i want to take a moment before it turns into next year and note all the beautiful things that happened this year, because if i don’t note the good things, i can get a little fraught and fraught sometimes makes me stuck, so hence the need to remember the good things.

here we go.

the supreme court made marriage a right for all sexual orientations under the us constitution. love wins and all we want is to be loved and so this is a big wonderful tremendous thing.

members of congress introduced a bill that would update the civil rights act of 1964 to fully protect people based on gender and sexual orientation under a new Equality Act.

we’re finally having serious/uncomfortable conversations about systemic racism and its impact globally, culturally, individually.

the number of people in the world, below the poverty line has fallen from 1.75 billion in 1999 to 836 million.

gambia, a small west african nation where 76% of the girls have undergone female genital mutilation, has banned the brutal practice.

the nobel prize went to three researchers fighting diseases of the poor.

africa went a year without any new polio cases.

women voted for the first time ever in saudi arabia.

justin trudeau appointed canada’s first cabinet to have equal numbers of men and women.

scientists discovered liquid water on mars and the presence of waterlogged molecules, called perchlorates—living organisms!

humans built and launched a space probe and flew by Pluto and beheld ice mountains as tall as the rockies! and blue skies! in my mind: mother of oceans, what else is going on up there?

there were diplomatic breakthroughs and negotiations between the united states and cuba after FIVE DECADES.

195 countries came to an agreement on climate change—remember when this seemed impossible? cooperation is happening.

a racist bully and a compassionate socialist stand at the forefront of a political campaign. i left the racist bully part in, because i think he’s here to shake us the fuck out of our lulled state.

obama has protected more land than any other u.s. president.

the world wildlife foundation announced the discovery of 211 new species in the eastern himalayas, including 133 plants, 39 invertebrates, 26 fish, 10 amphibians, one reptile, one bird, and one mammal.

scientists used gene-editing technology to modify mosquitoes and potentially eradicate malaria.

researchers in sweden developed a blood test that can detect cancer from a single drop of blood.

a team of geneticists finished building the most comprehensive map of the human epigenome and mapped more than 100 types of human cells, which will help us understand the links between DNA and diseases.

stanford university scientists discovered a method that may be able to force malicious leukemia cells to change into harmless immune cells, which could lead to transforming human cancer cells into macrophages, which can then digest and destroy cancer cells and pathogens.

scientists have developed an implantable artificial pancreas that could help patients with type 1 diabetes control their blood sugar.

over a million people, including world leaders, converged on Paris to march against extremism.

social media continues to grow, giving more people a voice who might not have had a voice before, and not only a voice, but a global voice.

i know i’ve left out thousands of things, so please add in your good things ok?

and here’s to doing the most revolutionary things of all: paying attention, speaking up, listening differently and creating things that will generate new pathways of conversation.