Off to Sweden

"So you are not spending Christmas nor the New Year´s at home!?!" 

This is a sentence I have been hearing most frequently when people would ask me...mostly out of politeness than from actually wanting to know. I would hear this sentence and a rich amount of disbelief. Possibly the sentence they wanted to ask next, but swallowed instead was: "what are you...crazy?!"

No...actually there is nothing wrong with me...I think.

Only that, I feel ready for an adventure. Last year I got to spend the Christmas Eve in Germany and the New Year´s Eve in Switzerland it was quite something.

And so, when thinking about what to do this year I realised I have outgrown the good old stay home Christmas. When figuring out where to go I was consulting both my dreams and my financial budget. Eventually, I found a match. I am going to Sweden.

Ok, Sweden is a pretty dear country you might argue, but the truth is the flight tickets were rather cheap. :)

Anyhow, Sweden has been my dream country since my childhood. In fact, the very first book I ever read on my own was The Six Bullerby Children by a Swedish author Astrid Lindgren. Before Harry Potter (before I was 11) that was my favourite book that I would go back to on regular basis. This book got me all interested in the country where is seems like everyone goes by the name of Sven, Karl, Lasse or Lisa.

And yes, I already know what my presents are. We opened them few days ago. We - as in my family. The presents we awesome, turns out they are finally starting to get to know me. The cup is actually made out of bamboo fiber and corn powder, but is dishwasher proof and 100% degradable. The bottle is both for hot and cold drinks, is dishwasher proof and fully recyclable.
Conclusion? Well done family :) I love them!

So, I am not crazy by not wanting to spend Christmas with my family. 

I am off to Sweden because I want to get to know how other culture understands this event, what traditions surround those dates and how do people celebrate.

With a bit of luck I will make my way up to Lapland and with a little bit more luck I might get to see the Northern lights. Fingers crossed.

And you know what...not sure yet, but I might make it into my life mission.

How thrilling would it be to spend Christmas in different countries each year?

A marriage or...not so much?

As my friends, of the same age as I am, start getting married or even having children I cannot help reflecting on what does the concept of marriage mean for me.

I will try to be completely frank. 

I think for a long time, I have lived in a strange bubble with opinions that have been pre-made for me and that I happily called mine.
But they were not.
I was either adopting them from my parents, who are extremely fortunate to have a true fairy-tale marriage, or from Disney (or simply other kinds of media).

However, I realised, I need to strip myself from them and find out what mine and true opinion is.

 >and I am not saying that it is not going to develop and maybe even change, because it likely will, but this is where I stand now<

Before I do that though I want to get into what the pre-made opinions are, name them and swipe them away for what ever the reason.

Firstly, I think there is a hell lot of cliches and misconceptions floating around the concept of marriage.

To a large extend I have been influenced by my family, society and culture.

In the family, society and culture that I grew up with a marriage was (at least if you were born a girl) something to strive for, as in ultimate goal in your life ensuring stability and happiness.
If you try to question it, here goes a "feminist label" right there. Wait. Let me stick it to your forehead so that the men with small balls run away while they can and later make hater comments.

Think for a minute...Isn´t it the biggest pretense ever?
 I mean...there has always been this ritual of two people getting together and acknowledging their belonging with each other with a celebration. But when did that become the very ultimate goal ensuring universal happiness?

Secondly...let´s think for a bit about what do really fairy-tales and cartoons that we grow up with teach us. The story usually ends with two people getting married and saying then that they lived happily ever after.
Two questions there.
So they had to get married in order to live happily, weren´t they able to be happy before that?
 So...are we suggesting that marriage the ultimate happiness to strive for even in a EU society where half of the marriages ends up in a divorce?
>and don´t get me wrong here, I am not advocating for bringing the issue of a divorce in the fairy-tale<

Nevertheless, I dare say that this creates a false picture about the goals to reach for yourself, relationships, weddings and the marriages itself.

