My Gen X Rockin' NYE

This year, we skipped the ball drop and did something a little different. Bring in the new year with Cynthia Levin and I. Together, we reflect on the year past and what we hope to do more of in 2026.  They aren't really resolutions per se, but they are quintessentially GenX. 

Grab Your 2026 Bingo Cards Kittens & Cheers To The New Year 🎉

Transcript

Eileen Kelly (00:00)
Hi, welcome to Strangers with Kittens. My guest today is a stand-up comic, actress, teacher, teacher of both acting and stand-up comedy, as well as a wise soul. ⁓ We met in New York doing stand-up years ago. She's performed all over the Comedy Store, stand-up New York. She was in LA for a long time, doing tons of movies and TV, and then she moved to Chicago.

which is where she's from, to be closer to her mom. And she teaches acting and stand-up there, and she has done a number of solo shows and is an amazing storyteller. So please give it up for Cynthia Levin.

Eileen Kelly (01:03)
Hi, Cynthia.

Cynthia Levin (01:05)
It's great to see you. You're so pretty.

Eileen Kelly (01:06)
Good, it's so good to see your face.

You're so pretty and I'm really digging those sunglasses. They're fantastic.

Cynthia Levin (01:12)
⁓ thanks. They're my, they're my real

glasses. They're just shaded to cover as much face as possible.

Eileen Kelly (01:21)
I they're very cool. I got a pair wait. ⁓ I got a pair that aren't as cool as yours, but they're pretty cool. I feel like we're doing free advertising now but

Cynthia Levin (01:36)
Well, mine

are from C S E E and there's sunglasses that I put in real, lenses and you know, yeah, prescription transitional. ⁓ Yeah, all that.

Eileen Kelly (01:41)
⁓

Yeah, like prescription lenses.

Yeah, okay, so they get darker with sunlight.

Cynthia Levin (01:53)
They get really blue. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Well, those are great.

Eileen Kelly (01:56)
I love it. Look, these are from CADIS.

Those are cool. These are cool, right? CADIS, C-A, wait, I had headphones in that seemed to not be working, so I'm just gonna get rid of them. C-A-D-D-I-S, and these also get dark in the...

Cynthia Levin (02:01)
Katniss. Okay.

cool.

Eileen Kelly (02:19)
in the oh and they're also like I feel like I'm like this there are readers on the bottom but they're normal up here

Cynthia Levin (02:25)
huh. Yeah. Yep. They're

all normal. yeah, mine are they call them progressive or, yeah, something like that. Like minor progressive. Yeah.

Eileen Kelly (02:32)
yeah.

Mine, the

only reason I don't have the ones you have is because I had LASIK surgery back in 2000. Which, can I tell you the story of LASIK?

Cynthia Levin (02:38)
⁓ yeah, that's nice. I want that.

Sure, please,

I want to hear all about it.

Eileen Kelly (02:47)
⁓ so it was 2000 and my husband and I were both going to get Lasik surgery and it was like big right then it was kind of new and there were like radio commercials and stuff and, eye doctors started doing it, but I got a coupon via email for like a hundred dollars off each eye and

My husband was like, ill, like a coupon for like surgery. Like how good could this place be? But I was like, no, I went and checked it out, checked out the doctor and that was all they did. It was called, I think it was called laser one. And all this guy did, his name was James Kelly, by the way. So it made me trust him. And all he did all day, he didn't do cataracts. didn't do like whatever, nothing else. He just did.

Cynthia Levin (03:27)
huh.

Right, family, uh-huh.

Eileen Kelly (03:40)
LASIK. So even though the place was cheesy, the woman at the front desk was dressed like a nurse, but it seemed like she got her costume at like an adult shop. And there was a ⁓ neon sign behind her head that said laser one. But I was like, want to go to a chop shop. It's like all this guy does. And you know what? It worked out great. And I knew someone who went to a doctor and paid thousands of dollars more than we did.

Cynthia Levin (03:47)
Ha

Thanks.

Yeah. Yeah. that's so good. Yeah.

Eileen Kelly (04:10)
and had a terrible out.

Cynthia Levin (04:13)
Isn't that interesting? People will do whatever they can get away with, isn't it? mm-hmm, yep. That's great. Wow, wow. That really lasts. Yeah.

Eileen Kelly (04:16)
Yeah. So, knock wood. It's 25 years later. I can still see in the distance, but

yeah. you know, age, what age, it's like reading is different. It's not your cornea. It's like something behind your eye as you age. So, Lasik doesn't help.

Cynthia Levin (04:29)
Right.

Right, right. Yeah, I'm told I can't use it. It won't work for me.

Eileen Kelly (04:39)
It'll only help with distance.

Cynthia Levin (04:41)
Yeah.

Eileen Kelly (04:43)
I'm loving your, do you have a turtleneck on or like a track with stripes on the, I love it.

Cynthia Levin (04:46)
I do, I do. It's a turtleneck. It's not a tracksuit. Yeah. It's, you know, it hit me that I'm like,

I'm dressed seventies. I'm dressed Gen X. I'm like, even my hair, my glass. It's so funny. hit me. Total accident. This is how I dress normally. This is how I dress. It is the best music, you know, close. Absolutely.

Eileen Kelly (04:56)
You are so 70s in the coolest possible way. It's so fabulous. It's the, it's the best era. Right? Style wise. I feel like I have to say,

I do love 70s music, but 80s. Yeah. my gosh. Yeah. Which was really furniture was good, but it was really coming from like mid century. I feel like.

