Every year, Google creates a video compiled from a collage of clips that show some of the most impactful and most searched events. This year’s video is one of the most important.
2016 has been a tough year for many people. Some see it as the year of hate beating out love, of confusion and pain, of perpetual fear. It’s hard to sift through all the horrific events this year from the terrorist attacks all over the world to the bombings of Aleppo to the police brutality in America, to find the goodness and innocence in the world. Is there any good left? Do these events define the whole human race?
And to that, Google seems to answer with a resounding No! It’s not the events that define us, but what we do after, how we as humans, come together and make ourselves stronger against all the adversities and hate. The video continues a slide of heart-warming clips of our most loved movies, TV shows, Olympic events, and music, but perhaps most importantly, we see the power of love and empathy with people welcoming refugees, standing together after the Brussels terrorist attack, marching with one another against the inequalities they face.
We are continuously creating and destroying ourselves, having our dreams and ambitions being set ablaze by the fires of reality, facing the disappointments of the events around us, but Google reminds us that we are growing and healing, and that the love of humanity wins out in the end. Remember, we have made it through another year, you have made it through another year.
Our hearts are broken with the terrorist attacks we have faced this year, the police brutality looming over America, the helplessness we feel with election results worldwide, the bombings of Aleppo, the hate that has turned into action. And even though life will continue to move on and feel impassive to the tears you can’t hold back sometimes, we must continue to love, because “Love is not despair. Love gives us hope that change is possible (Stephen Colbert)," and "love is love is love is love is love is love is love is love cannot be killed or swept aside. Now fill the world with music, love, and pride (Lin Manuel-Miranda).”
We survived, we did it. Let’s welcome 2017 with open arms because there’s so much more work to do. As Google says at the end of the video, “Love is out there. Search on."
