The “Bucket List” that is healing the world
13-year-old Talia Joy Castellano’s six-year battle with cancer ended Tuesday as her body finally succumbed to a disease too relentless for it to overcome. “Tiny” and “frail” may be words to describe the condition of Talia’s physicality from outward appearances, but they definitely are not words anyone would use to describe the ferocious spirit of this young Lover of Life.
“Castellano, who was diagnosed with stage-four neuroblastoma when she was just 7 years old, started using makeup ‘as a wig’ shortly after she found out she was sick. In July 2011, she began filming makeup tutorials in her bedroom — short, how-to videos for the glam, colorful looks she invented. Within months, she had hundreds of thousands of subscribers and millions of views on her more than 150 YouTube clips,” US Magazine.
Talia became an honorary “Cover Girl” with the help of her friend Ellen DeGeneres. But one of the biggest gifts Talia has given to humanity is her Bucket List. Five days before she died, Talia jotted down 76 items she wanted to cross off her Bucket List and posted them on her Facebook page. And while she actually got to experience a few of her young heart’s desires, Talia’s request to the world was that we, you and I, go out to all the wonderful places that she had so far only dreamt of and live out those special moments in each of our lives, just in case she did not have a chance to in hers.
You see, Talia, even in her most vulnerable and weakened physical condition, understood on a very deep level that her life was not about her. It was about those whose lives she touched. And even after her passing, she is gifting to us all an opportunity to experience Who We Really Are through the expression of Who She Really Is. Her life is a bright light of hope. Her message is one of love and peace. Her Soul is a spiritual activist, continuing to do the healing work it came here to do in a world which weeps to know and experience itself as one without pain, even though, ironically, she endured extraordinary physical pain and suffering for the largest portion of her physical life here on earth.
Perhaps today, or maybe sometime in this upcoming week, we can each find a moment or two to cross off one or two things on this colorful and playful list. After all, how could we turn away such an extraordinary gift? And as we do, maybe we can find a quiet space in the center of each of our hearts to send a prayer of gratitude and appreciation to Talia, a beautiful young girl who most of us have never physically met, for giving us the opportunity to remember once again who we truly are and to experience why we are truly here.
Here is a photo of Talia Joy Castellano’s Bucket List:
If you want to share photos of you completing any of Talia’s Bucket List items, you can post them on her Facebook page Angels For Talia.
(Lisa McCormack is the Managing Editor & Administrator of The Global Conversation. She is also a member of the Spiritual Helper team at www.ChangingChange.net, a website offering emotional and spiritual support. To connect with Lisa, please e-mail her at Lisa@TheGlobalConversation.com.)
