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Follow your heart and take a stand on something that matters to you. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀As I was putting together a slideshow about activism and adventure last week, I thought a lot about how I built my career and found my voice to speak up about climate change, public lands, gender equality and other issues. There were a lot of missteps along the way, places when I doubted myself and took a wrong turn. I didn’t always believe I could build a career as a ski mountaineer, much less, to merge that with the type of activism I wanted to do. I spent much of my early 20s doubting what I was doing, worrying that I should be getting my MBA or JD or some other combination of letters behind my name so I could make a difference in the world. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀But the pull of the mountains was too great, and when I’m climbing up to ski down a mountain, I know this is what I’m meant to do. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀If I could talk to my younger self, I would tell her to trust her intuition and follow her heart to the mountains. Because when you’re acting out of love, you will bring positivity to whatever you touch in the world. Being able to merge sport and environmental activism is a lifelong dream come true. Trust yourself and keep using your voice, even when it’s just a whisper. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀Photo: camp 1 (21,000ft/6,400m) on Cho Oyu en route the summit. Captured by @rob.lea
