I celebrate International Women’s Day by acknowledging and thanking those who have blazed trails ahead of me. (Also proud to say I’ve worked for Pledge for Parity sponsor Ernst & Young in my former life.)
1. Sally Ride: This probably says as much about where I’m from and when I grew up. We all wanted to be her.
2. Robyn Davidson: She walked across the Australian desert in 1977 by herself. 20 years before Cheryl Strayed took on the Pacific Coast Trail…
3. Cheryl Strayed: writer. I’m intrigued and inspired by the women who have taken on big outdoors feats, solo.
4. Terry Tempest Williams: author, conservationist, and activist. I first came across one of her essays when I went back to school for the naturalist program at Algonquin College. I admire her for giving a voice to the land.
5. Anne Lamott: writer and activist. After laughing my way through Bird by Bird, I have no shame in writing “shitty first drafts.” I relish giving myself the space to do it. I go back again and again to her advice in the book.
6. Elizabeth Gilbert: I love her approach on creativity and living a creative life.
7. Julia Child: Chef, author, top secret researcher. Lover of French culture. Persistent follower of dreams.
8. Emily Carr: I connected with her artwork at an exhibit at the Art Gallery of Ontario last summer and have since delved into her writing. I am inspired by her creative life. I look forward to discovering more inspiring Canadian women through a project I’m working on this spring.
Kate Monahan Outdoors 