What Will You Do With Your One Wild and Precious Life? 🪷

EDITION 1

I had a completely different email planned, being the first official FW edition. Then life stepped in (as it does) and changed the script.

Just this last weekend, I learned about the sudden passing of a classmate from school. She had just celebrated her birthday. She was only 43.

We hadn’t spoken or seen each other in years, but I’d followed her life from the periphery—family moments, everyday joys, milestones shared through social media. Vibrant, just as I remembered her from our school days, she was full of dreams—now a mother, a partner, a friend—someone with many chapters still unwritten. Her passing hit me deeply, a raw reminder that, as another classmate said when passing the news on to me, tomorrow isn’t guaranteed. No matter your age.

It brought me back to Mary Oliver’s powerful question:

Because here’s the truth:

We often live as though our days are endless—waiting, hesitating, holding back. We pick the comfortable route, delaying the dream that matters, deferring the passion project, pushing off that leap of faith. We drift unconsciously, not living as presently as we could.

I know I’ve been guilty of this. Over the past seven years especially, I poured most of my time and energy into work, pushing aside lunches with friends and weekends away—saying no to anything “outside” of my clocking hours. It became my new normal. COVID, no doubt, played a role. I built a protective layer around myself—cocooned and safe.

Maybe a little too safe.

But what if you, what if I, dared to step fully into the truth of who we are?

Timing is funny (and also not so funny).​
Just two days before I heard about my classmate’s passing, I learned that my current role will end in about two months—an outcome outside my control. It had been on the table for some time, but the final crumble of this cookie and the news of my classmate’s passing has brought a clear realization into focus.

It’s time for a change.

I’ve had some time to process, accept, and make peace with where “playing it safe” has taken me, and I’ve come to the conclusion that if my life is to turn into anything of real value or purpose, my next steps must lead me down the path less traveled.

A risk of the biscuits is at hand, my friends.

As the ancient Jewish sage Hillel the Elder said, “If not now, when?”

Instead of looking for comfort in the familiar, I’m choosing to honor what lights me up: writing stories that connect, inspire, and encourage others to live their deliciously messy lives too.

Because let’s be clear: the road is never straight and usually gravel, but that doesn’t mean we can’t follow it to an incredible end.

Apparently, I’m not too shabby at this whole writing thing, either.
​
And Mum thinks I can do it, so that’s got to count for something, right?

Here’s the thing to remember (and something I’m keeping in mind):​
Your tug doesn’t have to be big or grand. It doesn’t need to be earth-shattering or world-changing. It can be a gentle shift—like a ship traveling one degree to find its course, with small nudges here and there, eventually landing you in an entirely new place.

Maybe this is the check-in you needed. Maybe it’s not. But ask yourself: is your everyday life really where you want to be?

What if today was the day you decided it wasn’t—and named that dream within, gave it a heartbeat, and let it come alive?

Whether it’s:

• Writing the story you’ve kept inside

• Starting that podcast you’ve imagined

• Setting out on that solo African adventure you’ve always dreamed of (a personal dream of mine, by the way!)

• Finally reconnecting over dinner with someone you’ve missed

This is something I’ve come to know as truth.

When we share our vulnerabilities and speak from a truly honest place, we invite others to do the same. It’s the craziest, most beautiful thing—because once you speak up, you never know who you’ll open the door for, or who might take their own step forward. And that’s where real magic lies.

So, tell me: What story have you been holding inside?​
Hit reply—I’d genuinely love to hear from you.

Until next week!

Always light,

Shanna "writing her truth" Lindinger

WILDER ESSENTIALS

What's On Shanna’s List of Things Right Now

▶ Thinking Spot: Coastal path walks with the pooch

▶ Podcast pick: The Rich Roll Podcast

▶ Current read: On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft by Stephen King

▶ Writing setup: MacBook Pro + simple notebook and pen

WRITER OF THE WEEK

Mary Oliver: Poet of the Wild & Precious
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The late poet Mary Oliver didn't just observe nature — she dissolved into it, then returned with questions that wake us up. Through simple, clarifying language, she transformed ordinary moments—a wild goose flying overhead, a grasshopper eating sugar from her hand—into invitations to live more fully.

Her most famous line, "Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?" isn't just a question. It's a compass.

Oliver reminds us that attention is a form of devotion—that in noticing the world around us, we become more alive to our place within it.

Let’s keep exploring together