Lacey Noel Day 100 of 100 Days of Makeup - Princess Leia - "Take Your Broken Heart and Make Art"

DAY 100 OF MY#100DAYSOFMAKEUPCHALLENGE. I'm going to end this entire series with how it began. I have been in a constant battle with my depression and my anxiety for the past few years. There was a time where I had dreams, and ambitions, though as I got older, and had went through difficult times in my life, I began to feel that person wither away. In the mirror, once there was this young, hopeful woman who had things going for her. The next thing I knew, I was staring back at someone I didn't know anymore. I had let myself go so badly. It wasn't that I was lazy, or was too busy to take care of myself, I just simply didn't care anymore. I didn't care about my work or anything, because I felt like there was no place for me in this world. No place other than rotting alive on the couch, letting everything I once was so passionate about go. Just waste my life away, existing and nothing more. When Carrie Fisher passed, there was this quote from her I kept seeing. "Take your broken heart, and make it art." Ive sewn my broken heart back together, made made art with it. This whole project is built upon fighting against what is tearing me apart on the inside. My mental illness had taken my art away, and these 100 days was my way of becoming myself again, becoming an artist again. I have put my blood, sweat, tears, heart and soul into this project. If you ever feel like you've got nothing going for you, and that there's no use in trying, this whole project is proof that you can. I can't thank you all enough for your love, kindness and support throughout these past 100 Days. It's been quite a journey. Although this series has come to an end, I'm proud to say that I've regained hopes and dreams, and my artistry. I don't know where I'm going from here, but I promise it won't be boring. (Note: this look was inspired by the beautiful work of @raquelitagm)

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Rest In Peace Talia...

When I was eating pancakes yesterday morning, I was just scrolling down the news feed of Facebook when I saw something that caught my attention. At first, I didn’t believe the news, because I’ve heard rumors that it had ‘happened’ before from other people and they weren’t true, but the post that I’m talking about unfortunately came from the official page of Talia Joy. I read the paragraph the was attached to the photo over and over and I just couldn’t believe my eyes. The first sentence read:

"It is with a heavy heart that we share with all of you that Talia has earned her wings at 11:22am."

My heart sank. I just couldn't believe this. Talia Castellano, was so full of life. She had such a big, beautiful personality and it's just so sad and shocking to hear that she passed away. I knew that she hadn't been doing so well lately and I became really worried and concerned about her, but personally, I truly thought that she was going to make it.

 She was such a gorgeous, talented little girl and she was, and will always continue to be a big inspiration to those with and without cancer. She had big dreams and she wouldn't let her illness get in the way of them. She lived each day like it was her last, she lived life to the fullest. That's what I really admire about her. She accomplished so, so much in such little time and at such a young age.

 She inspired all of us to "Just keep swimming", no matter what happens.

When I heard that she was back in the hospital about a week ago, I decided to draw her. It pains me to hear that she is going through so much, and I wanted to do something nice for her.

With the drawing, I also typed out a small 'get well' letter for her and I put it on my Instagram, Twitter and Facebook fan page. It read:

"Dear Talia, I am so so sorry about all the horrible things that you have been going through lately. You are so incredibly strong, brave, creative, inspiring and simply amazing. It really pains me to hear about how much you're hurting at the moment. I can't imagine how it must feel... It makes me so sad... I hope and pray that you will survive your long, hard battle with cancer. As a bone marrow transplant survivor, I wish you the absolute best. Please stay strong. I love you. We all love you and we will all pray for your health. Hope you see this and hope you feel better soon!"

I feel really bad for her family. I can't imagine how difficult this time must be for them and I'm praying for them. Her sister, Mattia posted this video on Talia's YouTube channel saying how Talia made an impact on this world and that she brung more awareness to childhood cancer and brought so much inspiration to others. It was truly heartbreaking...

Childhood cancer is absolutely horrible and we need to do something about it. Through the documentaries that I've seen recently, there is very little money that goes to the research of this horrible disease. Together, we need to change this. And how do we do this? Well, so many people put so much attention towards other things and I think that if people take even a little bit of time to make an effort to learn more about cancer and how it affects it's victims, that would be a good start. Here's one of the documentaries I've watched. Little Talia is on there as well. If you currently don't have the time to watch this, please, please keep this in mind and watch it later.

http://youtu.be/oljTL1iuMmY

There are also charities, blood drives, and bone marrow donations out there that you can contribute to. If you can't afford to donate money, or not able to donate blood or bone marrow (like me) then you can at least spread the word and increase the awareness for childhood cancer.

Rest in peace Talia... We love you so much and you will never stop inspiring us. Thank you so much for your wonderful impact in this world.