Cynthia Levin (05:16)
Furniture, sorry, yeah. Yep, yeah.

60s. Yeah, exactly. Exactly.

Eileen Kelly (05:26)
But the clothes, like I feel like 70s clothes, late 70s clothes were the best. Yeah, so cool. And yours is like late 70s, early 80s. Like I could totally see you like skiing down a mountain in a chapstick commercial. Right?

Cynthia Levin (05:29)
So cool, 100%, so cool.

Yeah, I haven't grown up yet.

Exactly. And then falling. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Right. With dry lips, even

though I'm doing a chapstick commercial. Nothing works for me. You know.

Eileen Kelly (05:48)
Ha

Ha ha!

Chow stick really didn't help, so I feel like it's accurate. It was such a...

Cynthia Levin (05:57)
I know chapstick is crap, but I use everything else. I'm constantly, you

know, like, you know, my mother's like, your lips are so dry and I'm like, stop looking at them.

Eileen Kelly (06:07)
Aqua for the squeezy kind, not the stick.

Cynthia Levin (06:09)
That's what she gave me.

She gave me hers. Hang on, I got something for you. You know, I'm like, yeah, it works. you know, it's, it's, you know, anyway, yeah. Yeah. Cran. Exactly. Just put wax, hard cold wax on your lips and you know, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Ready for kissing.

Eileen Kelly (06:13)
She knows. Yep, got it. I got to back her up on this one. It really works.

Yeah, chapstick was like putting a, it was like a hard crayon. You'd be like, trying to get, it was so cold and like, yammin' on there. Yeah, it was so, it was such a farce. ⁓

Yeah, right. And then kissing potion. was like, it was like feast or famine. It was either like hard plastic wax that you were trying to get to stick to your lips or like goopy.

Cynthia Levin (06:49)
Gloss, gloss,

right? Uh-huh, right. And it smelled so good. People want, you wanted to eat your own lips, but it made you hungry. It just made you hungry or it made me hungry. Yep.

Eileen Kelly (06:52)
gloss that was like runny and like from a roll-on that also is right kissing potion you remember that

I

feel like it was really geared toward little girls that just want to like drink the bottle of God knows what chemical I was, right?

Cynthia Levin (07:08)
⁓ 100%. Absolutely. Exactly.

It still smells like bubble gum or whatever. Mm hmm.

Eileen Kelly (07:16)
Yes, strawberry.

I would be curious to know what chemicals were in that because I went back and looked at, do you remember Sertz with Retsin? It turns out Retsin is like a completely toxic thing. First of all, they made up the name Retsin, but what it was is completely toxic. I actually posted like the chemical compound.

Cynthia Levin (07:25)
Sure, of course.

good, that's good. It's a good thing I didn't eat it that much. really,

did you?

Eileen Kelly (07:45)
It was, I found like, like, remember in chemistry where you'd have like a diagram of the different, I found that. And it was like, totally not suitable for consumption.

Cynthia Levin (07:51)
interesting. Wow. Yeah. Yeah. I think that anything

that they put as a commercial we were interested in, know, just advertise it. We'll have it, you know, we didn't look into it. We weren't concerned, you know, no, but now we're very concerned about everything. Yeah. Well, what's in it? Let me see that. Let me see it behind the box. Let me see.

Eileen Kelly (07:59)
⁓ 100%. Exactly. It's like I need that.

Not at all.

We're very concerned, we're too concerned.

I know, it gets exhausting. I read somewhere that like, I think it was Norway just banned scented candles because they feel like it throws off your hormones. I'm like, It's too much.

Cynthia Levin (08:24)
Well, you know what's funny, I

hate the smell of incense. I never really like scented candles personally, but I have them in my apartment now because they were given one was given one was bought one smells like chocolate. So I'm interested in that. just like, I just I'm like, you know, it brings me joy, you know, and the other one, I don't know what it is. But you know, when I had people over, we lit it, you know, and pretended like we're having a party, you know, whatever. But but yeah, I'm just saying, like, I think

Eileen Kelly (08:33)
Mm-hmm.

Hahaha!

Yeah, sophisticated. Yeah.

Cynthia Levin (08:54)
Naturally, I'm like a very natural person. like anything that has an artificial smell or taste I can't, my body kind of just rejects it. Yeah. Yeah. So.

Eileen Kelly (09:00)
Yes, I hate it too. Yup. Yeah.

I think for most of us, if you really listen to yourself, our bodies don't want that and I'm the same. But I like a good essential oils, soy wax, cotton wick, candle, like something that's natural and not too overbearing. So I don't know. I'm keeping my candles. I have natural candles. I like them. I'm keeping them.

Cynthia Levin (09:17)
Mm-hmm.

Right, right, yep, yep.

Good, I'm

not involved. ⁓

Eileen Kelly (09:33)
I might go back to the kissing potion too, I don't know.

Cynthia Levin (09:35)
Okay, good, good, good. I'm gonna stay out of it.

think you, I'm.

Eileen Kelly (09:39)
I feel like kissing potion might not fit your lifestyle these days.

Cynthia Levin (09:42)
Well,

not just my, there's nobody to kiss. mean, what the hell? If I had somebody to kiss, I would be shoving that stuff in my mouth. Yeah. It might be the problem. Honestly, like, cause you forget, you know I mean? You forget that like that kind of stuff exists. You know I mean? Like you have to be, if you haven't had it for a while, you need to be woken up to it. Yeah. You're not even thinking about it.

