15 Things On The Internet I'm Thankful For In A Year Of Absolute Garbage

To the internet: Thank you for your amazing power and work in our lives.

2018 was the year that almost broke me. I woke up one morning in January and rolled over to ask my husband, “Am I dying?” I was blanketed by pain and fever and no amount of ibuprofen brought relief. It turned out that I, in fact, was not dying, but I was suffering from a bad case of the flu, along with more Americans than had been reported in decades. So the year started out like shit for a lot of people.

Health officials estimate about 80,000 people died of flu-related complications last winter. I lay in bed for days and tried meditating through my discomfort as my 1-year-old crawled all over me, demanding the last vapors of my energy.

I’ve been mediating ever since, through the shooting in Parkland, the shooting in Santa Fe, Texas, the shooting in a Pittsburgh synagogue, the shooting in Thousand Oaks. Through families separated at the border. Searching for calm as an angry man received his appointment as a Supreme Court judge despite serious ethical questions raised about him. Breathing in deeply as one pipe bomb after another was delivered to newsrooms and political leaders. Meditating through a mad world on fire — and now, huge swaths of it are literally in flames, sending colleagues in California fleeing for air, or into the ash to report on this immense disaster. This has become the daily ritual of our lives.

This year, it also became even more clear that tech giants — bloated with our data and money from investors — have made a mess of the internet too. Facebook handed over our data to a researcher who gave it to the political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica without our consent. Harassment plagues Twitter. Every platform is infected with false information and propaganda. And companies have regretfully announced one after another — Facebook, MyHeritage, even HealthCare.gov — that they've been the target of serious hacks.

Despite this, the internet, flawed as it is, has also been my greatest reprieve — it's not completely fucked up yet. Somehow, amid everything else, the internet gave us everyday stories about normal people doing the boldest, kindest, funniest, and most relatable things, who were generous enough to share it with the world. These were my beacons through this long night, reminders that the smallest of things can ignite the spirit and should not to be lost to the chaos. The internet saved me countless times this year — I am genuinely thankful for this. Here are 15 of its brightest moments in 2018.

1. This incredible guy slipping on ice in Montreal, which was "basically poetry."

View this video on YouTube

youtube.com

2. This dainty woman gleefully CRUSHING a giant ball of cotton candy. "It's honestly incredible to watch."

Girl crushes a cotton candy eating contest ❤️.

3. This marvelous Boston man who let it go as Queen Elsa during a blizzard and single-handedly pushed out a van stuck in the snow. "People said Elsa's act embodied the true spirit of Boston."

Facebook: video.php

4. Ted Danson learning how to floss. "It is truly a group effort to get Ted DANCIN'."

5. Bruno, the thicc lazy cat who weighted 25 pounds and stood on his hind legs like a real-life Totoro. "Yes, I know I am EXTRA."

6. And this buff cat that people were obsessed with. "That boy is an absolute unit."

everyday i think about this buff cat i encountered last year

7. This purest of questions from Gen Z about how CDs work. "Like how did you just get a blank CD and put songs on it?"

Maybe its just the generation z in me but how did people burn CDs? Like how did you just get a blank CD and put songs on it? https://t.co/EVUVaDX645

8. Mark Zuckerberg's booster seat. "Yes, senator."

ZUCKERBERG TESTIFYING IN FRONT OF CONGRESS FROM A BOOSTER SEAT???? FAM!!!!! https://t.co/jONH1kTLlB

9. This guy who recorded a lemon rolling down a hill for a quarter mile. "For just a brief, beautiful moment, everyone on Twitter came together to root for the lemon."

Today as I was walking home after my run I saw a large lemon rolling down the hill. It kept rolling for about a quarter mile. And now you can see it, too. https://t.co/dQoHi4RrXS

10. People losing it over whether Rihanna was trying to make thin eyebrows come back. "This is how it starts!!!"

I love me some Rihanna but I'm worried these brows are gonna start trending again! 😢

11. This amazing, skyscraper-climbing raccoon who journeyed vertically for days without food or water, captivating the nation. And...the heroic raccoon actually made it to the top! Nothing is impossible, guys. "The world will NEVER forget you."

12. This woman who repaired a butterfly's broken wing with the wings of another dead butterfly. "There were comments from people all over the world thanking her for doing something so big for something so small."

13. This woman's reaction to her wig fail, which deserves its own emoji. “I put the wig on and I was like, ‘wow.’”

14. Our hot grandparents. Grandma knew how to werk it!

For no reason whatsoever look at what a goddamn stunner my grandfather was. ✨

15. This thief who was recorded sliding on his belly across the floor, presumably to evade detection. Yes, robbery is Bad, but in the end, he left empty-handed.

me sliding into ur DMS https://t.co/haLO3Mcofx

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