Thirdly, what just really bugs me about the marriage is that people let themselves be manipulated into expecting that it will be the best day of their lives.
The thing is, that it probably won´t.
The expectations are too high, many things (can) go wrong, the adrenalin and nerves are kicking in...and people often describe it as being in sort of a vacuum unable to recall details.
I think it is not the day that shall be standing out, it is the mutual relationship that shall be cherished and just not that one day, but all the days. Not this one day should be the best day of your life, it can be just any day or days.

"He finally asked her to marry him"

The other day, I overheard a conversation of two women in the gym and it went something like this: "so she finally had her way and he proposed".

 This somewhat common belief that women want to get married and men are supposed to be the ones to propose just enhances stereotypes in the society. 

Is it just me or did it really sound more like "so he finally gave up and submitted to the hers and societal expectations"? 

I am not being a radical feminist here, I am saying, there should not be any rules spoken or unspoken as to what each gender should do or expect. 

Finally...

I think that I would like to get married one day.
To me it should not be about the dress, the cake and it will probably not be "the best day of my life" (as people like to say so terribly often). To me it would be a celebration of two people who wish to belong with each other ... until they don´t. 

Don´t make a mistake...I am not saying "belonging to someone", I am saying "belonging with someone".

I am not a religious person, I don´t think that there is a need to be married in a special kind of building (besides, God should be everywhere anyway so...), but if that´s what floats people´s boats, then why not. 

Oh and by the way...

Yes, the wedding day can be the best day of your life. 

But, don´t set this for yourself as if you want it to be the best day of your life.
Maybe your first date was.
Or maybe it was that Sunday in mid-April when you went to the park and the first proper sunshine was warming up your faces.
Or maybe you are living your best day just now.

Don´t set yourself for false expectations for "the big day"...or don´t let marriage be the ultimate goal in your life.

A take home message?
Do not submit into buying what media sets for you to strive for.

If you do, don´t be disappointed if it does not work out...because it was almost designed not to. 

And a bonus!

Here is how a marriage looks like in 

matriarchal societies.

>notice specifically the proposal, inheretance and divorce issues<

Rise and shine little star!

When I was a kid...I might have been a slightly unusual one.

I never really much enjoyed playing with toys (or children of my age), I rather wanted to be involved with and understand the adult world ASAP. 

I might have comprehended few things earlier than it is usual and people in my surrounding also discovered that I have a pretty strong and photographic memory.

I don´t think that I possess a special talent, but I did somehow ended up hearing sentences like "I know that you are going to be someone one day" (seriously, does this even make sence?), "we are expecting big things from you, you know" or "I can´t wait till the time proves what is in you" (yeah, let´s hope that at least one of us lives by then).

Now that after 16 years I decided to be done with studying (at least for some time), people are gathering around me like hungry wolves around their pray. 

They are expecting me to RISE AND SHINE and prove their initial thoughts.

Everyone is so bloody ready for me to be successful and excellent.

You know what? 

I know that you want the best for me, cheers for that, but checking on me every day if I am rising and beginning to shine is exhausting! 

I think I know what I might want for myself in the future - I want to teach media literacy, I want people to use media as a tool and not become slaves to it. 

That´s the idea, but there might be a bit of road to it. 

When it comes to making it come true, there are few things in a way...such as me not having a teaching qualification or almost non-existant master studies (except New Zealand, where the tuition itself is way beyond what we´d be able to pay) that would offer this specialisation.

So dear grandma, parents, friends and supporters...bare with me a little longer. 

I do have few things (except travelling the world of course) to figure out as you can see.

And...It might just take me a wee while to find my place in the galaxy. 

>if in the meatime you bring a temting job offer, I shall consider that<  :)

Your facebook profile picture

Based on a conversation that I had with my friend Lexie the other day, 

I decided to write down what I think your profile picture means. 

Feel free to disagree. :)

Also...so that you would not think that I am a hater, I added some of my old and ridiculous profile pictures so that you can have a laugh.

