MEGHAN YOUNG is a professional Instagram star. She gets paid to climb beautiful mountains, photograph their glittering (闪闪发光的) summits and post about her adventures to her fans.

Young graduated from Seattle University’s school of Law in 2015. But she decided she didn’t want to become a lawyer. Her parents were shocked by the decision. “They were worried about what I was going to do,” Young says. “How was I going to find career stability?”

But her legal skills haven’t gone to waste. Once companies express an interest in working with her, there’s the tough task of negotiating the terms (条款) of the deal. And the work is still unfinished even after she’s done take the photos. When Young returns from her adventures, she carefully edits the images and writes captions to go along with them. Once the posts are public, businesses sometimes don’t pay on time. That's when she needs to follow up. Her least favorite problem is when she discovers that a company has used her photos in a way that violates the terms of the contract.That usually leads to time-consuming email exchanges.

Social media influencing is not as effortless as it seems. The stress it creates even has its own name: creator burnout (精疲力竭) . Young used to obsessively check her post’s performance, which she says will “drive you crazy”, so she stopped. But if she doesn’t reply, people will stop commenting.Without that engagement on her posts, brands won’t want to keep paying her. Therefore, she had to accept the fact that she’ll be tethered (拴住) to her phone as long as she’s in this line of work.

Beyond the day-to- day headaches of a career online, social media’s inherent (固有的) uncertainly also poses problems for creators. There are times when Young is staring at the calendar without another project in the works. In the long term, it can be risky to focus a career on a single platform, or even on social media itself.

Yet Young says it’s all been worth it, because the sponsorship allow her to spend much of her life in the mountains. Her ideal day starts with unzipping her tent at dawn so she can take pictures of the sunrise reflecting on snowy summits around her. Few jobs in the world would allow her to do that so consistently (一贯地) .

I recently spent two years in the Arctic filming the series Blue Planet. I love being in an environment that has changed for 20,000 years. Of course, it’s freezing, but it must be a healthy place because you never catch colds.

When I’m filming, I like to really feel how lonely the environment is. Filming underwater involves cutting through thick ice and diving in tied to a line. The person at the other end has to be ready to pull you out fast if necessary.

Originally I was a research diver for the British Antarctic Survey project, but for me science lacked excitement. I’d always enjoyed photography, and whenever camera teams passed through, they encouraged me to watch and learn. I was then able to move into filming in 1985 and have concentrated on Arctic and Antarctic wildlife ever since.

I prefer face to face with the animals I’m filming. I haven’t got into the water with killer whales yet, but I plan to. Of course, it’s dangerous if you choose the wrong moment. They are big animals and can move fast, so I’d be stupid to film them searching for food.

I’ve never had problems with polar bears, although once I was frightened when one tried to get into my tent. Polar bears are bold, clever and dangerous. But I made this one see I wasn’t about to attack it—I’m sure it realized I wouldn’t hurt it.

When I came back home from my trips, I work in the mornings and spend the afternoons swimming to keep fit. Now I’m fifty, filming is harder. The challenge for me is to continue to deliver high-quality work.

When Lauren Marler began having disturbing symptoms at the age of 15, she somehow knew it was cancer. After some research, she realized she was right. But that was just the beginning of her horrific cancer journey. Marler's doctors discovered that what she had was truly unlucky-but she's still here to tell her tale.

In 2005, Marler noticed blood in her stool; she was too embarrassed to tell anyone. For two years she kept silent. “I looked up my symptoms and knew I had all the signs for colon cancer，” she says. “However, my mom thought I was overreacting.” Eventually, the doctor she visited confirmed she had a colon cancer at the age of 17.

“The doctor said that I needed to get to the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Centre immediately，” Marler recalls. There she met with Miguel Rodriguez­Bigas, who removed Marler's entire colon and almost all of her rectum(直肠).

But just nine months later, the cancer returned. “When my mom told me, I just felt like, ‘You've got to be kidding me. I just want to be a normal kid.’” After another surgery, three months of chemotherapy(化疗), Marler believed that her cancer battles had to be over.

Then, during a routine scan to ensure that she was still in remission(重病的缓解期) five years later, 23­year­old Marler got a call. “The doctor called to tell me that the scan showed a spot in my uterus(子宫) and it was endometrial cancer, an aggressive one. We went back to MD Anderson to meet with Pedro T. Ramirez, who recommended a full hysterectomy(子宫切除).”

Puzzled by Marler's history, Dr. Rodriguez­Bigas recommended that she get genetic testing. The testing revealed the bad news: Marler had an incredibly rare disorder called CMMRD. Dr. Rodriguez­Bigas explained that the disorder makes a person likely to suffer from different cancers. There is no treatment for the disorder, only preventive care-primarily regular scans to catch any developing cancers early. Armed with an answer for the grief and suffering she had endured for the past decade of her life, Marler actually felt a sense of relief. “It's heartbreaking, but at least I have an answer.”

Three years later, Marler was unable to shake what she thought was sinus infection(鼻窦感染). Marler's mother knew something wasn't right when Marler refused to go back to the hospital because of the level of pain she felt.

On this trip to the hospital, Marler was admitted and scanned. “I couldn't believe it was happening again. The medical test showed that it was lymphoma(淋巴瘤), one of the hardest types to treat. The doctors told me the treatment was going to be so painful that I would hate them by the time it was over. They were right.” Marler endured six different types of chemotherapy at the same time, one of which was delivered through her spinal cord. She was required to be admitted to the hospital every other week for six days. “I was so weak that I couldn't get off my couch. I lost all of my hair, and I had severe body aches，” she recalls.

Today, at 28, Marler is once again in remission-something she definitely doesn't take for granted. She credits her family for her ability to endure her repeated battles with a smile. She says, “I laugh a lot. That's one thing my family does really well-we can find the humour in any situation. I've always found a way to laugh. I do worry about what's next, but I can't let it consume me. I've learned to live with it.”