2025 in a nutshell

Having indulged in some well-deserved laziness (with some indispensable breaks for physical exercise), I see no reason in being particularly creative and will rather look back at the passing year, which I believe was rather tough for me.

The first days were marked by the relationship break-up coming into effect. A year past that decision I am strongly convinced it has been the best I could do and despite not being lucky to get involved in a new, reasonable relationship, averting a lifelong misery and living a bit of lonely, yet not lonesome life has been a preferable option.

Dating-wise, I have been confronted with a phenomenon which has been widely described, i.e. women in their 30s considering being a relationship as an option to be chosen only if its benefits outweigh the expense of giving up on their independence. Threshold for mating has been raised tremendously high, with my odds of raising a family drastically(?) decreasing.

Health-wise, my recovery has been sustainable, with some natural minor ups and downs. I do take care of my spine, have a catalogue of dos and don’ts with long sitting being the activity more detrimental than carrying heavy loads. I badly fear the relapse of health crisis involving an awful pain and being bedridden, as I was in September 2024, so each time I feel a pain similar to the one 16 months ago, everything recedes into the background and I focus on exercising several times a day.

2025 was not abundant in travels, for several reasons. I have not flown a plane since October 2023. I have only ventured for nearly a week into Polish mountains and then for a weekend. I miss journeys a bit, as exploring new places and being away from home cleanses mind perfectly. But on the other hand, travelling has become a religion or one of several ways of filling existential void.

Work-wise, after 15 years in banking I have suffered a burnout (it seems I did not bother to commit it to the blog), but despite this, or in attempt to break away from this, I have been promoted. Currently I am finding my way around new duties, however still trying to keep my head above water, rather than comfortably floating on the surface. Hope things shape up over the next months, however my faith will likely be put to the test by the oncoming ownership change (my employer bound to change hands in January).

Politics-wise, in the run-up to the presidential election, I was zealously following the current affairs, hoping for the best, realising the worst was more probable than the polls suggested. My worries have materialised. Although I seemed to have been prepared for Mr Nawrocki’s victory, I needed to get over it. Since then I have been somewhat withdrawn from politics, focusing on other areas of life.

Charity-wise, my sixth stint in Szlachetna Paczka might have been the last one. I have not taken this decision, but give myself half a year to mull over it. If I give up on being a volunteer, I will be confronted with reinventing myself in the last quarter of the year. I will need to focus more on myself and searching for a meaning in life, even if the reality puts paid to my plans and hopes.

In recent days when my mind was slightly turned off, I repeatedly recalled the morning of 7 November 2025 when I got paralysed. There was a moment I feared it could be my last moments alive. I had a lust of for life, but it was more about a survival instinct than realising there were things I would not do if I passed away then. I thought about be parents’ grief, my friends, unfinished things at work and at Szlachetna Paczka. Several weeks after that I realise I need to reach out for more joy in life and take care of myself. And I wish the same to you.

Szlachetna Paczka 2025 before the dust has settled

To be precise, it has not fully settled. One of families under my care stills awaits a sofa bed (delivery delayed), another one I have looked after waits for bedside lamps and a chair assembly which I will do myself. Four families' donators have buggered up and we (volunteers from Ursynów area) will need to fix up money from an "emergency fund" to meet their needs. Yesterday I belatedly purchased and delivered a shower booth for a family I picked up as a donator on 8 December. Well, the Yuletide celebration has not yet commenced.

My sixth edition is the first one when I am not in a relationship. The other person close to me used to be a counterbalance and kept by involvement at bay. This year I had decided to dedicate more energy to Szlachetna Paczka and now feel drained of it, yet not on account if my relationship status, but due to organisational errors made all along.

The recruitment process has been screwed up. Far too many people on managerial positions and as rank-and-file volunteers should have never found themselves in their roles. The absence of black lists (of people with negative feedback from previous editions) has definitely contributed to this.

In the very area of Ursynów we onboarded 64 families to receive aid (vs. previous record of 54) and had around 35 volunteers (10 more than in previous years on average). Quantity of staff has not translated into quality. Although we have had some outstanding newcomers, the number of insufficiently involved (or disappearing along the way) volunteers was appallingly high. Needless to say duties they had undertaken had to be taken over.

In the run-up to the final weekend there has been a massive problem of families not picked by any donators. Volumes could be spoken of reasons why it happened like this, but since there is no proof any of my theories is right, I will keep them for myself. In social media the most common notion was putting it down to some families' sky-high needs, which even if justified, are hard to be fulfilled by ordinary people (may a costly leaking roof repair serve as an example).

No reliable statistics will show how many Paczkas (neither "box" nor "parcel" renders well what a Paczka in Szlachetna context is) have eventually been prepared by the volunteers and their companions. In Ursynów area 4 out of 64 families have been picked by us. Additional time and money spent on saving families from being left out in the cold are the biggest cost hidden in joyful celebration of the recent edition.

I would hazard a guess Szlachetna Paczka is one of the most demanding forms of volunteering which can be taken up in Poland. It is not just about coping with horrific stories of o people's penury, but also about time dedicated to do it properly and having to arrange a lot on one's, frequently making extensive use of one's multiple resources.

I believe past this edition Szlachetna Paczka's relationship with donators and volunteers will be under strain and lots of effort will have to be put to rebuild them.

Will Stowarzyszenie Wiosna face criticism it ought receive? Each year it seems those in charge of the initiative are learning from mistakes made in a previous years. But once a new edition kicks off for good, it turns out history repeats itself, but the price paid by the most responsible volunteers goes up.

Early December snaps

More than preoccupied with overload at work and Szlachetna Paczka, hence not feeling like writing up a lofty essay. Instead – some snaps from the neighbourhood, taken on my way to my parents and back, by bike, yesterday.

The old house (being a remnant of the bygone Moczydło village), whose dwellers used a portable toilet put up on a backyard, is no longer inhabited. The plot of land parallel to ul. Moczydłowska most likely has been sold. I wonder if the buyer will be intent to erect here a row of terraced houses, each priced at zillions.

Ul. Leśna connecting ul. Moczydłowska to ul. Puławska is nearly empty. Despite warm, autumnal weather (+7C today, but windy), the forest was anything, but full of walkers, cyclists, nor runners.

Birch trees are the last to shed leaves. The one snapped still retained leftovers of its yellow dressing. If winds continue to blow as strongly as today, by the end of the first decade of December all leaves will be on the ground.

Fancy buying a Christmas Tree? In several spots you can already do so. I am not fond of starting celebrations early and prefer to kick off the festive season as the old tradition proscribes, i.e. on 24 December. People with small children, however, tend to decorate the Christmas trees in early December to create the atmosphere indoors. Outdoors it does not feel like Christmas at all. Judging by long-term forecasts, December 2025 stands a chance to the warmest since records began in Warsaw.

Close to my parents’ house, in Mysiadło, I come across a little flooding which makes ul. Łabędzia impassable for motor vehicles. It brings to mind the effect of downpours in early June 2010 when this very spot was under water too.

The street is waterlogged, I make it by bike, but water slightly plays havoc with brakes. This looks like waterworks breakdown. Fortunately, at my parents’ the water supply was not cut off.

On my way home I stopped over to snap the intersection of ul. Puławska and ul. Jagielska being rebuilt. Local newspapers say ul. Jagielska will be connected to the Piaseczno-bound lanes of ul. Puławska and a new set of traffic lights will be put up here. Not feeling sorry for drivers wasting their lives in traffic jams here.

Not a new post in a week, as Szlachetna Paczka final weekend is due.