3 highlights of 2017 that made it a good year
By now, 2018 is well in play and 2017 seems like a speck in the rearview mirror, but last year was memorable in more ways than one. It even served as a beacon of hope for some. Now, if we are being entirely honest, 2017 was no golden year. Ridden with bizarre political outcomes, rising conflict and plenty of confused individuals, it was actually quite cringeworthy! Lucky for us, it had redeeming moments. Here are some personal favorites to help draw you to the bright side and convince you that 2017 was a pretty darn good year.
The Women’s March
With an overwhelming turnout estimated at 5.2 million in the United States, the 2017 Women’s March was considered to be the largest single-day protest in U.S. history and served as a platform for women everywhere to find strength in numbers. Everything from gender equality to healthcare reform to freedom of religion were scrutinized and that historic day was just the beginning. The Women’s March initiated many more women-led movements such as the #MeToo movement. Though long overdue, these developments are gaining strength and momentum with each passing day and are creating some much-needed impact in all parts of society.
The year of scientific advancement
It seems that while the rest of the world was occupied counting down the days of Trump’s presidency or wondering whether the man-child running North Korea was going to explode, scientists have kept busy with new scientific developments. The World Health Organization revealed a new and cheap vaccine that will help eradicate cholera in the coming years. Two neutron stars were witnessed colliding for the first time ever in a motion called kilanova, which is suspected to create the heavy metals of our world. Space X successfully launched and landed a recyclable rocket (kind of a big deal), and lets not forget, the largely submerged continent of Zealandia was just recognized as the seventh largest geological continent (also kind of a big deal). With time comes scientific advancement, and 2017 was no different, but scientific gains provided a refreshing perspective that even politics could not tarnish.
The Natural Disaster Phenomenon: Humans being more human
Nothing compares to the strong sense of community following a natural disaster. The grief caused by last year’s natural disasters could be slightly offset by the remarkable displays of humanity that were witnessed from the flooded streets or burning backdrops. When Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico, chef José Andrés started serving 100,000 plates a day through his NGO, World Central Kitchen. When California was being lit in flames, a man stopped his car on the freeway to save a rabbit on the side of the road. When Hurricane Harvey reached Texas, Pro athlete JJ Watt raised 37 million dollars in relief funds with the help of over 200,000 individuals. And these are merely the stories that reached headlines. Around the world people selflessly risked their lives to save perfect strangers and a little faith in humanity was restored.
So, was 2017 perfect? By no means. But it was pretty good. For every mistake we made, someone else out there would cut us some slack to keep us from drowning. If this bright side talk is too optimistic, rest assured all you need do is skim through any other webpage to find criticism of 2017. For this reason, I invite you to join me in looking at what we did right in 2017 so that we can do even better in 2018.
Comments