A selfie means:

Hey, I just learned how to take a selfie, hope I am doing it right.

A picture with an expensive looking car means:

Hell no, that Lamborghini is not mine; I can hardly afford a bike. But my friend Steve told me that chicks will be all over me once they see this. Yeah…he is still single, not sure why.

A black and white picture means:

I am so artsy!

I was sunburnt but liked that pic anyway, so I just put it in black and white (smart or what?).

A picture with weird colours means:

Hey, I am a teenager.

Hey, I just discovered that you can play with the colours.

Hey, I am a teenager and I just discovered that you can play with the colours.

A picture with your partner means:

I am sooo in love and I need the online world to know it. 

Also, that guy/girl is taken, so you and your innocent smile better watch out.

A picture of you and your pet means:

I just broke up, but hey there is still a living and breathing thing that I can cuddle with.

I just got a new pet, you likey?

A picture of you and your new hair means:

A guy / girl just broke up with me.

I really needed a change.

A guy / girl just broke up with me and I needed a change.

A swopped profile picture means:

Haha, I am so funny, I am using my best friend´s picture as my profile picture…best friends foreveeeer!

A picture that does not show your face means:

I don´t believe in showing my face on facebook, get over it!

I don´t believe in showing my face on facebook, NSA and all that Jazz, you know? And my real name is also not John Doe, in case you were wondering.

A picture of you I smart clothes means:

I am getting serious about my career, so this is me looking decent and smart, forget about the drunk pictures, I am all about business and money these days.

A picture of you with alcohol means:

I just turned 18 and can legally drink.

A picture of you outdoors means:

Gosh, I am so outdoorsy you would not believe. When is the next hike?

A picture of you next to a wax figure means:

I will probably never meet this person, but hey...there is an extremely cool picture of me and piece of wax in covered in clothes.

A picture of you and some African/Indian kids means:

Those kids will probably never hear of internet, but let me take a picture with my newest Iphone.

A picture of you with other people means:

Gosh, I have so many friends.

Gosh, I am so popular.

A picture of you in your sunglasses means:

I could not be bothered to put on makeup today.

Check out my funky sunglasses.

I am a celebrity.

A picture of you infront of a well-known place means:

I am in Paris / Stonehenge, so let me take a picture. 

A crazy picture of you means:

I am not pretty enough to have a pretty profile picture so I decided to go with crazy instead.

A picture of a celebrity means:

This is my celebrity lookalike, see?...What do you mean I look nothing like him!? I totally look like Brad Pitt!

A painting means:

I suffer from a lack of recent photos of me. 

I am turning into an expert in art, see, I even know van Gogh!

People you meet in the park

I go running almost every day.

Not so long ago, I have realised that sometimes there are people that make your time outside less enjoyable.

For the record, I am aware of the fact the I am not the queen of the castle (the park is not mine and mine only), but those kinds of people can just make it slightly (or slightly more) difficult to share the place for that hour or two per day for me.

1. The observer

This guy (I am not sexist, I just have not seen a woman doing that so far) sits on a bench in the park, puts the roller skates (never used, I could swear on whatever you´d make me swear on) next to him. 

He places his decent beer belly comfortably on his legs (if you are "lucky", he´ll also be shirt-less), wears a creepy smile and x-rays every moving body passing by.

2. Mr. and Mrs. Hello, I am training for the Olympics

This person thinks s/he is the centre of the universe. That means that if s/he is just a split second faster than you that the line or track is his or hers and you better automatically jump out of the way as soon as possible!

3. The dogwalker

So an incident that happened to me just the other day during my morning run. 

This tiny annoying dog keps running after me and trying really hard to separate a piece of flesh from my leg.

And yet I always thought that this is a no-brainer ... if my dog ignores my command, I have him/her on a leash. 

Well, apparently that is not how the majority of Czech people thinks. 

I am sorry to say this, I don´t care how cute you think your dog is, I´d like to keep my Achiles tendons attached for a little while longer, thank you very much.