Eileen Kelly (09:46)
Maybe if you have the potion. It's because you don't have the potion. That might be the problem.

you

Yeah, you're like not applicable. Yeah,

Cynthia Levin (10:08)
Somebody has to remind you and you go, ⁓ right. That's another part of life I forgot all about. Yeah. You know, love, touch. No, don't be ridiculous. Not interested. Yeah. But no, no. It has to be, otherwise

Eileen Kelly (10:08)
right. Right. Oh, that's a thing. Well, maybe 2026 is going to be your year, you know.

Cynthia Levin (10:22)
I'm going to be dead after that. So let's do this. You know, I mean, you know.

Eileen Kelly (10:25)
Listen, from

29th, I don't know if this aligns with you, but from 2019 to 2025, the planets have been kicking the living crap out of us. Just the way that the planets have been aligned, it's been all about like crisis and transformation, which, know, transformation sounds positive maybe, but that's not without pain and loss and...

Cynthia Levin (10:35)
⁓ okay. mean...

Mm-hmm

Mm-hmm.

Oh yeah,

Eileen Kelly (10:54)
You know?

Cynthia Levin (10:55)
absolutely. mean, the pandemic started right after that. And I mean, I was already having a crap life all the way up to there. So it's like, I don't think I noticed anything worse. It just felt like, it felt like now everybody was joining me. That's really what it felt like. Everybody joined in with my freak show, with my misery. Oh really, you're upset now? You don't like what's going on?

Eileen Kelly (10:58)
Yelp.

status quo. I have company.

They're like, come on in, the water's terrible.

Cynthia Levin (11:20)
Exactly,

Eileen Kelly (11:22)
So I'm really thinking that 2026 is going to be different. really, I don't think I'm being a Pollyanna. I really feel like energetically, astrologically, things are shifting in a big way and that things are going to be different. But did you happen to get the bingo card that I sent you? You did.

Cynthia Levin (11:41)
I did. I have it right here. I

Eileen Kelly (11:43)
good. OK. So I was thinking, how do we play this? Because it's for 2026. But I feel like for me, some of them are goals. Some of them are just, you know, inevitable. But.

Cynthia Levin (11:54)
Okay.

Eileen Kelly (11:58)
You know, let me know if you've done any of these in 2025.

Cynthia Levin (12:02)
So how

do you do this? don't know how to...

Eileen Kelly (12:05)
So I'm gonna call out the things and you're gonna tell me if you did it or not this year. And if not, maybe that's a good goal for 2026 for you. Yeah? So in 2025, did you take a solo trip?

Cynthia Levin (12:13)
Okay. Okay.

I like it. I like it. Okay, cool. Yep.

like in the car alone.

Eileen Kelly (12:29)
no, like a trip where you somewhere alone.

Cynthia Levin (12:31)
No.

No, but I

like that and I need to. I've done that and I've always, yeah, so no.

Eileen Kelly (12:38)
and

Okay. Did you take any kind of a fitness class that you'd never done before?

Cynthia Levin (12:47)
⁓

This year I moved back to Chicago in October, ⁓ last October and I joined a boxing class and I've boxed, but I've boxed before, but it was with a new group of people and it was really fun. It was awesome. It's awesome. There's the, we're buddies. Like, yeah, it's right by my apartment too. It's like right by the lake here. And, but I joined a gym finally. And so I'm not.

Eileen Kelly (13:01)
Yeah!

Yeah, that totally counts. Really?

So.

Cynthia Levin (13:15)
You know, I didn't want to afford both, but I have to go back. Boxers are the best people. They really are the best people, you know. And then comics maybe, yes.

Eileen Kelly (13:18)
Right.

Good to

Did you read a book by a debut author? Their first book.

Cynthia Levin (13:33)
I'm sure I didn't. I don't even, I don't think I know. Okay.

Eileen Kelly (13:36)
I know,

I do find that I tend to be like, ⁓ this is a really young point of view. I don't know that I vibe with it, but I thought, you know what? No, I'm gonna challenge myself and read someone's first book. You know, no, I haven't yet. That's why I put it on the card, because I wanna do it. Yeah.

Cynthia Levin (13:45)
Uh-huh.

one you read? you have it. Okay. Okay. Good. Okay. Okay. Good. I wrote it down. Okay. Good.

I like it. Okay.

Eileen Kelly (14:01)
you go to a live concert at all this year?

Cynthia Levin (14:05)
No, and I haven't been to one in ages either. And I really want to go. I love live. I love it. Yep. Yep. wow. Good. OK. ⁓

Eileen Kelly (14:10)
There you go. Right? I got to say I've been to a few this year. No, that one I did, but I put it on

my card because I want to do

you're sober, right?

Cynthia Levin (14:20)
Yes. No, no, no, I'm not sober. I'm not an alcoholic though. yeah, No, I'd like a glass of wine once in a while.

Eileen Kelly (14:22)
Yeah. cause you said Alan on, so I wasn't sure. I realize my mistake. Okay. So

learn to make a new cocktail. I did learn to make a new cocktail this year.

Cynthia Levin (14:35)
I don't like hard liquor so I probably wouldn't do that but I would but I would certainly try new red wines. ⁓

Eileen Kelly (14:41)
There you go.

Visit a town you've never been to or you've never heard of. You've never heard of before.

