Welcome to Newsletter Taylor Swift (22)

Good evening! It is December 1, 2025, 11:14pm here in Zlín. I can’t believe November is already over. Time is flying by.

I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving! I really enjoyed my Thanksgiving weekend – I didn’t celebrate on Thanksgiving Day itself, but on Friday, we had a Fulbright Thanksgiving meet-up and it was very lovely to see all my fellow ETAs and discuss how our experiences are going so far.

Before I left for the Thanksgiving weekend, I was thinking about what I wanted to write in this month’s newsletter, but instead of coming up with topic ideas, I came up with something different. Pictures.

I view this newsletter as my journal: my outlet for thought dumping. Its public-facing format intentionally holds me accountable for my output, but also, and hopefully primarily, serves as a nexus between you and I. It is a place where I pull back the mask and show you who I really am, the thoughts I have, and the feelings I experience. I’ve tried what I believe to be unique and fun ways to make this newsletter more dynamic, such as personal shout-outs, communal discussion forums, and turning on comments.

This leads me to my point: I have a proposal. A CTA for you.

One thing I have not yet done is add pictures of my daily life to this newsletter. And so, I will start. I’ll include pictures from the past month in each newsletter, to further invite you into my life’s crevices (peep the bottom of the email). And I invite you to respond and not only share your thoughts – as some of you always do, for which I am extremely grateful – but also to share some pictures with me from this month! Maybe something beautiful you saw, maybe an accomplishment you achieved, maybe a moment of you smiling, maybe a picture of your friend where you think they are glowing, maybe a moment of tearful nostalgia. And if you like, I would love to even share them anonymously in my future newsletters, creating a mosaic of my audience that highlights the beauty and intricacies of you all.

Hope to see your pictures!

Side note: I fell asleep trying to write. It’s now December 2, 8:49am.

Is Gratitude Forced?

One of my students last week told me she didn’t understand Thanksgiving in the United States. She said it is weird and feels forced to have to sit around a table and share what/who you are grateful for. She said, “Here in Czech, we just show it. We don’t have to say it.”

And this was quite interesting to me. Because I agree with her in one way, but disagree in another.

I get her point. From an international perspective, needing a specific day just to break away from the corporate doldrums and actually acknowledge who and what we are thankful for does seem like an inorganic – and perhaps disheartening – concept. Are we that detached that we need the physical reminder every year to take inventory of who and what we have? I personally don’t think so, but I understand where she’s coming from.

But on the other hand, I think Thanksgiving is a refreshing idea.

In my nascent 25.92 years of life, one thing I have learned from observing those around me in several different settings (in public, at a bar, in the classroom, on the basketball court, at the coffee shop, in the library, crossing the street, in a job interview, etc.) is that (generalization incoming) humans are reserved creatures. Deep down, we all seek social interaction and a sense of belonging, but when it comes to actually fighting for it, demanding it, seeking it, we become reclusive. We put up walls. Because we do not want to be looked at as vulnerable. We would rather stew in self-loathing silence than verbally admit our desire to connect and belong.

Being vulnerable is such a powerful thing. The notion of putting one’s self out there, giving a compliment, expressing an insecurity, lending a hand, expressing gratitude or appreciation, I believe (again, generally) has been viewed as vulnerable, which generally gets associated with negatively charged sentiments like being alone, weak, and frail. 

I believe, however, that it should be associated with words like strong, powerful, and bold. Being vulnerable is being brave. In a world where everyone has their walls up, hates making the first move (not talking about romantic context here, but I guess it does apply here too), and cringes at the subtle inkling of a compliment, being vulnerable and expressing gratitude should be seen as breaking away from the norm. As standing up in a packed auditorium of a sitting, quiet, reserved audience. As swimming away from the current.

And so, back to my original point, this is why I truly believe in the notion of Thanksgiving. Us humans, and particularly those of us in/from America, have been force-fed the “glorious” idea of work, eat, sleep, repeat, and I believe this holiday reminds us all that we are more than just cogs in a machine. It serves as light at the end of a tunnel, and wakes us up from our normal cadence and reminds us to look around.

I believe we, and not just Americans, need holidays like Thanksgiving. In a world where we have all become conditioned to buttoning ourselves up all the way to our foreheads, having a day carved out specifically for letting other people in to our colorful, intricate, and chaotic lives and minds, while it may be forced, is beautifully refreshing. It is exactly what we need. It reminds us that we were not just born to live our own lives, but to inspire others to live theirs. And this segues into my next point.

The Price of Being Alive

One thing I vehemently disagree with is the notion that “you don’t owe anyone anything.” I think this is all kinds of wrong. By accepting the title of human and being a part of the human race, I believe we inherently accept the responsibility of not just living our lives to the fullest, but also helping others do the same.

Part of letting people into your life is accepting the fact that they at some point in time will disappoint you, you at some point in time will disappoint them, and that you will have to do some things for them that you find inconvenient because it is for them.

We shouldn’t have to log actions of care and affection on a ledger. We shouldn’t be keeping score. Yet, I think friendship, companionship, relationships have become quite transactional nowadays: “I am not going to help this person out because I don’t think they’d help me out,” “Why should I care about this person? They wouldn’t care if I was in their situation?”

Why does it have to be so conditional? If we know someone is not as generous or giving as us, and then we willingly stoop down to their level just to “get even,” does that make us any better than them?

As humans, I believe we have the irremovable responsibility of taking care of those around us. The onus is on us to uplift each other, thank each other, let each other in, extend out a helping hand. Whether the other person accepts it or does the same for us is up to them – we cannot control their actions – but at the very least, we can operate and live knowing that we are fulfilling a purpose.

We should give more than we take. Produce more than we consume.

Generosity has a domino effect – the more people people are kind to, the more people those people are kind to. And coincidentally, the kinder we are to ourselves.

Thank you for listening to me!
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 year!

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. We got 1 new joiner in November! Let’s finish out 2025 strong!

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