4. The dating people

You have probably seen them before...in fact you can tell the by the first look.

They are the couples on their first, second and/or third dates.

The ones that are being all shy and awkward about each other with all that chemistry in the air, braving the new world of holding hands, stroking each others faces and running fingers through each others hair.

Well, as romantic as the idea of it sounds (and believe me, I don´t mean to sound bitter) they make you feel like a party crasher, the third wheel. 

So...you as are passing by, you are thinking "how shall I act"? 

Shall I try to put on an encouraging smile with a hidden message "you keep doing what you´re doing, I´ll just roll away quietly while staring on the ground" kind of thing? 

From my experience...don´t put on the smile (there is a danger that you might end up looking like a creep)...just pretend like you are not there and they aren´t either. 

Just don´t try to run too fast, you might find yourself out of breath behind the nearest corner, having to stop to catch it. All you are likely to catch is just another couple that you´ll have to pass by while gasping for some air to fill your lungs (yep, had that happening to me too).  

5. The peeing person

This is not a jealous me talking (in a sense that women do not have it that easy), but am I the only one thinking that it is just not ok if a guy has to go, all he has to do is to take out his equipment and pee on the nearest tree?! 

Hello! I don´t want to see any of this! 

There actually is a restaurant in the middle of the park and I am pretty sure it includes a toilet, a very clever human invention that has been used for centuries now to keep things like this private.

6. Mr. and Mrs. I Work Out

There are actually two kinds of those people - those people most likely posess some slightly unusual skating skills or or those working out and posessing a trained body that they are dying for others to see. 

A message to the show off people? 

Please don´t try to impress everyone too much - you are most likely making everyone feeling awkward for you and also you are likely going to hurt yourself. Yes, I have had that happening to me and I was not trained for the first aid at that time and I do tend to feel dizzy if not faint when I see blood...so no...don´t do this to other people, they might not be qualified enough to rescue you.

A message to the "perfect" body people? 

I am sure you like to spend hours and hours of sweating to seemingly make yourself look better, but have you by any chance considered that those muscles ( yes, I probably checked them out, since you are not wearing a t-shirt wanting others to check you out) might not be much of a help in the freezing weather that you still decided to be shirtless (no matter the weather, whatsoever). Ok, forget the abs, just put some clothes on please, I feel cold for you and I don´t want to. 

7. The weirdo

If you are like me and might not always enjoy meeting other people (especially those above mentiones) and just feel like having some time alone, you might choose to walk/run on the less popular paths of the park. By the less popular, I mean...you might need to walk/ run through some darker and sheltered places. 

Beware though, in those places you are very likely to meet people you would not like to meet anywhere. Yes, they might be harmless and that striking smell of alcohol and and outfit that was dirty and full of wholes last year might just mean a set of unfortunate circumstances, but still you might have these voices of the people that care for you ringing in your head "don´t go in the dark places, dear, you never know what kind of a weirdo you are going to meet and what can happen to you". (Thanks, mum, for your upbringing and turning me into an extra-paranoid individual :) )

8. Mr. and Mrs. I just bought this perfume, you likey?

Don´t get me wrong, I do appreciate the fact that it finally seems like Czech people discovered deodorants this summer (was about the bloody time!), but they also started flirting with perfumes.

Not always successfully one might add. 

Passing those people makes you feel like you are walking through the airport duty free shop for another 10 metres...and I was hoping to breath some fresh air outside. 

8 things about Czech people

If a person you know happens to be Czech or if that Czech happens to be your friend, you should know this, before creating a value judgement.

You might often get the impression that Czechs can be reserved and cold. But it doesn´t mean that we don´t like you...because we most-likely do...we just have a few issues.

The truth is that...

We are passionate people. We can love deeply, hate deeply, enjoy our food or drinks a lot and have fun a lot. 

But we might not necessarily tell you about it...and you might have a difficult time telling it too.

And ... It´s not like we can´t or don´t feel or that our hearts are made of ice either.

