain to the bone.

🏊‍♀️ What I Want to Say

• For everyone struggling with mobility — swim.
• For everyone annoyed by gym and pool crowds — go to nature.
• For everyone who likes endurance — do the winter dips. Mood shoots up inevitably.
• For those wanting pleasant time in nature, or fighting depression, or relieving anxiety, or general head chaos — in water, everything disappears.
• For everyone seeking a healthy addiction — be addicted to the touch of water. There's no better hug. Well, unless it's hers.

And also — for all dippers and swimmers, that are crazy about wild water: I see you. You help me. Thank you.

🏊‍♂️ Briefly About the Body

• For those missing a strong inverted triangle — swimming is ideal.
• For those wanting a full-body workout at once — swimming is ideal.
• For those struggling with running, joints, back — swimming suits almost everyone.

No need to become a champion. Enjoying — definitely possible.