Cindy Ly

Most of us are used to looking back—replaying past mistakes, wondering what we could have done differently. But looking forward? That’s harder. Writing to your future self can feel strange, even a little “woo woo.” But at its core, it’s an exercise in self-expression, perspective, and hope.

Time moves forward quietly—until one day you wake up and realize you’ve crossed all your “firsts” and most of your milestones. For much of my life, I was seen as the “young one,” the one who still had so much ahead of her. But now, I’ve lived

Awareness When I wrote my book, something unexpected happened. In the process of putting my story into words, I began to see my parents differently. While I was able to understand my own issues and it allowed a release, it also allowed me to gain perspective.  I started to understand

In my life, love was never soft or effortless. It was heavy with duty. To be loved meant to be useful. To find joy meant pleasing everyone else first. It’s no wonder I grew up thinking happiness was something you earned, not something you felt. The Skeptic in Me

For most of my life, work was work. Family was family.And everything else was compartmentalized in their own separate boxes  I thought this separation kept me safe. If no one knew the real me, they couldn’t judge me. They couldn’t see the messy, imperfect parts. In a

There are so many things I wish I could tell my mother. But I know that saying them out loud would cause more pain than I can bear to hand her. So I write them here, where they’ll never reach her hands—only mine. Dear Mother, There are words