A bit of history to help you understand...

We might have a slightly difficult time trusting people, not just foreign people. 

People in general. 

In the past few centuries we would be persecuted for believing in different religions and eventually that became a highly private thing.

During the communist times, we would be growing up and living in a society, where people would be instructed to spy and report on each other. Or we would be pressured to do so ourselves. 

People grew up with a mindset of not trusting anyone and not sharing with anyone. Not even kids would be invited for birthday parties to each others flats. 

"What if that kid sees/hears something in our flat and will tell on us."

Now that we luckily don´t live in such environment anymore, we have not fully recovered from the conditions that we have surrouded ourselves in order to protect ourselves and our families.

That does not mean that we are cold, reserved and/or that we don´t trust you.

We haven´t yet realised that we can let go.

So...Forgive us and help us know better!

Here is a list of things that we do...or don´t do:

1. Personal zones

If we stand 1,5 meters from you when we speak, it does not mean that you or we stink.

I guess we have a greater personal distance zone than you might see in other nations. We don´t need to be in your face when we speak. We also don´t need you to be in our faces either...just saying.

2. We can be suspicious when you offer us free food

Bad things can happen to us, you know? That is what our mums always told us.

Seriously...even my mum told me, not to take anything from other kids. So when in first grade my friend offered me a chocolate Easter egg, I said: "Thank you, but I am not hungry" and then watched another girl eating it.

3. We don´t share our food

"What? There is such a thing as sharing? But I paid for it!!!"
or
 "Germs, germs...Are you feeling ok? Cause I don´t want to get sick."
Again, no hard feelings, we would love to share, but we just don´t know it yet. 

Also, we grew up with our mums telling us, that we are surrouded with a world full of nasty germs that people spread.

4. We don´t hug

We are not big huggers.
We grew up not being hugged.
 We don´t hug our family much neither we hug our friends. 

Once, right after I came back after 5 months in England and tried hugging my best friend, because I forgot that is not what we Central Europeans do. And well, that didn´t go well...rather awkward if you ask me...or her.

If you are confused about us not trying to make a first step for hugging you, it´s not that we don´t like you or are unhappy that we see you.
We simply don´t know any better, so teach us.

5. We don´t kiss the same sex people 

>unless they are our family, or we feel attracted to them<

Ok...possibly the biggest cultural shock I ever had was when I was 13. We went for an exchange trip to Denmark and got confronted with the way people in my age behaved there. I was speechless. I thought that Denmark was full of gays and lesbians.

We just don´t do it, feels weird for us.

6. We don´t say "I love you" to our family or friends

Honestly...even our parents don´t say this to us. This phrase does not work in the Czech language when expressing positive feelings to our relatives or friends.
That is why you won´t hear it from us in English either. Because we are not used to it and it sounds really odd to us.

This phrase to us is something that couples share, when have only the true and deep feelings for each other. 

If you say this to us in a friendly way, expect that we will suspect that you are likely after something or thinking that you must have misinterpreted the signs. 

>Agan...It´s not like we don´t feel it, but we don´t have a way of expressing it<

7. If you met our family / partner / boyfriend / girlfriend, consider yourself lucky

We talk about our beloved ones a lot. We can share worries and gossip, but that´s about it. You will probably never meet those people.
Not that we would have a specific reason for it and we would not like you to.

But...ehmm...it just somehow doesn´t occur to us.

8. We have hard time saying "I am fine"

If someone asks us how we are, the first things that come our minds are the negative ones. Instead of casual "I am fine" you might find yourself listening to a 30-minute confession of a mildly depressed person that you haven´t been interested in that much in the first place you we just trying to be polite,  right?
 Well, prepare yourself to listening to a story how we slipped on ice, how we wish it was summer already, but than that we infact don´t enjoy summer that much, because you have flies flying around and ticks in the woods.

I am pretty sure that even if we won a lottery, we would not be able to say "I am fine".

There are exceptions of course! 

