The Year that Was

The holidays.

A time when so many indulge and look back.

It is the midst of the hustle and bustle, I find myself wondering how many of us take the time and reflect.

Over the last couple days I have thought about 2018. Not just through the lense of my life but I’ve thought of those around me and of people I have never met.

The only person that can judge if the year was a success is the individual looking back at their last 365. However there have been some real highs and real lows globally. In my life 2018 has been a year marked with new beginnings and a few challenges. It has brought me many laughs, much joy and on the grand scale very little turbulence (at least none that I can’t shake off and move on from). It is my hope that most feel this way as we enter the new year however I understand that reality is not like hope.

Here are some of the headlines that gave me pause this last year, while not all positive things they invoked thought, debate and caused reaction.

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In January Iceland brings to law a company that has 25 employees or more must pay both men and women equally. Also this month the first primates were cloned using a single cell nuclear transfer in China. In March the world said goodbye to the last male White Rhino marking the near extinction of this species. March 24th in 800 cities a March for our lived March took to the streets calling for an end to gun violence in schools. May 19th the world got a new princess and we were introduced to the Duke and Dutchess of Sussex. Saudi Arabia had made some great moves forward first in ending its 35 year movie theater ban in April and on June 24th when the government granted women the right to drive. Also in June the US made waves by separating children from parents at the border and pictures of them locked in chain link cages were everywhere. July 10th the heroic cave rescue came to an end reuniting a dozen young soccer players and their coach with their loved ones. July 25th water was discovered on Mars, breathing new life into the debate if you’d live on Mars (at least in my home). August 2nd Apple became the world’s first trillion dollar company in the US. September 6th India decriminalized homosexuality. September also saw Christine Blasey Ford testify about her alleged sexual assault by later confirmed Supreme Court Judge the man who loves beer Brett Kavanaugh. October 16th a cloud of smoke could be seen over Canada as it legalized the recreational use of marijuana. In November wildfires devastate California and the US election saw a shift in the house. Decmeber brought legal Abortion into Ireland and a close to another year.

The above doesn’t even scratch the surface of the year that was. Everyone dependent on where you live, what you value and who you are will look back and reflect differently.

I myself have had an interesting year. I really tried to find myself again this year. The last couple years I got further and further from who I wanted to be. While I am still finding her again this year we came a long way. In January I went to the Women’s March in Calgary, I started writing again, and started sacredvenus.com in June. I started a GoFundMe to raise money for period products for those that can’t afford them. While it was not a success the the money I did raise I bought and donated them to the Calgary Food Bank in time to get them in Christmas hampers. I left a job to start a new one that allows me to make choices and mistakes without fear of my job being threatened. I made new friends, said goodbye to old ones. I felt love and supported even when the choices I was making didn’t make sense. I went to the Pride Parade and was surrounded by accepting love. I was in an accident (well 2) and was ok both times. I laughed, I cried, I loved, I lived. By those standards 2018 was a success.

So here is to 2019, may it be as memorable as this one.

🖤 C