Blood Donation

I went for blood donation today after not having done so for over a year. I've always been a frequent donor. I just kind of stopped after they wouldn't take my RBC for a year because I travelled to Yunnan. Today was my first time donating blood on a close-to-empty stomach after a whole day. I was feeling a bit sadistic today so I thought I could find out if I would faint.

To me, donating blood has always meant more than just giving blood. My first time donating blood signified my real independence. I was in high school and I wanted to give blood, although none of my friends wanted to. To get to the blood donating centre, I had to take the bus, then the subway, and get to Union Station, which is the station farthest south. I had never travelled that far on my own before, let alone not even knowing where exactly the donation centre was. One day I got pretty depressed, and I thought to myself, I'm not going to wait for people to do things with me again. If there's something I want to do and I can't find someone to do it with, then I'll just do it on my own. This is how my solitude was shaped.

Ever since, whenever I felt depressed, I'd donate blood. Donating blood makes me feel better about myself because I know I have to be doing something good and constructive. It's the simplest and easiest way to help somebody in need. Saving some lives makes me feel more certain about myself. Donating blood has simply become a habit to me. I should probably be signing up as a bone marrow donor very soon too.