You do meet a lot of people that contradict what you just read, but I dare say that most-likely they are young and on top of that lived some time abroad.

Are we not ready just yet?

A young Brittish soul singer Sam Smith recently won 4 Grammy Awards with his album  "In Lonely Hour" that came out last year.

>by the way he is a year younger than me and wins 4 Grammys...hmmm, what have I achieved in my life so far? ....just saying<

Anyway, during his speech he thanked the man who broke his heart and inspired the songs on his album.

He thanked a man, not a woman.

Those songs are about a heart broken man, who is being cheated on and still missing the other person.

To be honest, they are quite easy to relate to. 

At some point of our lives, we were and possibly will be brokenhearted and Smith has a pretty accurate way of putting it into a song.

I personally really like them.

But that´s not the point. 

Let´s focus on a different issue.

The point is that the song is written and sang by a man who is trying to fall out of love with another man. 

Yet, in none of those music video do we get to see a same-sex relationship.

There is always a heterosexual couple dealing with the issues the singer sings about and possibly went through.

Now...why is that?

Why is it that we don´t see a homosexual couple?

Did the marketing people did a research on what do people prefer to see in the clips so that it would make the most money?

Is the music industry standardising the images confirm to the stereotyped gender roles?

Is it because a homosexual relationships in music clips are a tabboo?

Or is it because as a society we are just not ready yet to see a music video of a same-sex couple?

We have actors openly stating their homosexuality such as Jodie Foster, Ian McKellen or Ellen Page.

Singers like Elton John, Mika and Sam Smith.

Award-winning films about homosexual relationship like "Blue is the warmest colour".

Why then, do we see heterosexual couples in Sam Smith´s songs?

Is it just me, or does it really not make sense?

Unexpected beauties

It is a choice.

You either choose to be worried or you choose to dream, romanticise and appreciate.

When the dreamer in me takes over and shuts off the worries, I see how amazing life is.

I see infite beauty in the smallest things.

When I see them, the time freezes and I am I just watch and marvel.

Here are few examples:

The flight of a bird

The clothes on a washing line

The sun shining through the leaves

The sunshine sparkling and reflecting on a snow

People´s hands

>Leonardo da Vinci - Creation of Adam, Study of hands<

 Since I was small, I love to look at people´s hand. 

They tell you a lot about a person. 

You can see how old they are, what profession they might do, how do they value their hand. 

A smile

"This rather "unexpected"", you might think.

Well, it is almost a cliché now to say that a smile is pretty.

But to me...a smile on a person is something incredible. 

I used go to high school with one girl who would always be smiling. Not sure if if was just her usual expression or she has always been so happy. 

Regardless, meeting her randomly and seeing her smiling always made my day.

There is a real beauty in one´s smile...so let´s smile more.

How eating healthy food starting floating my boat

So...I have never really payed THAT much attention to what I was eating.

I mean avoiding even traces of (/ may contain) gluten just seemed like bloody enough to me.

Of course...like almost all the girls (sadly) I have had issues with accepting how my body looks like as well as the number I saw on the scales.
And like all of us girls...I have been through a process of on and off dieting since I was about 12.

I have always felt fat...never slim or even "ok".
Regardless of how slim or fat I actually was. I have always felt the need to compare myself to others and if I felt fatter I would skip a meal or started obsessively exercising.
None of that worked in a long term of course.
Eventually, I got over teenage years and stopped worrying too much about my body or the food.

However, I changed and realised I need to pay a bit more attention to what I eat after all.

So what changed me?
My grandpa died quite ahead of his time last April from a combination of illnesses.

>that is me with him during Easter, when I was about 4<

In the middle of the grief I realised one important thing...some of those illnesses could have been prevented or managed better when eating better and exercising more.

When I was small my grandpa always used to tell me "Julinko, enjoy that you are still a child while you can".
I never ever understood this sentence when there was nothing I wanted so badly as to be a grown up.
The world of grown ups seemed so exciting and I often felt lost as a child.

