Avoiding Cynicism
Winter’s coming
It’s easy to get discouraged and cynical these days – and I don’t even watch the news. You know the saying “no news is good news”? I avoid watching the news for that reason.
But I’m actually talking about writing. Sometimes no news won’t turn out to be good news. I think it’s human nature to put off the bad. I’m still waiting to hear from two publishers and two contests. I was told by one representative of one of the contests that I’d hear something by the end of November.
Well…I haven’t heard. Thoughts of “I should have known” or “I guess the story or the writing’s not good enough” fly through my mind. I have to be careful with that. My brain is wired in such a way that I shoot to the moon with whatever thoughts go through my mind. If they’re good thoughts, I take them to the stars, when I should leave them on earth. If bad, cynical, or negative, they take me to the pit and I have to crawl out. So – I choose to try not to think anything – one way or the other – until I actually hear something.
As we enter the winter season, where nature dies and awaits the rebirth of spring, the days get shorter, the dark nights colder and longer. It’s tempting to give in to cynicism, negativity, and depression. They actually call that Seasonal Affected Disorder (SAD) or something like that. We feel “SAD” because we’re creative creatures who long for light and warmth. We’ve already had our first snow last week, just in time for Thanksgiving. Winter is on the way.
When we write, we should try to get into the character of the point of view we’re writing. Someday, I’ll do a POV post, because I’ve learned a lot about it. But for today, I’m going to try to keep from growing cynical. I may still feel that way, and if you felt a touch of it in this post, but feel you were going to fall into the pit with me, (which I’m really not there), then do something fun and exciting if possible. Punch out the SAD, tramp on depression, and beat the cynicism.
How are you feeling today? Leave a comment and let me know.
Donna L.H. Smith 
Hey Donna, We had pounding rain yesterday right at rush hour! It made for quite a mess on the streets and slowed down the freeways and surface streets to a crawl. However, no one’s complaining, as we have actually been experiencing serious drought conditions here for the past two years. Today was beautiful mostly lots of sunshine. My two international students from Mexico go home on Saturday after being here a month. They were just wonderful! I’m so very thankful.
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