Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Clare Veronica Walsh was Fearless Too


I was wasting time on Twitter Monday, while my boys finished skiing. Many of the people I follow were tweeting about a Clare Walsh. I’ve never met Clare Walsh but learned that she was a teacher at Soul Cycle, in her early twenties and passed away on Christmas Day.  Details were scant and I’m still not sure why I found myself searching for them. Perhaps it would help to have an explanation for someone young and seemingly healthy dying. One thing was clear this Clare Walsh was special.  Though clearly beautiful, many expressed that her inner beauty was remarkable.

In my weird hunt for information about this beautiful person I had never met, I came across a stirring tribute on a blog called Stilettos on Sullivan. Caitlin described a Clare that was full of energy and adept at motivating others. And then in talking about how Clare lived her life, she called her “fearless” and commented that she wanted to be more fearless like Clare. For those of you who read my blog regularly you’ll recall fearlessness was my friend Jen Goodman Linn's platform. Her website was youfearless.com. I made this connection and continued along. In remembering her beloved teacher, Caitlin advises us not to take anything for granted and to “dance your ass off everyday.” I got goose bumps. Whenever I am blue I watch Jen’s Happy To Be 40 video which you must watch if you haven't already.

The fearlessness, the ability to inspire others, the spinning (Jen you’ll recall started Cycle for Survival) and the dancing…you may say coincidence but I think it’s more than that. I think Jen and Clare are dancing together and it’s up to those of us who are here to dance our asses off everyday.
What are you fearful of? How can you envision being more fearless? When is the last time you danced? 

23 comments:

  1. Zipline!12 times! Thanks to you, I conquered my fear. One small step for women. Thank you for the inspiration. Never too old to be fearless.On to the next

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  2. Did you ever find out how Clare died? Now I'm dying to know. So sad.
    Nick and I danced in his mom's kitchen on Christmas day. I couldn't believe it. This slow song came on and we were the only ones in there and he asked me to dance. He HATES dancing. Nick was fearless on that day :) I was so proud.

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  3. No tips here on how to be more fearless, but I know I should work on it!

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  4. Tiff think about breaking out of a safe zone, what you'd like to strive for. Gina- Nick will conquer that fear again with the first dance. Randi- love the zip lines, trying new things and hitting your goals, keep going.

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  5. Wow they do have some amazing similarities! Leaves you wondering what could have happened to such a young and healthy person on Christmas Day. So sorry for her family!
    Fearlessness is something that is always on my mind and something that I still haven't figured out yet. I'm always in awe of the people who appear to be fearless.
    My biggest fear is still speaking to groups of people. I've done it many times and I know many people have that same fear but for some reason being logical about it doesn't take the fear away. It's just practice and getting yourself out there but I do hope that someday I'm fearless doing it.

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  6. What interesting timing you have. As I typed the URL for your blog, I was thinking about what I'm doing today at noon. Something new and I don't know what to expect. I'm sure I didn't use the word fearless! I calmed myself by noting that it isn't the first time I've stepped off the ledge and it won't be the last. It seems I thrive on making myself uncomfortable for the sake of seeing what else in the world is out there that I might be missing. For me it isn't fearlessness. It's curiosity, perhaps. Frankly, my knees are forever shaking.

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  7. I did the same thing as you, Lauren, I read Twitter, was alarmed and intrigued, searched...and then stumbled upon the same blog post - which was beautifully written. I think the intrigue was in trying to find meaning in an otherwise heart-breaking situation...in trying to understand why life is so unfair. Both of these women sound like beautiful spirits and I am so glad that they were able to have such positive influence on so many people's lives.

    Here I was cursing my own "crappy Christmas" when really, I had no right to be doing so. It goes to show you that you can't take anything in life for granted. And to enjoy life. Crappy Christmas' and all.

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  8. I lost my brother too young last year. He too could be described as fearless. It was a comfort to me knowing that he had accomplished so many of the goals he set for himself.

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  9. Karen, I'm so sorry to hear about your brother. Is it odd that lost too soon and fearless seem to go together, not sure. Cameo, I think the crap and framing the crap is key. And Caron, the suspense at what your risk-taking endeavor is.

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  10. I need to work on being more fearless. I will say that in the last few years, I have learned to do and experience more.
    Thanks for sharing such a touching post.

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  11. I am not fearful of too much anymore...that's the good thing about getting older I guess. But I have this crazy fear that I'll never be good enough at what I do. That I'll get fired for being stupid. So ridiculous I know because even if I do get fired, it wouldn't be the worst thing that could happen to me!

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  12. Thank you for the kind post on Clare.

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  13. of course anonymous, feel for everyone who knew her and is missing her and questioning things right now. Ameena, I think a desire to do your best is understandable. The "fear" of losing a job I bet ensures you doing a great job there. Kristen you seem to be a "doer" which to me involves facing fears/trying things out.

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  14. So sad. Life just gets harder and harder. I find that the most trying thing about getting older is continuing to find the light and happiness in everyday.

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  15. Becoming more fearless is an on-going endeavor, but I think gets easier with age. Kudos to Clare for figuring it all out at such a young age! My kids are my daily inspiration for becoming more fearless-the best way I know how is to put away all the self-doubt talk and "just do it"! Dancing??? Will be hitting the dance floor tonight :-)

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  16. Happy and healthy New Year!!!!!

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  17. Lauren - thank you so much for the lovely words about Clare and about what i wore about her. it's funny - i so rarely blog about my personal life or personal feelings, but i was so overwhelmed by Clare's passing, i had to get out how i feel about her. turns out, speaking from the heart is the most powerful - so Clare DID inspire me to be more fearless - to write what i felt :)

    lots of love - and happy new year! xx

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  18. Caitlin, your post was beautiful thank you for stopping by here. The silence now surrounding Clare's passing is odd to me.

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  19. i have been haunted too. knew her from the check-in at Soul. check out davidholtactor on google. interesting piece there. happy new year lauren - xoxo - Jolie

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  20. ....sorry - davidholtactor doesn't get you there - try "Clare Veronica Walsh no subject line can describe this". xoxo

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  21. Clare was an amazing energy that I was lucky enough to know. We created art, shared beers, and talked. I was introduced to Clare by a good friend three summers ago. I remember very specifically meeting her on the corner of 77th & Amsterdam that summer afternoon. Straight away I was taken by her vibe. There was something inside her that was different than other 19 year olds. Shortly after meeting we shot a short film together in my living room written by my friend. She was amazing and fearless as I watched her play this character on my couch. Simply talented. She was tapping into something very very deep and personal and I was moved by her openness.

    One of the last times Clare and I shared time together was after a friends band played in the city. We headed to a bar and ended up talking after everyone left. We talked about all sorts including boys. She was mildly upset that night because a boy stood her up. I remember thinking this guy must be an absolute idiot. He can't see this is a very special girl? She took it all in stride. She knew life is too short and precious to sweat the small stuff. Because in the end...... it's all small stuff.

    I will not soon forget the impression Clare left on my life. Such a beautiful girl inside and out.

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  22. thank you so much for adding this. It's amazing to me Clare's energy and spirit at 19, 20. So special.

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  23. Like you, I didn't know Clare, but heard about it on Twitter. Your post is amazing. I had been wanting to blog about it but didn't quite know how to put the words together to honor someone who I didn't know. You did a great job of it though.

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