Dear Diary,

Time never ceases to pull a fast one on me. It’s been one year since I joined the amazing team at Interview En L’air and my goodness, what a year it has been! We lost David Bowie, Prince, Gene Wilder and Muhammad Ali. The Cubs won the World Series, Cartoon Network destroyed the new Powerpuff Girls, Zika put a halt on a lot of vacation plans and Britain told the EU to kiss their @$$. Harambe went to gorilla heaven and another ape won the Presidential election. I mean, Donald J. Trump was elected into office. John Glenn left this Earth for the last time and Fidel Castro died an old man, after surviving over 600 assasinations attempts. Politics, natural disasters and celebrity deaths made it seem like there were a lot more things to be angry about than celebrate but, the glass is half full (of wine) right? Somebody somewhere was thrilled about the return of Gilmore Girls and people’s lives were changed by Pokémon Go. I mean literally changed, some people actually died playing. All jokes aside, some amazing things happened this year as well. The tiger population increased! All those ridiculous ice bucket challenges actually made a huge impact in treating ALS. Climate change was taken seriously, for a little while. Whichever way you spin it, 2016 was pretty crazy and I think many of us are thankful it has come to an end.

Personally speaking, 2016 was a year that demanded a lot of internal reflection and strength. I think a lot of millennials can agree on that. After feeling so empowered by using our political voices for the first time in 2008, I think several of us were slapped in the face in November 2016. Despite Michael Moore warning us, and despite thousands of disaffected Americans demanding to be heard, for 8 years we were under some sort of spell convincing us that America was changing. We were too busy celebrating gay marriage and fighting for #blacklivesmatter to see how many people felt disenfranchised and outraged by a progressive President. I mean, before that, those with the ability to vote elected a guy who couldn’t even say the word nuclear.  And they elected him twice. (Well, at least definitely once #florida2000).  It was a painful realization to come to terms with but, considering the history of politics in this nation, I can’t believe how shocked I was that Trump won the election. Whether it was with the help of the Russians or just the American people, he did it. And he’s just one orange thing at the top of a long list of unfortunate events that we endured in 2016.

Alas, we can’t let the setbacks and trying, trying moments of 2016 hold us back. It’s a new year which means new resolutions and new goals. We have to take love and understanding to a whole new level, and do what we can to save our planet and all its inhabitants. We must continue to use our voices to fight evil, and remember that tomorrow never dies.

Xoxo,

Mad Swan