Fight For Life: Style As A Secret Weapon | GLAM4GOOD

This entry was posted by Rosalyn Dambrosio on October 2, 2020 at 5:27 pm

Fight For Life: Style As A Secret Weapon | GLAM4GOOD
Every now and then an image or a collection of images can be so beautiful that it can transform the way you think about something – even if it’s as destructive and pervasive as cancer. That’s the power of Angeles Almuna’s social media feeds where Angeles is harnessing her love of style to empower her cancer story. Angeles is an artist through and through; she’s a stylist, photographer, dancer and of late, an all-around cancer crusher who’s chipping away the ugliness associated with the illness with fashion-infused videos and photos that are both vulnerable and triumphant at the same time. She is the ultimate GLAM4GOOD heroine – someone who is using courage and personal flair to overcome something that’s physically and emotionally invasive while inspiring others. Angeles’s desire to look good is really an affirmation of life in the face of the great challenges that lay ahead for her.
She feels that personal style has a strange healing power because it’s an opportunity to be brave; it’s showing the world that you can continue to live your life with the same personal expression that you’ve always put forth, even in the face of illness. “I put all my effort forward to look good…I try to give my best energy to others that are fighting alongside me.” That said, accepting the physical changes weren’t easy – especially as a woman known for her impeccable taste. Angeles said that going bald from chemotherapy was very upsetting but she figured out how to wrap her head in a turban, which she fashioned from a long cotton scarf that she adorned with pins and vintage brooches. Some people just assumed that she was rocking one of her fashion forward new looks and that nothing out of the ordinary was going on.
Like many who have suffered from cancer, however, she admits that there are extremely dark moments when there seems to be no light at the end of the tunnel. “One day I was so down…I was crying, not eating, no energy…I wanted to disappear and wake up from the bad nightmare. I wished this cancer thing was a film that ended happily after two hours…but of course that didn’t happen,” she says.

Luckily, like many creative people, Angeles is able to stay positive throughout the emotional roller-coaster by keeping her artistic juices flowing. Her surgeon encouraged her to continue to work (when she has the energy) because holding on to one’s passions are a powerful tool in overcoming sickness. She found that sharing her difficult journey over social media fulfilled her in a way that she hadn’t anticipated. On Facebook  she could announce when she was going to “Chemoland,” and a different friend would volunteer to join her each session. Over Instagram she documented her chemo treatments, counting them down with numbers and a smile. And finally, she was able to illustrate how to still look amazing in the midst of cancer

Luckily, like many creative people, Angeles is able to stay positive throughout the emotional roller-coaster by keeping her artistic juices flowing. Her surgeon encouraged her to continue to work (when she has the energy) because holding on to one’s passions are a powerful tool in overcoming sickness. She found that sharing her difficult journey over social media fulfilled her in a way that she hadn’t anticipated. On Facebook  she could announce when she was going to “Chemoland,” and a different friend would volunteer to join her each session. Over Instagram she documented her chemo treatments, counting them down with numbers and a smile. And finally, she was able to illustrate how to still look amazing in the midst of cancer

Angeles says that the whole cancer experience has been filled with both horrible and also not-so-horrible moments. When she was first diagnosed, she didn’t quite know what to expect and to compound that, she was in Miami without her family. After the initial “Why me?” reaction, she felt vulnerable, and then angry. But one day she thought that this might be happening to her for a reason. So after eight months of treatment, something motivated her to express herself online, to create posts on her blog, and to share on Instagram and Twitter  allowing her to connect with people in a unique way. She found that her illness gave her a tool for which to communicate using her own voice, and with her one-of-a-kind style. Artistic projects and collaborations were the fruit of her sharing, and this was an unexpected but wonderful consequence. She gave a speech at the University of Miami during Cancer Awareness Month, was invited to The White House, and was both honored and hosted events to promote knowledge about the disease.

After a cancer-surviving friend suggested that she do something special on the day that she cut her hair, Angeles decided to make a video as an experimental project. Having it filmed felt like the right way for her to experience that moment and to share it with others. “I wanted to show strength, reality and beauty but at the same time expose vulnerability, pain, life, love, art and the real me,” she says. Angeles presented the video – which could be considered a short film – at a local Miami festival called NOLA. The director is Miami based filmmaker, Carlos de Varona. The film is titled The Storm Inside Castanet. “When you have cancer and your confidence is gone. I wanted to say that even though I look different, there is so much beauty in winning this battle,” she says. “I learned that there is something really powerful inside of me that allows me to deal with this…also that my body is a temple and it has to be my priority, so if I have to slow down in my daily life to be less stressed and more healthy, then I will do it,” she says. Finally, she adds that she is stronger than she ever thought she was and is willing to fight with all her heart, an amazing message to just about anyone facing anything hard.

After a cancer-surviving friend suggested that she do something special on the day that she cut her hair, Angeles decided to make a video as an experimental project. Having it filmed felt like the right way for her to experience that moment and to share it with others. “I wanted to show strength, reality and beauty but at the same time expose vulnerability, pain, life, love, art and the real me,” she says. Angeles presented the video – which could be considered a short film – at a local Miami festival called NOLA. The director is Miami based filmmaker, Carlos de Varona. The film is titled The Storm Inside Castanet. “When you have cancer and your confidence is gone. I wanted to say that even though I look different, there is so much beauty in winning this battle,” she says. “I learned that there is something really powerful inside of me that allows me to deal with this…also that my body is a temple and it has to be my priority, so if I have to slow down in my daily life to be less stressed and more healthy, then I will do it,” she says. Finally, she adds that she is stronger than she ever thought she was and is willing to fight with all her heart, an amazing message to just about anyone facing anything hard.

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