This One Wild and Precious Life

The Path Back to Connection in a Fractured World

By: Sarah Wilson

Narrated by: Sarah Wilson

“Sarah Wilson is a force of nature – quite literally. She has taken her pain and grief about our sick and troubled world and alchemized it into action, advocacy, adventure, poetry, and true love.” — ELIZABETH GILBERT

Will you sleep through the revolution? Or do you want to wake up and reclaim your one, wild and precious life? From New York Times bestselling author Sarah Wilson comes a spiritual guidebook for surviving and thriving during challenging times.

Many of us are living with the sense that things are not right with the world, as global problems like the pandemic, the climate crisis, political polarization, and social injustice mount, leaving us in a state of spiritual PTSD. We have retreated, morally and psychologically; we are experiencing a crisis of disconnection—from one another, from our true values, from joy, and from life as we feel we are meant to be living it.

Sarah Wilson argues that this sense of despair and disconnection is ironically what unites us—that deep down, we are all feeling that same itch for a new way of living. This One Wild and Precious Life opens our eyes to how we got here and offers a radically hopeful path forward. Drawing on science, literature, philosophy and the wisdom of some of the world’s leading experts, and her personal journey, Wilson weaves a one-of-a-kind narrative that lights the way back to the life we love. En route, she shows us how to wake up an reconnect with life with “wild practices” that include:

• Hike. Just hike. Great minds throughout history have embraced the “walking cure” and we should do the same.
• Go to your edge. Do what scares you and embrace discomfort daily.
• #Buylesslivemore. Break the cycle of mindless consumption and get light with your life: Ditch your car, stop shopping, and live out of one bag
• Become a soul nerd. Embrace poetry, deep reading, art, and classical music to light up your intellect.
• Get “full-fat spiritual”. How to have an active practice—beyond the “lite” “rainbows and unicorns”—and use it to change the world.
• Practice wild activism. If you can get 3.5 per cent of a population to participate in sustained, non-violent protest, change happens. We create our better world.

The time has come to boldly, wildly, imagine better. We are being called upon, individually and as a society, to forge a new path and to find a new way of living. Will you join the journey?

©2020 Sarah Wilson (P)2020 HarperCollins Publishers

Must read then act

This book was very well articulated and it’s obvious she cares. I hope we all can rally with her.

Huzzah

A wonderfully well written rally cry for change, Sarah Wilson is so powerful. A must listen or read.

4.5/5. The story we really need for these times.

The only reason it's not a five (hell, I'd give this book 6 stars of I could) Is because the author does contribute a huge section near the end of the books basically being like "oh kids these days, in my day we walked both ways up the hill to school in the snow yada yada yada" and blaming young people for the world's ills is A) overdone B) outdated and C) off the mark. Besides that, this book is truly the answer the questions we're just beginning to understand about how we got to such a fractured world and where we go from here. I'd recommend this book to everyone, especially those concerned with the state of everything and wanting answers.

If this book doesn’t move you, your dead

Sarah is the man in the arena fighting to wake up humanity and help guide us down a path to save ourselves, each other and the planet.

Loved this book!

I got so much out of this book. I learned so much. It inspired me to make shifts in my own life. It also had a lot of depth and emotion.

A lot about her personal life - very long

Perhaps another narrator would be better. Sometimes her pride in herself is just too much to take. There are good points here and there...

Excellent, Inspiring Book!

I want everyone to read this book(or listen to it)! I tend to swing between a state of overwhelm and dispair regarding the environmental craziness and the general state of humanity, and fleeting moments of hopeful inspiration. I have to admit, I often turn away from the problems we face because it is just so exhausting trying to take care of my daily personal responsibilities AND fight for the environment and human rights. The news I'd a horror show, and it all feels like too much. However, in my heart ,I still yearn to save us from the disaster we are on the brink of.

In this book,Sarah creates a clear path forward for us, mixing in moving and engaging personal stories from her life traveling and hiking the world. I can not recommend it highly enough.

A needed book in these difficult times.

An excellent book filled with hope for the future, statistics about waste that contributes to climate change, and practical means for becoming part of the solution. Thanks, Sarah—fantastic read and lovely reading by the author.

The best listen in a long time

I am so soothed and touched to hear the truths laid out so sensitively and tenaciously here. Grateful and moved into more action every day.

A lot of political grandstanding

bought this title because it looked like it was going to be an inspirational and I wanted to be inspired. Instead, I found myself listening to hours of the author griping and grandstanding about COVID, capitalism, politics, climate change, and naming certain political figures. Instead of being inspired, I became increasingly irritated. If you're wanting to prioritize what's left of your wild and precious life, skip listening to this grinding gripe session.