Cynthia Levin (14:50)
This year,

no, don't think, no, we actually, have in Michigan.

Eileen Kelly (14:55)
Okay.

⁓ Take a creative class, any kind of creative class, knitting, sewing, painting, pottery.

Cynthia Levin (15:04)
No, but I was thinking about taking, I've been wanting to take a directing class for film. And, that costs a billion dollars. But then I thought there's things, there's ways. If I'm as cheap as I am and I teach what I teach, maybe there's somebody out there that will, teach film directing for poor people.

Eileen Kelly (15:23)
And maybe you could barter or something. Maybe they've always wanted to try standup. Maybe that, you know, you never know.

Cynthia Levin (15:27)
Yeah, maybe. Yeah. Yeah.

Somebody told me don't ever barter, but I don't agree with that because I was going to teach this guy boxing. I mean, this guy was going to do boxing privates with me and I was going to and I taught him stand up, but he was a drug addict. So he never did the boxing part. And I just did a few of my stand up classes and then he didn't take to the show. So there you are because he was a drug addict. He was trying though. It'll.

Eileen Kelly (15:33)
I don't either.

Oh, yeah. That was extenuating circumstances.

I don't feel like we can judge all of bartering by that guy. You know, happens. Did you discover any new bands this year?

Cynthia Levin (15:59)
I expected it though. It's okay. I mean, you know, okay

I don't think so. No. Okay. Okay. Good. No, it's good. Where did you discover them?

Eileen Kelly (16:13)
No? So maybe that's on your list. I did. I mean, not to show off, but I did. ⁓

Well, I feel like it's twofold. One is I went to this concert, I knew all of the band, I knew one song.

but they were playing at this theater by my house and my brother and I went. And it was really fun because I got to hang out with my brother and then the band, they'd been around for a while, but it's the revivalists. I think they might be out of New Orleans. Yeah, but what, I mean, I'd never seen, I didn't even know who anybody was or anything. I just knew one song and boy, what a show. So great. And the lead singer is like such a great.

Cynthia Levin (16:34)
huh.

I know the revivalists. Yeah, they're great. Yes.

Great, that's great, it's good to know, good.

Eileen Kelly (16:59)
front man, I don't know, like Steven Tyler, Mick Jagger, like up there with the best of them, like really charismatic and great. Yeah. Yeah. So, and then this brother, sister band, Lawrence. Yeah, I discovered them too. So they're pretty fun.

Cynthia Levin (17:00)
I'm gonna listen to them again.

that's so cool, very good, yeah.

What

kind of music are they?

Eileen Kelly (17:19)
Like Soulful Rock. Yeah. Yeah. And just kind of fun, fun energy. ⁓ Lawrence, it's their last name.

Cynthia Levin (17:22)
Nice. Okay, cool. Okay.

Wait, say the name of them again?

Okay.

Eileen Kelly (17:35)
And little fun fact, their father wrote the screenplay for Miss Congeniality.

Cynthia Levin (17:41)
great. I love that movie. Great. I've seen it so many times. Yeah. yeah. Yeah. Great.

Eileen Kelly (17:43)
Yeah, yeah. Really? Yeah, so there you

go. say no to an app update or a software update on your phone. Yeah, me too. I love it. That's the curmudgeon in me I'm like, God damn it, no. I hate when you just say yes and then it like totally reformats everything and you're like, I hate this now.

Cynthia Levin (17:53)
Sure. yes, I have. Constantly. Yeah. ⁓

⁓ Exactly. Yeah, yeah,

yeah. And then things pop up while you're talking to somebody like, is that? is that? Yeah, right.

Eileen Kelly (18:11)
I know, unfamiliar. ⁓

See live comedy.

Cynthia Levin (18:17)
⁓ yeah. Tons. Because I go, yeah. But I don't go to other people's. I don't go... No, I'm going to shows that I was not into. Yeah. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Eileen Kelly (18:20)
Okay, nice.

that you were not in. Yeah. Okay. Yeah, me

Cynthia Levin (18:29)
And yeah, I've done that as well, yeah.

Eileen Kelly (18:33)
Cook a dish from another culture.

Cynthia Levin (18:40)
I'm not a big, I make the same three things period, like grilled cheese. You know what mean? Pretty much.

Eileen Kelly (18:44)
Yeah.

Cynthia Levin (18:45)
I wanna make this Thai dish that I used to make in London with tofu, peanut sauce, and I used to make it all the time, but you know, with vegetables and a stir fry with the egg noodles. And it was always so good. Like I would invite somebody over and piss off my flatmate, you know, the woman whose house it was, you know, she was always like.

Eileen Kelly (19:05)
Yeah.

Cynthia Levin (19:07)
What are you, what is she doing here? Why were you in the kitchen so long? You're, you live here, but don't live here, live here. No, I'm kidding. but I, was delicious dish and that, so that's Thai and I want to make it again. It's been years. So, but otherwise, no, yeah. Other, it is really good. You could just use a scoop of peanut butter and that's your peanut sauce, you know, with, with the other stuff. Yeah. It's really good. Yeah.

Eileen Kelly (19:19)
That sounds delish.

Alright

Yeah,

yum. All right, well, that's on your list. Spend a full day offline. No phone, no computer.

Cynthia Levin (19:35)
You know what, I want to do that because I'm writing or starting to write a couple things and I love doing that. I've done it when I was living in the UK. I would go to Ireland or different parts of the UK and rent a place and just write and have no access to any internet whatsoever. But it's not very different for those people out there because they're like, as my cousin calls it, living in...