But, when my grandpa died, that was the time when I actually felt lost for real.

I could not wrap my mind around the fact that I won´t be able to see him, 

to see the little devils in his eyes, 

to see his huge hands, 

to cut his hair, 

to talk to him about the Second World War or 

to hear him laugh.

All sorts of thoughts were consuming my mind.

Why did he have to die?

Could the doctors have done something differently to save him?

Could I have done something?

Why so early?

It changed me...It hit me...It hit me that life is bloody short.

Because, it seemed like yesterday since my grandpa was telling me with his mysterious smile to enjoy the childhood years.
 Now...as one song goes "the keys to childhood are forever lost". As I can´t be a carefree child (although I actually think I never was...a worrier in me started developing pretty early)... I want to make sure that I enjoy the time that I have and I don´t want to shorten it.

To me...life is beautiful. I love every minute and I want to live full life.

That was how I decided to care home about the food that I eat.

I stopped buying processed food, cut off simple sugars, eat loads of organic vegetables and fruits, avoid meat if I can.
And...I don´t eat junk food and don´t miss it.

We have said our goodbyes with my ex-favourite Kinder chocolate and moved on.
Once I started thinking about junk food as harmful and, if taking to an extreme, life-shortening I stopped having sweet-tooth and chocolate cravings.

Not to forget...I am trying to live a greener life too. I reduced the amount of meat that I eat, try to buy local food, stopped consuming products with palm oil and I try to avoid products in plastic packaging.

I do feel better, physically and mentally. Food gives me energy and does not make me tired anymore. By supporting local farmers I feel good about myself too.

If it was not for loosing my grandpa who knows how long would it take me to realise how important is what you eat.

If I may try to advice you something...don´t wait so long. Don´t buy that hamburger, buy food at farmer´s markets, start cooking or living a greener life.

A wee tip for you:
This girl was able to manage her illness - Postural Tachycardia Syndrome - accompanied with chronic pain and heart palpitations by applying the holitic approach to her life.
She started to care more about what she was eating and started cooking more healthily.
Not only she manages her illness, but also cooks amazing and witty recipies from organic food.
She is a real inspiration to me.

On Organ Donation

5 years ago I have been volunteering on a workcamp in Berlin.
 At that time there was this huge organ donation campaign going on. It was on the posters all over the city.

I did not really give this topic any thoughts before as, luckily, I did not need to.

But being so repetitively exposed to this campaign for 3 weeks, I could not help thinking about it.

Shall I register myself to be an organ and tissue donor?

Is it a right thing to do?

Wouldn´t it be the most amazing thing to do, to be actually able to improve quality or save life or lives of other people with the body that you cannot have no longer any control of?

Shall I think about it this another way of recycling?

The more I think about it...there is a sentence that keeps ringing in my head.

6 years ago during a class devoted to genetics my biology teacher Mr. Turnovský said that by being able to cure people with deadly illnesses and saving babies weighing less than 1 kilo at birth

we are actually - if taken to an extreme - lowering the quality of our genes. 

In another words, he claimed that by going against the Darwin´s theory this way, the humankind digs itself a hole.

Noone really talks about this issue openly, but look at us...we are developing more and more allergies every year, babies are born with lowered immunity systems and we seem to be more prone to illnesses overall.

Should the question sound "Do I save few people´s lives or do I prefer - in a way - saving the humankind?"

Now, here is a confession about something, that very few of you know so far.

My immunity system has been so badly damaged by me consuming gluten for 13 years

>yes it took them 13 bloody years of me being constantly sick till they found out<

that without medication I would have zero immunity.

Not low immunity, zero.

I am dependant on a medicine that is being created from blood plasma that is being donated by people.

Yesterday, I actually even found out that I cannot travel to a destination where I need to be vaccinated beforehand, as my body is unable to develop antibodies.

Would that be making me a hypocrite, then? I have been receiving, but I wouldn´t want to give?

Tell me what you think.