Leave A Compliment
A friend commented that “The internet makes it so easy to be cruel.”
She’s right.
But it also makes it so easy to be kind.
It takes less than a minute to leave a comment on a post, telling a friend the photo they posted (and was clearly proud of) is beautiful or the poem they shared speaks to our soul or the dinner they made looked delicious.
That compliment will change at least one life, make someone’s world a little bit better, a little bit happier.
And isn’t that an amazing power to have, my friends?
Topics: Cyn-Sights | Comments Off on Leave A Compliment
Write Like No One Is Reading
Professional writers usually have a reader (representing a group of readers) in mind when we’re crafting our stories. We live off the earnings from our stories. There has to be a market for them.
This is a bit…restricting. Our characters can’t do or say or think this or that or the reader will put down the story.
My best writing, however, often happens when I write like no one, except myself, will ever read my stories.
That’s how Releasing Rage happened. I wrote that cyborg romance for myself.
And that is what I’m doing with the Super Secret Project. I’m writing it for myself.
If other readers love it and there’s a market for it, great. I’ll be happy the Super Secret Project makes them happy.
(And the Dear Wonderful Hubby will be happy to have the funds for exciting things like…food. – grins)
But it is being written like no one else will ever read it, without this mythical reader’s preferences in my head.
And it has been SO MUCH FUN.
If you can afford the time (and the loss of income), writing buddies, consider writing something (a novel, a short story, a line) purely for yourself.
This might give you joy also.
(smiles)
Topics: Cyn-Sights, Writing Tips | Comments Off on Write Like No One Is Reading
Enjoy All Stages
I showed this photo to a loved one.
She said it was a shame some of the orchid blooms (we believe they’re orchids) were spent. She felt it would be a much better photo without them in it.
I think it is a much more interesting image BECAUSE the dead blooms are in it. I think there is beauty in every stage of life.
And there can be joy in every stage of life. There can be connection. There can be worth (however you define it).
Enjoy every stage of life, my friends.
(big hugs)
This life is an adventure.
And adventures don’t often proceed smoothly or easily.
But every step in this journey is temporary and will never be taken the exact same way again.
Enjoy it.
Topics: Cyn-Sights | Comments Off on Enjoy All Stages
Why The Super Secret Project Is Super Secret
I don’t talk much about the Super Secret Project…anywhere or with anyone (except the Dear Wonderful Hubby), except to say I’m writing it.
And the reason for this is
I don’t want any feedback on it.
At all.
I don’t want positive feedback on it and I definitely don’t want negative feedback on it.
Because I’m writing it from a place of joy. I’m writing it for me. I don’t want other people’s thoughts, however kind they might be, in my head. I want it to be purely for me.
Yes, I will self-publish it. Because other people might enjoy it also.
But that’s not why I’m writing it. I’m writing it to give myself joy.
And that’s okay. It’s okay to do things that solely give you joy. It’s okay not to share these things with anyone else, to protect that joy.
Do what makes you happy, my friends! You deserve happiness!
Topics: Cyn-Sights | Comments Off on Why The Super Secret Project Is Super Secret
Being A Kind Person In A Cruel World
I want to be a kind person.
The world is working against that goal right now. Many of the people in control of it seem to be terrible people. There’s a normalization of terrible, a view being established that we must be terrible to become what society deems as successful.
I don’t want to be that version of successful. I don’t want to be terrible. I don’t want to be stingy with help or cruel or uncaring or evil.
That’s not the person I want to be OR the world I want to live in.
Thankfully, the Dear Wonderful Hubby is a genuinely kind person. His first thoughts are of kindness. He trusts people until they give him reason not to trust them. He helps…everyone.
We joke that we’d never survive a zombie apocalypse because he’d be out there, trying to heal and to help the bitten. (smiles) That’s the type of person he is and I love him for this.
He is helping me, tremendously, to be kind.
I hope that you have found or will soon find at least one other being who will help you stay kind in a cruel world, my friends!
(This being could be a human friend or a rescue dog or a seedling struggling to establish itself.)
Being and staying kind is such a worthy goal!
Topics: Cyn-Sights | Comments Off on Being A Kind Person In A Cruel World
How Habits Help Us Deal With Change
Every morning, after the Dear Wonderful Hubby and I eat breakfast, I complete the same 20 minute walking video-led workout.
I can recite this video word-by-word. I know all the moves. Sometimes my mind wanders during it and I do the workout without thinking.
And this is comforting for me.
Because the world is changing dang quickly in almost all ways.