Eileen Kelly (19:55)
my god

Cynthia Levin (19:59)
What do you call it? You know, they're living in, medieval times, medieval. Yeah. So it's easy to not have internet in certain places anyway there. But yeah, but I love that too though about it. It's just very, it can be very peaceful. So yeah, yeah, I'd like that. And I do want to do that. Yep. Absolutely. Yep. Okay. Good. Thanks for that. Yep.

Eileen Kelly (20:02)
ancient medieval yeah

Yeah.

Yeah, I haven't this year, but I'm going to the 2026.

listen to an entire album.

Cynthia Levin (20:25)
That's not hard thing for me to do. I don't listen to albums right now because I don't have a phonograph.

Eileen Kelly (20:31)
But like even on a streaming, like to listen instead of just whatever playlist pops up or whatever to listen to an entire.

Cynthia Levin (20:37)
I have

done, I don't think it's been, I think it's been a little while, but I was doing that a lot for a while. I do enjoy that. that's a good reminder though for, to do that. yeah, absolutely. Okay.

Eileen Kelly (20:49)
Yeah.

Reconnect with an old friend.

Cynthia Levin (20:53)
Yes, a lot of them, because I've moved back home to Chicago. So I've reconnected. teaching one acting. I'm teaching the other one stand up. And they're both doing really well. And certainly other people, too. People come to my shows randomly. like, my god. So yeah, tons of that happening, which I love. Yeah, great. Yeah, yeah.

Eileen Kelly (20:57)
that's right. Yeah, yeah.

I love that. ⁓

Okay, watch an 80s sitcom.

Cynthia Levin (21:18)
Like what's the 80 sitcom?

Eileen Kelly (21:20)
I particularly said watch an 80s sitcom to relieve anxiety because I'll tell you, when things are really crazy in the news or whatever, I find myself wanting to watch an old show. Like I was watching Cheers just as like, I don't know, it's like everything's okay. Cheers is on, everything's okay.

Cynthia Levin (21:34)
⁓ yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Well, it's kind of

kind of true. Yeah, I totally get that. And I think all that those shows during those days were, we didn't have as many worries. but I was thinking about I was bringing up to my friends the other day who've never heard of it. They're a little bit older than me. And I was talking about the show Family, you know, with Buddy, Christy McNichol.

Eileen Kelly (21:57)
Yeah.

Cynthia Levin (21:58)
And I loved

Eileen Kelly (21:58)
Yep.

Cynthia Levin (21:59)
that show. I'm not sure what years it was on, like in the seventies and maybe early eighties. I'm not sure, but I loved it. I love, I always wanted to be Christy McNichol. I'm, still going after that. Still trying. Yeah. She's adorable. And I think I used to the same haircut as her, not the same face or cool style, but nonetheless, raspy voice, but you know, whatever. I'll take it. I'll take it. Yep. But yeah.

Eileen Kelly (22:02)
Yeah. huh.

Totally, who didn't?

Yeah, we all did. Yeah. She

start a morning ritual.

Cynthia Levin (22:23)
I have one and I do it and I've been doing it for a while now and it's been great, which is I write in the morning. I write every morning. I ⁓ wash the dishes, whatever's left in

Eileen Kelly (22:28)
I love that.

Cynthia Levin (22:33)
and then I go and make my coffee. go in and I write and this is what I try to get my students to do, which is to write, talk to your little kid and just like, how are you doing right now? What do you need right now? What's the feeling? What's the feeling behind that? The feeling behind that? The feeling behind that? And just sort of to kind of like...

It almost like it clears up all the cobwebs of the night, you know, and a lot of times if I, I've had insomnia most of my life. so I've been sleeping better for the most part, but you know, I still have it. so obviously the mornings are even harder. I have to like really break through some stuff, after I'm being up all night, but even if I've slept, mean, I just sort of like talk to that little kid and then it's like immediately get in touch. gives them attention, you know, and

Eileen Kelly (22:55)
Yeah.

Cynthia Levin (23:14)
I have clarity and then I can get on with my day. And so that's something I do. listened to music from the seventies and I start with the same song by guess the guess who and I start with one of their songs and and then it goes on to the next song and the next song gave Matthews band, not Dave Matthews, still stuff from the same era seventies. Yeah. I

Eileen Kelly (23:33)
70s. Yeah.

Cynthia Levin (23:34)
that's like my favorite thing to do. And I do it for like 10 minutes, ⁓ you know, or 20 minutes or half hour or an hour depending. And then it clears me up to then go, okay, now what do want to do? How do you move forward? What do feel like doing right now? What's exciting? What would it be fun? And I kind of do that. And then and sometimes I will

want and I will visualize it and I will keep visualizing until I get to that place where I'm like feeling like, like elated by it, where it feels really good. So I'm feeling the visual, I'm feeling the desire. And I think for the most part, that's how I created some of the things in my life that I've been wanting for a while, whether it's living in back in Chicago, the apartment I wanted, you know, neighborhood, whatever it is, you know, so.

Yeah. Yeah.

Eileen Kelly (24:17)
I love that. know,

I've been wanting to get back to just writing 15 minutes free association every morning, like the morning pages, you know, from the artist's wife. But I love that you have that prompt for yourself. That's really interesting.

