Welcome to Newsletter XX

Hi everyone, yeah I know I’m late, I’m sorry. It’s been a busy past few days, although that isn’t the reason why I’ve delayed writing the September edition. I’ve put off writing it because I want it to be perfect and pristine and to encapsulate my thoughts exactly. But it won’t be perfect, it’s gonna have some hiccups. But even deeper than that, I want this newsletter to do justice to my thoughts. And perhaps I haven’t felt ready to sit down with myself just yet.

I’ve been staring at this draft for the past like 25 minutes and can’t figure out what I want to write about. I can’t figure out how to put it in words.

Update: 3ish hours later and I’m back and ready to write.

Who do you love?

Do you love your Mom or your Dad or your sister just because they’re your Mom or your Dad or your sister? I’d imagine the answer is no: you probably love them because of their admirable traits. So then does that mean love is conditional – we have to earn your love? I’d also say the answer is no. I could go months without hearing from some family or friends, yet I’d still have love for them. I believe love need not demand a certain requirement nor reciprocity. We should not have to be anyone other than who we are nor should we have to do any certain thing in order to receive love.

So then how do we decide who we love? Do we just love willy nilly? Does love only mean romantically?

I don’t think so.

Loving someone does not just mean romantically. Loving someone means exactly that: loving someone. It means to adore someone for who they are, to accept them, to find their personality beautiful, to laugh with them, to buy them coffee, to bake for them, to give them advice, to cry with them, to experience life with them.

Laughing at a funny video with your friend, buying your girlfriend flowers, taking your grandparents out for dinner, making fun of your sister, offering up your seat to an older lady, cooking dinner with your parents, partying with strangers, greeting the bus driver, complimenting your neighbor, holding the door open for the person behind you – I believe these are all acts of love. You might think I’m naive or silly or hopelessly romantic, and to that, I’d say, “yes, I am.” What’s wrong with believing that these are all acts of love? By no means am I reducing the weight and meaning of love, I am merely emphasizing that gestures of love do not have to be as grandiose as a marriage proposal. They can be in our daily loves, without us evening knowing it.

To be hopefully and hopelessly in love with anything and everything is to live a full life.

I believe loving someone is a privilege. It is the greatest gift we have the capability to do, yet we view it as a scarcity. We are stingy in giving out and displaying our love with others. We are reserved, shy, and timid creatures – scared of opening up and getting rejected. We are hesitant to remove the mask and reveal our true selves because we too are scared of who we are underneath it. We are worried that we won’t be loved or accepted for who we are, and so, instead of being open to love, we close ourselves off, preventing us from ever receiving the love we deserve, and fulfilling the self-prescribed predilection of our unloveableness.

We can be our own worst enemy.

We only have so many years here. We only have so many days to show someone we love them. We only have so many times to give someone the chance to love us.

And so I say: give them that chance. Don’t close yourself off – don’t deny someone the privilege of loving you. We must open ourselves up to rejection and love ourselves regardless of the outcome. We are here for a reason, and that reason can simply be to love and to be loved by those around us. Our purpose may not be to move mountains or find life on other planets, but perhaps to discover an unlived life within ourselves.

Thank you for listening to me!

As I mentioned, I recently moved to the Czech Republic, and it’s been such an amazing experience so far. I wanted to share some tidbits/random thought pieces:

-People work to live, and once work is over, they enjoy their life
-People are generally less concerned with the “what’s next” and are more focused on the “what’s right now” → more in the present
-Food and drink are excuses to socialize and the key medium for forming friendships
-People here don’t do small talk: they talk or they don’t talk

If you’d like to follow along in my journey here in Zlín, I’d love for you to czech out my Instagram account: @amilinzlin!

You know the drill: everything I write here is something I am actively working on improving and implementing within myself. Writing them out also helps me to visualize what to work on and how to do it. And having you as my audience holds me accountable.

If you have any thoughts, comments, or feedback, please dish it to me! I’d love to know how I can improve. I am glad to have you here on my VasaVita journey.

If you want to talk more about anything I discussed in my newsletters, or want to learn more about VasaVita, check out my website below!

See you next (this) month!

And last but not least, the following growth check!

You all know the drill: in the sprit of transparency and holding myself accountable, I include my audience count here to keep you apprised of my growth. No new subscribers in September unfortunately (but some already in October 👀!!).

Looking forward to ~hopefully~ some more growth this month! If you have any ideas or tips, please do share!