Shop FEARLESS. with Simply Zoë and Vachement Suisse

Simply Zoë and Vachement Suisse are excited to debut our exclusive ‘FEARLESS’ collection: a line of t-shirts and tote bags - with a percentage of proceeds going to cancer research.

It really seems these days that more and more people are personally touched by cancer. Whether this is their own diagnosis, a family member, or a friend. At a minimum, you know somebody who knows somebody. I have my own diagnosis and I recently lost my dad to lung cancer. Cancer has devastated my life but it has also presented me with a very different outlook on life and the path that I have chosen to follow.

Sarah of Vachement Suisse, one of my closest friends, talked to me about collaborating on a venture where we could raise money and awareness for cancer research as sadly, I am not the only friend she has with this illness.

We have many ideas and projects in the pipeline, and have chosen to launch this collaboration with our “FEARLESS” line. We chose the word fearless because of what it means to us. When we first settled on this word, I had a clear idea of what fearless means to me. The most common definition of fearless is “showing a lack of fear” but this isn’t what fearless means to me.

It’s ok to be scared or nervous, to have worries and concerns. These are normal human reactions, but how you choose to deal with these emotions is the important part. To acknowledge your fears but to approach them with confidence and intelligence is to be fearless. I’ve so often been told how brave I am during this cancer journey – I don’t feel brave, I feel like it happened to me and I’m learning to live my best life with it because in my view there is no alternative. I will not accept that there is nothing other than a good life for me – and that to me is fearless.

In October, my dad died after a frighteningly quick battle. He was always the constant in my life. He was the bravest and strongest person I knew. When I reflect on the life he led and how he coped with his diagnosis, the meaning of fearless became even more special to me. He was the very epitome of fearless in my eyes. The decisions he made and the path he took during his life would not have been without worries and concerns but he continued, confident that any bumps and/or crisis could be dealt with and solved. He meant the world to so many people and touched the lives of so many people in ways that I am only just finding out.

We were fortunate to be able to be with him once the illness took hold and to be with him right until the end. And while my heart breaks for him and the life so cruelly taken and for us, his wife and my brother, that we lost our rock, our constant, our sounding board, our great big funny man, that was the moment that I really knew what fearless was.

I only hope I can honour him, make him proud and live as fearlessly as he did.