Ahh 2019 how are ya?
With the Christmas tree on the front lawn and the “year in review” stories flooding the feed, the end of the holiday season is here and start of the new year is upon us. I write this while my sister is in tears at our kitchen island at the thought of getting on a school bus tomorrow.
Many people were very happy to see this year be put behind them, “thank u, next” was the common theme. But before I jump into 2019, I wanted to reflect not on my personal highs and lows of 2018 but rather reflecting on the highs of the year on a global scale.
I know everyone loves their “top nine” posts but here is a collection of my “top nine” positive events, changes, discoveries in the past 365 days.
- The Thai Cave Rescue, where 12 young boys and their soccer coach were trapped in a cave. Getting caught by the monsoon rains, the group was stuck in the cave for ten days. On July 2nd, British divers found the boys but then struggled to get them out, due to the monsoon season. All boys and their coach were rescued after 17 days of being trapped. The world watched this potential tragedy turn into a miraculous rescue. We were able to watch selfless and courageous actions of both Thailand SEALS and British divers to bring these boys home.
- In October, Starbucks opened the first Signing Store, yes all the employees at this store are fluent in American Sign Language. The Starbucks Signing Store is the first store in the United States where all employees are fluent in sign. Additionally, Starbucks created “I Sign” pins for employees at any of the 14,606 US locations. This is a huge positive change for American Sign Language users and also raised awareness to the deaf community.
- When the midterm elections rolled around, voter turnout rocketed for the first time since 1982. In years prior, 40% was the average of eligible voters coming out and casting a ballot. This past midterm the voting turnout jumped up to 49%, 113 million people voted. The 2018 midterm election is the first midterm election in history to have over 100 million voters. Maybe it was the flood of posts with people posing with “I voted” stickers. Or Taylor Swift calls to the voting booths. Or maybe just an overall need for change that pushed more eligible voters out the door, but hey this is the type of energy we needed towards the end of 2018.
- In June, ten Saudi Arabian women were allowed to obtain driver licenses. These women, quite literally, paved the road for the women of Saudi Arabia to be allowed to operate motor vehicles. With the driving ban lifted, there has been an increase in female employment and university registration. With having a license in hand, Saudi Arabian women are challenging the social norms of their culture. This is the type of change that must progress in 2019. The ladies can drive.
- The avocado made 2018 its year lemme tell ya. You see the avocado alternates between “heavy” and “light” seasons, and after the light season of 2017, 2018 was rich, creamy and filled with avocados! According to the Food Network, the United States consumed over 2.4 billion pounds of avocados this year! You keep ordering that avo toast and guac okay!
- In July, scientists and astronomers teamed up to discover a quasar named, PSO J352.4034-15.3373 (P352-15 for short), and it is the brightest object in the universe. So, what the hell is a quasar, well upon further investigation a quasar is an object in space like a galaxy and it is fueled by like a crazy big black hole. P352-15 is 13 billion light years away from Earth and is quite young. For all you doubters and haters out there, there was a bright light in 2018 🙂
- Now I think if I failed to mention this 2018 milestone I would have four college friends, two high school friends, and a prom date actually harm me. So yes, the Boston Red Sox won the World Series! The hailed and beloved Boston Red Sox’s brought home their fourth title since 2004 at the conclusion of Game 5 at the Dodger Stadium. You know who you are, you’re welcome.
- Your favorite chocolate will be getting smarter in the future. In the late days of December, Mars committed $1 Billion dollars to preventing child labor, deforestation, and work exploitation within the cocoa supply market. Mars is working on getting all the cocoa for their products through independent organizations and working to get GPS systems for the issue of getting cocoa from illegal land. The Mars Company’s equality cocoa plans will ensure that the cocoa needed for all types of M&M’s, Snickers, Twix, and Dove will not be coming from protected land or being harvested through child labor programs.
- And on a smaller global scale, in the final days of 2018 the Lang household had some highs of our own. The young one made it down a steep blue trail, dawning a panda ski helmet. Thomas successfully applied to all of his colleges and was accepted to a few as well. My father discovered Spotify. No other comment needed aside from the fact I doubt I will ever see my headphones again. My mom recreated four of her childhood Christmas recipes and came to the horrifying realization of exactly what made them taste so good, a lot of freakin butter.
2019 has many new lessons, new adventures, new music, new people, new places and new dilemmas in store. And I can’t wait for a whole new batch of 365 days.
Speaking of new….
Something I have been thinking about for a long time is creating a momentswithemma.com Instagram account. This account would be posts of just small phrases, blog updates, and of course some coastlines.
A goal of mine for 2019 is to expand this platform to allow more access to my current audience and perspective audiences. This Instagram will allow me to post more frequently, instead of like every other month. Keep an eye out, some new year new, posts and new growth!
If there is anything that you would want to see written or any ideas for future posts please comment below! Always looking for something to noodle on 🙂
Happy New Year!
Sincerely, Emma
Sources:
https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/mars-child-labor-sustainability/
https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/mars-commits-1b-to-get-child-labor-out-of-cocoa/
https://www.statista.com/statistics/591263/average-avocado-consumption-us-per-week/
https://www.ranker.com/list/scientific-breakthroughs-of-2018/ranker-science
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/04/world/middleeast/saudi-arabia-drivers-licenses-women.html
https://www.statista.com/statistics/218366/number-of-international-and-us-starbucks-stores/
https://news.starbucks.com/news/eight-things-to-know-about-the-new-starbucks-signing-store
https://www.cnn.com/specials/asia/thailand-cave-rescue
Photo Credit: Igboston or other respective owner
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