Cynthia Levin (24:23)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Yes. Yeah.

Yeah, because yeah,

good. I recommend everybody do it. People are afraid to do that because they're afraid they're going to cry and they're afraid they're never going to stop. But you always stop. It's like you cry and then you're lightened up and you're just giving that kid attention that it didn't get. Like what's so bad about that? You're going to keep trying to get it from other people if you don't give it to yourself. So why don't you do it? people are always your that's what those that victim that neediness or whatever it is that you find in people is because they're not giving it to themselves.

Eileen Kelly (24:37)
⁓

Yes.

Hmm... Hi!

Yes.

That little kid is banging on the door wanting to be seen and heard.

Cynthia Levin (24:59)
You know.

100

% so You give it to yourself. Yeah, absolutely. It's I love it. I truly love it is never failed me never it's always great but the other name of the song is sour sweet it's the other guess who yeah, sour sweet sweet like sui te it's such a beautiful song and it's

Eileen Kelly (25:04)
Thank you for that. That's such a wonderful idea.

Wow.

I'm writing it down.

Cynthia Levin (25:20)
And it actually talks about the morning. starts about the morning and I just heard this the other day, that it's good to do the same song because it kind of gets you into that. takes you right down into the, connects you, connects you immediately, immediately, immediately, emotionally, mentally, exactly. So it's a good thing to do. Just whatever song speaks to you

Eileen Kelly (25:31)
Yeah, it kind of drops you into that mental space. Yes. I love that. Yeah.

Cynthia Levin (25:41)
Yeah, I feel like you were saying something that I can't remember where it is. Yeah, go ahead. Okay, good. Yeah, you're welcome. It's my favorite thing to do. I don't care what the fuck's going on. I'm doing, I'm going to go do that. I'll talk to you in a little bit.

Eileen Kelly (25:41)
Okay, I'm doing that. I love that you just gave me a morning ritual. Thank you.

Amazing.

Okay, this year, did you hurt yourself sleeping?

Cynthia Levin (25:59)
⁓ I thought I did, but I don't think I did. I think it was from working out and then it just woke up with the pain, but it's gone now. Thank God. I was worried. I'm like, do I have frozen shoulder? There's a frozen shoulder. Cause I know people who got, I didn't, I didn't get it. I don't want it. I don't want it. I don't want it. Exactly. I'll knock on it. My whole table's wood. Okay.

Eileen Kelly (26:01)
you

And then you woke up with it,

I had that a couple years ago. That is some bullshit. Let me tell you. I'm going to knock on wood right now.

It's ridiculous. I know I did hurt myself twice. Actually this year I hurt myself sleeping. So I'm hoping not to check off that part of the bingo card for 2020 sex. Okay.

Cynthia Levin (26:27)
Okay, I'll give you one more ritual that I'm trying to work on that might help is that there's

two things. One

told I had like these spirit guides that I my friend was a medium for a while and he like, had like my spirit guides talk, right? And he's it spoke through him. And you know, he was a total dick otherwise. But when he when he was being connected, it was like, Oh, my God, he's another person. And he's actually nice, you know. But anyway, they told me they said, you know, you do so well.

Eileen Kelly (26:38)
Yeah, yeah, well, about that.

Yeah.

Cynthia Levin (26:52)
in the day because I knew I've always been doing this writing for quite some time now. They said, and so you're taking care of yourself at nighttime, which is why the fear of sleeping and the difficulty of insomnia and all that. like, you can do that at nighttime. So just the other night, I I have the notebook next to my bed, but it's almost like I shouldn't have to do that. I should be able to sleep. That's like that should thing. And it's a resistance and anger, frustration around it, because I've had it since I was nine.

Eileen Kelly (27:14)
Yes.

Cynthia Levin (27:20)
But the other night I got this little notebook and it says Cynthia's bedtime writing notebook or whatever the hell it is. It's like this big, so it's not too overwhelming. then a pen and I started writing. I cried a little bit and then I fell asleep deeper that night than I have in a while. And I did it again last night, same thing, slept deeply again. just throwing that out there. Sometimes again, your body's holding on to all these energies and stuff and worries or whatever it is.

Eileen Kelly (27:48)
Yeah.

Cynthia Levin (27:50)
and it will relaxes. And I've also been doing this like, kie jeong, what's that called? Kie jeong, kie jeong. Anyway, there's like nighttime things I saw it on Instagram. again, it's like the couple of moves that you do a bunch of before you go to bed, it's fast. And it kind of moves the energy in your body to where it relaxes your body. And so I've been doing that. like, I'll do whatever it takes now. Like, I'm just gonna do it. And it's kind of fun. It is.

Eileen Kelly (27:58)
Okay.

Okay.

Yeah, sleep is so important.

Cynthia Levin (28:17)
those are my rituals in general, guess then. yeah. For real, for real, because otherwise we're like watching the news until ha ha, and talking, okay, now I'm gonna go to bed, ha ha, I'm gonna look at my phone, you know, whatever, and you're just kind of filled.

Eileen Kelly (28:21)
Amazing. So we should start an evening ritual as well as a morning ritual. I love it.

Yeah.

Yeah, I feel like I want that to be in place of the next one, which is take a class just for fun.

Cynthia Levin (28:41)
⁓

Eileen Kelly (28:43)
I don't know. I did take a sewing class this past year, but I missed the subsequent ones. I should have realized like my kids were coming home from college and it was like, I had one before the whole holiday sort of chaos started and I should have planned better. So I didn't go to the other three,

Cynthia Levin (28:45)
I'm going to think about that. you did? Mm-hmm.

