In a final video message to her millions of followers, Nightbirde encourages people not to run from difficult emotions and to resist what she calls "toxic positivity."

Jane Kristen Marczewski, age 31, also known as Nightbirde, rose to fame last year when appearing on the TV show America's Got Talent. The young woman was in the midst of a battle with cancer and her mix of positivity with vulnerability and openness drew many people in.

Marczewski passed away on Monday, Feb. 21. In a video posted to her Instagram account on Tuesday, Feb. 22, she leaves a parting message for her fans.

"It’s like JANE knew the words she needed to leave us with before she left," her team writes in the caption of the video. "We hope her words comfort you all as you mourn."

"Just because you're sad or grieving doesn't mean you're not grateful and it doesn't mean that you're not hopeful," she says, encouraging people not to turn away from negative feelings. "It doesn't mean that you still aren't fighting for your life, that you still don't have it in you to keep going. But sadness and grief, and mourning, and lamenting, and screaming, and crying, these are ways that we honour what was lost."

Throughout the two-minute clip, she encourages people to face those difficult feelings and work through them, whether they're grieving the loss of a loved one or working through grief in other ways, such as facing a terminal illness.

"I heard a quote that said, 'sadness is the soul's way of saying this mattered.' I think grieving and feeling through all the emotions you feel - the sadness and the grief and the injustice and the anger and the loss and the bargaining - I think it's holy work."

She says that while it might be scary to face those difficult emotions just ignoring them or pretending they don't exist won't help the situation.

"Those feelings aren't going to leave you. You have to feel it. You can't fake the rest of your life like nothing bad happened and just whistle a happy tune all day. That's not what it is to be human."

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

A post shared by Nightbirde ⚡️ (@_nightbirde)

Everybody who might be getting a dose of a toxic positivity - (others telling you) 'just be happy, be happy, be happy' - you don't have to do that. You don't have to do that, and you don't have to feel guilty for being sad."

She says that was an incorrect thought which she had to battle herself, finally realizing that you can be sad while being grateful at the same time.

"Be sad and be grateful, and look at the twinkly lights, and feel your feelings. It's all real - the joy and the pain, it's all real. You don't have to pick one or the other - that life is beautiful or life is garbage. It's kind of both sometimes."

Marczewski's team says in the post that her friends and family have been overwhelmed with an outpouring of support over the last day.

A Celebration of Life Service service is being planned for Friday, March 4, in Ohio.