Wild Letters: a weekly newsletter about self-exploration and building a right-fit life

Hello, dear reader. I’m so delighted that you’re here!

I’m Nic Antoinette, and most folks know me as a writer and a long-distance hiker.

I’m also the author of two adventure memoirs: HOW TO BE ALONE (April 2023) and WHAT WE OWE TO OURSELVES (January 2024).

Here at Wild Letters, each week as I sit down to write this newsletter for you I reflect on the same anchoring question: What am I exploring within myself right now? Whatever emerges as the answer is what I write about.

Often times I am exploring how to live in the flow of an ever-changing self, as well as how to close the gap between what I say I want and what I actually do (without being an asshole to myself along the way).

The stories you’ll read here each week are infused with my deepest beliefs: about the importance of learning to trust yourself, about the permission to explore a less traditional path, about the power of not rushing, and of allowing yourself to change however and whenever you want — letting go of who you used to be as often as needed in order to meet who you are becoming next.

POPULAR LETTERS

• This one, about something I call soft ambition. What happens when you don’t want the things you “should” want?

• This one, about the question of what makes a home.

• This one, about the double-edged sword of being needed. How can the same thing (being needed by others) feel simultaneously so validating and so awful?

• This one, about when to push, when to pivot, when to coast, and when to quit

I am so grateful for the fact that this newsletter is reader-supporter. If you have the means and desire to support this space (and me as a writer!), I invite you to become a paid subscriber.

You'll get weekly essays, the ability to comment on posts, access to the full archive, Rose Thorn Bud (my popular monthly reflection podcast), as well as the monthly What’s Working column which contains curated links to things I’m reading, watching, listening to, and cooking, plus an opportunity for community sharing.

A portion of each month’s paid subscriptions are redistributed to various justice-aligned organizations and mutual aid projects.

Consider becoming a paid subscriber right here:

SUBSCRIPTION OPTIONS :

$0/month : One essay per month + access to a handful of older ones

$5/month or $50/year : Weekly essays + What’s Working column + Rose Thorn Bud (monthly reflections podcast series) + access to full archive and the ability to comment

May this little corner of the internet be a place of digital togetherness for us all, a place of curiosity and self-compassion, and a place where we are willing to ask ourselves the good questions (even when those questions are hard, or when we feel like we don't have any answers at all). 

More soon—

Nic