How a Book Inspired Me to Write My Love Story Before It Happened – Cynthia MacLean

By Nehru Odeh

Cynthia Blanc Preiss MacLean, a United States-based widow policy advocate and beauty brand founder, is indeed living her dreams. When she became a widow after losing her spouse in her first marriage, she imagined a life, an extraordinary possibility that had not yet unfolded.

That extraordinary possibility became reality when a book-inspired writing exercise helped her envision the man who would eventually become her husband.

MacLean recently shared her remarkable love story on social media, recounting how she wrote a letter about her future husband before meeting him and how, years later, she reunited with the man whose book had inspired the exercise.

The post is titled, “I wrote a letter about my next husband before I ever met him.”

The moment came on October 11, when she attended the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra’s opening concert of its 2026–2027 season at Symphony Hall in Boston, Massachusetts, in the United States. The
concert was particularly meaningful to her because it came a day before her 56th birthday on October 12.

But beyond the music and the birthday celebration, the evening offered something more profound: a full-circle moment that connected a difficult chapter in her life with an unexpected journey towards love.

Nine years earlier, MacLean arrived in Boston with Ziv, newly widowed.

In the aftermath of that loss, attending concerts at Symphony Hall and taking photographs with the orchestra’s conductor, Maestro Benjamin Zander, became part of her experience of settling into a new life.

This time, however, she returned to the celebrated concert hall with her husband. And she had a story to tell Zander.

According to MacLean, she had followed a letter-writing exercise inspired by Zander’s book, The Art of Possibility, which he co-authored with his wife, Rosamund Stone Zander.

The exercise encouraged her to imagine and write about the man she hoped would become her husband, even though she had not met him at the time.

Years later, the man she had envisioned in that letter became her husband.

“Tonight I introduced him to the maestro
whose book told me to write it,” she wrote.

MacLean seized the opportunity to share the story with Zander during their reunion at Symphony Hall.

The maestro, she said, was delighted
to see her again and thrilled to hear how the exercise inspired by his book had become part of her personal journey.

“Maestro Zander was so happy to see me again and thrilled to hear the story. What a birthday gift,” she said, reflecting on the encounter.

Her account has offered a glimpse into the unexpected ways in which an idea encountered in a book can influence someone’s life, sometimes with consequences that only become apparent years later.

The Book behind the Love Story
Published in 2000, The Art of Possibility: Transforming Professional
and Personal Life explores how people can change their outlook, challenge limiting assumptions, and discover new possibilities in their personal and professional lives.

The book emerged from a collaboration between Zander, a renowned conductor and teacher, and Rosamund Stone Zander, a psychotherapist and leadership coach whose work focuses on creativity and personal transformation.

Drawing on experiences from music, psychology, education and leadership, the authors present 12 practices intended to help readers approach life with greater imagination and openness.

One of the book’s best-known exercises involves asking students to write a letter from a future date, describing what they have accomplished and how they have grown. The exercise encourages them to imagine success as something they can work towards rather than an outcome they must wait to discover.

The book’s broader philosophy invites readers to look beyond their present circumstances and consider possibilities they may not previously have entertained.

MacLean’s story reflects how such an approach can extend beyond professional ambitions and personal development into the intimate territory of love and relationships.

Rather than simply waiting for romance to find her, she put her hopes into words, describing the future she wanted to experience. Her account does not suggest that writing a letter alone guarantees a particular romantic outcome. Instead, it illustrates how imagining a different future can become a meaningful part of a person’s journey
towards it.

An especially poignant element of MacLean’s story is the context in which her journey unfolded. Nine years ago, she was newly widowed and adjusting to life in Boston. The loss of a spouse can leave a person confronting not only grief but also the difficult task of imagining what life might look like afterwards.

Yet her experience suggests that a painful ending need not permanently close the door on another beginning.

The details of how she met her husband, the circumstances surrounding their relationship and the contents of the letter she wrote before meeting him were not fully disclosed in her social media post.

Nevertheless, the central point of her story is clear: the man she once imagined on paper eventually became her life partner. Her reunion with Zander brought that journey back to where another chapter of her life had begun.

For MacLean, standing beside the maestro again, this time with her husband, was more than an opportunity to revisit an old memory. It was a chance to show him what had happened since their earlier encounters.

The evening also coincided with a milestone in Zander’s musical career. The 2026–2027 season is the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra’s final celebratory season, marking the end of an era after nearly five decades of music-making under his leadership.

Against that backdrop, MacLean’s personal reunion carried its own sense of history, continuity and change.

Reflecting on the experience, MacLean celebrated the occasion with gratitude and a toast to turning 56. She also used the moment to celebrate personal reinvention, sharing hashtags including
#FullCircleMoment, #ReinventYourself and #Over50AndThriving.

Her message was one of appreciation for a life that had taken an unexpected turn, from widowhood and uncertainty to a new relationship that she had once imagined in a letter. It was also a reminder that life does not always unfold according to a predictable script.

Sometimes, a person writes down a hope without knowing when, how or whether it will become reality. Sometimes, an idea encountered in a book becomes a lens through which to imagine a different future. And sometimes, years later, the story comes full circle.

For MacLean, the chance to introduce her husband to the man whose book inspired her letter was a fitting birthday present.

The woman who once wrote about a future husband she had never met now stood beside that man, sharing their story with the author whose ideas had helped her imagine the possibility. It was, as she put it, a full-circle moment — and a celebration of love, hope and the unexpected ways a new chapter can begin.