Eileen Kelly (29:04)
it was fun. And I relearned how to use a sewing machine because I have one and I kind of hadn't used it for so long. I forgot. Yeah.

Cynthia Levin (29:10)
that's so great. Yeah.

Yeah. I have a quilt. I bought pieces to make a quilt years ago. You know, I picked them out. I caught them up. I've ironed them. You know, I got the pattern. Never, it's all in a box still. It's like right behind me actually in a box up here. And I needed, some woman did it with me, a woman named Heidi in LA. She showed me how to do that. You know, she was like a mom-mom, you know, like one of those people who does things like that. And I loved.

Eileen Kelly (29:13)
⁓

Yeah.

Yeah.

Right.

Cynthia Levin (29:37)
I

love that. And so I'm still, like what you're saying because I'm determined to make this damn quilt. No, no, no, no, not at all. I would enjoy it. A hundred percent. I want to do it. I've been wanting to do it. It's just that I think it hasn't been obviously a priority. It's been like, Oh, you've moved again. Now, now what are you going to do? Yeah. I do it every 15 minutes.

Eileen Kelly (29:45)
Yeah, but not as like a burden or a chore, but yeah. Okay, yeah. Okay, good.

Okay.

Right. Well, exactly, moving is like all consuming.

Hehehehehe

Watch the sun rise intentionally, not just because you have insomnia and suddenly now the sun is rising.

Cynthia Levin (30:13)
Hmm.

I intended to try to catch the sunrise. I didn't see it. I missed it. that an attention is there and I will, you know, I'm not a morning that early, early bird special, but I can, you know, put it down there. Yeah.

Eileen Kelly (30:23)
Okay.

Yeah.

I'm getting more as I age, I'm becoming more of an early bird than I had been. ⁓ I generally wake up naturally around 6.15. Yeah. Yeah.

Cynthia Levin (30:35)
I mean.

What time?

Okay, I wake up naturally at seven. So,

but I get out of bed at eight typically. So, unless I have to get up earlier. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Eileen Kelly (30:51)
Yeah, yeah, I usually take at least 15 minutes and then kind of plant my

feet. I'm guessing this isn't a problem for you, but I could be wrong. Say no without explaining.

Cynthia Levin (31:01)
Yeah, that's not a problem for me. pretty much although, you know, sometimes you catch yourself in your brain going I'm allowed to do this because I have because I because I'm not tough. Yeah, no, no, no, no, a dumbest stuff Like I can't wait to tell him. Yeah, I don't I yeah, I watched a whole Bears game Well, I mean I went back and I watched them, you know I watched the whole thing live and well most of it live and then I went you know, whatever because I'm talking about my landlord who always records it he's always like did you watch it and I'm like, it's not like I was preparing my answer like

Eileen Kelly (31:06)
I love it.

Yeah, negotiating.

Cynthia Levin (31:28)
Yeah, I the whole thing. Like it's the dumbest stuff. It's the dumbest stuff though, but it's ego. It's like, ⁓ yeah, I got, saw the whole game, you But wait, so the question was, do you say no without apology? I mean, without explaining yourself. And I think I, for the most part I do and even, I, and I always think I sit with it I go to how much do I need to say and how little do I need to say? I do, I do do that. I go, okay. So, I'm pretty clean in that way. Yeah.

Eileen Kelly (31:29)
It's an assignment.

Yeah, I was trying. Yeah.

Yeah.

like that.

That's something I need to work on. Plan a trip. Well, you did move, so I feel like that might have been your trip for this year, but 2026 may be a fun trip.

Cynthia Levin (32:04)
Well, I am

going on a trip. going to go. was supposed to go last year to London back to see some friends and then go to Ireland and see friends there. And, you know, and I was supposed to meet my friend who bought my birthday. It was for my birthday present. It was a big birthday. And yeah, big and ugly. And she bought me a flight to the UK and we were going to meet in Italy because she was going to Italy. It was like incredible friend. My friend, Kim Diaz, a comic friend of mine. She's brilliant.

Eileen Kelly (32:18)
⁓

Yeah, that's amazing.

Cynthia Levin (32:32)
But my mom wasn't doing that great. So I decided not to go at that time. And plus it was like financially, it was kind of a kooky time for me to do it, but I really wanted to go. So anyway, I'm going to go, I had to go this year. And so I'm to go to Ireland and Italy. And my friend said she'll do it again. She'll meet me there because she's thinking about getting a place there.

Eileen Kelly (32:52)
that one checked off. Lose your glasses while still wearing them.

Cynthia Levin (32:57)
⁓ I don't put this, no.

Eileen Kelly (32:59)
It happens to all the time if they're on my head. I'm like, where? Sometimes

I'll have one in my purse, one on my head. I'm like, where are my glasses?

Cynthia Levin (33:09)
No, I can't, I don't take them off barely and

I, I can't see at all without them. And I certainly will not stretch them out on my head, even though I have a small head. They're too expensive. I'm not going to mess around.

Eileen Kelly (33:18)
Hmm. It's, ⁓ I do stretch now. ⁓

Do something purely indulgent. Did you do that this past year?

Cynthia Levin (33:33)
I don't think, no, but no.

Eileen Kelly (33:35)
No.