Yet this workout, this habit of mine is a constant (as is the Dear Wonderful Hubby – smiles). This is reassuring. It is calming.
If you feel like your world is changing too quickly, consider creating a habit for yourself.
This could be a personal affirmation you say to yourself in the mirror every morning. Or cleaning the sink every night before you go to bed. Or spending ten minutes during your lunch break to read. Or something else.
Do this every day.
And draw comfort in knowing that this habit, a part of your world that YOU control, hasn’t changed.
Topics: Cyn-Sights | Comments Off on How Habits Help Us Deal With Change
You Are Loved
Know that you are loved, my friends.
(big hugs)
You might be thinking, ‘Cynthia doesn’t truly know me. How can she love me?’
Do we EVER truly know another person?
I’ve known my Awesome Mom all my life. (grins) Yet I find out new things about her with almost every conversation.
And I love her.
Plus I do know some key things about you.
You read romance, which means you likely believe a bit in love, optimism and hope.
That, in itself, makes you worthy of so much love, my friends.
(more hugs)
I know you’re curious. That’s why you are reading this post.
I know you like connections. Again, you’re reading another person’s post.
And I know other things.
And ALL of those things make you worthy of love.
I also think if people can hate for no reason, people can certainly love for no reason.
(smiles)
And, as I’ve shared, I don’t lack reasons to love you. I have plenty of reasons.
You ARE loved. Know this.
Topics: Cyn-Sights | Comments Off on You Are Loved
You CAN Take Time Off
The world is a bit of a tire fire right now.
Many of us are feeling stressed and we’re feeling tired.
Some of us might be thinking about quitting.
Quitting writing. Quitting an exercise program. Quitting hanging out with family. Quitting day jobs. Or quitting something else.
Quitting is fine. Quitting often creates space for other things to happen. It can be one of the best things we ever do.
But also know that it is okay to take time off, to rest.
We don’t have to quit, if we don’t want to do that. We can put the writing, the exercise program, the family meet ups, the day job, whatever else on hold.
Many companies have leave of absence policies for exactly this reason. (Which means so many people do this, put their jobs on hold, they needed to put a policy in place to deal with it.) Most gyms make it easy to pause memberships.
If you need to take a break or have a rest, do this.
Life is not a race. We’re allowed to take time off.
(smiles)
Topics: Cyn-Sights | Comments Off on You CAN Take Time Off
Weeding, Washing Dishes And Other Accomplishments
When I weed a patch of garden, extracting the plants that shouldn’t be growing there (which is THE definition of a weed – a misplaced plant), and I see how good it looks, I feel a sense of accomplishment.
Because it IS an accomplishment.
I accomplished a task, an important task. Sure, it might not be a task others care about. But it was necessary and it betters my world.
Accomplishments don’t have to be HUGE or high profile.
Washing dishes is an accomplishment. Getting up every day is an accomplishment. Reading this blog post is an accomplishment.
Be proud you’ve completed this task! Feel that satisfaction and happiness.
You ROCK!
Topics: Cyn-Sights | Comments Off on Weeding, Washing Dishes And Other Accomplishments
Writers Are Struggling
Before I talk about writer struggles, I would like to reassure you that you don’t have to worry about me.
Not financially.
The Dear Wonderful Hubby and I are fortunate to have other sources of income. The Dear Wonderful Hubby, for example, referees pickleball games. I’m a business babe in my other life.
And we know how to stretch a dollar. We make many meals out of other people’s leftovers. (grins) I enjoy that challenge and I like that the food isn’t wasted.
We’re doing okay.
But other writing buddies are NOT doing okay.
Many of them are struggling both emotionally and financially.
We’re all dealing with the same world. And it is a tire fire right now.
People are worried about loved ones’ safety, freedom, health, keeping the lights on and putting food on the table.
Grocery prices are so fraggin’ high, aren’t they?
(shakes head)
And writers, most writers, don’t earn very much money from book sales.
(The rare few that do earn big dollars are the equivalent of lottery winners.)
One of my buddies, for example, publishes a romance novel every 3 months. She has over 30 novels published. And they’re great novels. I’ve read them and enjoyed them.
Yet she earned less than $1,000 US in 2025 from book sales.
That doesn’t cover the cost of maintaining a newsletter.
She is LOSING money by publishing her novels.
So please extend writers (and everyone else) some grace.
Be gentle with them. Be patient.
We’re all doing the best we can and we CAN get through this if we work together.
(big hugs)
Topics: Cyn-Sights | Comments Off on Writers Are Struggling