I mean, it could be something as simple as a, you know, bubble bath or a massage or whatever, but whatever floats your boat, you know? Those are not it, I'm gonna tell by your face. No.

Cynthia Levin (33:40)
No, no, no, no, no. Yeah, exactly. I would say,

yeah, going on bike rides for me is to me pretty indulgent. Like I'll go on a three hour bike ride. That's like my favorite thing to do. But obviously the weather is, you know, a little rough right now, but I would go, those are indulgent because that's time indulgent. And like, I'd love, that makes me so happy. So like, I'll do like,

Eileen Kelly (33:55)
⁓

once it breaks.

Makes

me so happy too. I feel like such a kid. Yeah. Yeah.

Cynthia Levin (34:08)
Yeah, right. That's what I mean. And that's why I do it. Because it reminds me of a kid because

I used to do it. I used to do it as a kid, you know, constantly. I mean, sometimes two, three times a day. Yeah, 30 miles, you know, 40 miles in a day, no big deal. Just, you know, whatever. So I that's that to me is my that's my joy. Absolutely. Yeah, yeah.

Eileen Kelly (34:18)
Totally, and you felt so free, right? Yes. Yes. Yup.

Love it. It's so

funny. I just texted a friend of mine who I went on a bike ride with last summer maybe and I was like one of my 2026 goals is going on more bike rides once the weather breaks. So I love that that's your indulgent thing for 2026.

Cynthia Levin (34:43)
Yeah.

It's some, I'm looking

at my bike right now. I love looking at it. It's like a pretty bike I love it. And so, but now my indulgent in the winter is the gym. joined a gym and it's a great gym. And the more hours I can spend there, the better. You know, I just absolutely love it. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Eileen Kelly (34:59)
Yeah, get those endorphins going.

All right, and finally, make a bucket list. I've never been a bucket list person, really, but I don't know. Make a bucket list for the next decade.

Cynthia Levin (35:06)
Yeah.

I'm gonna do that because I'm at that age where it's almost over. So I know, right? Right? That's possible. It's definitely possible. make a bucket list. Yeah, I've never done it, but it's not a bad thing to do. I think I'd like to call it something else though, because bucket also go along with kick the bucket.

Eileen Kelly (35:18)
I don't know, Dick Van Dyke's 100. think if you keep dancing and keep laughing, you might stick around a while.

I know, I

don't like the negativity of it, but just a joy, a joy list.

Cynthia Levin (35:37)
Yeah, so maybe, maybe, yeah,

yeah, of, ⁓ yeah, dream list. Yeah, but of course, if I call everything a dream, I'm not gonna have anything. Do you know what I mean? Because it's just a dream. Like my career, I look at that as a dream. It really needs to be more of a goal. I know that I'm learning, but it's taking me a few minutes.

Eileen Kelly (35:47)
something positive. Right, it has to feel possible.

Right, right, right.

Yeah.

Well, this has been so much fun. Thank you so much for taking the time to talk to me.

Cynthia Levin (36:03)
it's been great.

Thanks,

absolutely. It's wonderful to talk to you. It's been fantastic. ⁓

Eileen Kelly (36:12)
And thank you for

the morning ritual and evening ritual. can't wait to get started. I'm to start before the new year.

Cynthia Levin (36:18)
You can

do it now. mean, the other thing I'll share with you is that I have this like, very quickly, I know it's like 100 hours we've been eyeing on, but I have this app and it's

Eileen Kelly (36:21)
Yeah.

No.

Cynthia Levin (36:33)
Relief, or Release, let me look at it, Anxiety Release app.

Eileen Kelly (36:36)
Mm-hmm.

Cynthia Levin (36:38)
And it's only $5 and it has those binaural beats that go, you know, just put headphones on. goes from ear to ear. It only takes 10 minutes and every person I've shared it with, like immediately, you don't have to think about anything. You have to do anything. But if you have anxiety or worries or like anything like that, as soon as I, they just go, you know, the guy talks to you and he's like, Oh, you know, you know, whatever. I feel better every single time I do it. It's literally 10 minutes of

Eileen Kelly (36:38)
Okay.

Hello?

Wow, it's called Anxiety

Release App?

Cynthia Levin (37:06)
Yes,

it's a dream. It's a little dream. It's a little dream.

Eileen Kelly (37:06)
share a graphic.

Cynthia Levin (37:09)
it's therapy, immediate, 10 minutes and you're good. You don't need to go yammer to anybody. You don't have to pay $300. You'd like, and then what happened was it's like, please just shut up. Nobody, it's not gonna help you to talk about it, just so you know, okay?

Eileen Kelly (37:18)
⁓ Well, I

am I am a proponent of therapy for those who haven't been. Yeah. Yeah, yeah.

Cynthia Levin (37:24)
No, therapy is good, but to talk, talk therapy is not as good as

literally getting down to the bottom, the feeling. Just, it's just energy. Get it out. We don't have to stay in the story. Cause otherwise, you know, the story is the problem. No, I'm a fan of therapy. Don't get me wrong. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Total fan. Okay, good. Great to talk to you, Eileen. Thanks for having me.

Eileen Kelly (37:31)
Right. Yes. Yep. Yeah, get trapped. Yeah. Yeah. That's the truth, sister. Yeah, me too. Well, it was so great talking to you.

Thanks so much for being here. We'll talk to you soon. Thanks. Happy New Year.

Cynthia Levin (37:55)
Yeah. And all right. Happy New Year.

Thank you.