Looking back over 2018, weirdly the things that are the easiest to see are the darkest.

Write a year in review, and what first springs to mind is American nihilism in the form of Donald Trump, mass shootings and the opioid epidemic. In Britain it’s the Brexit quagmire and rolling political crises, and in Australia it’s the palpable disgust at the political class as they roll prime ministers, lock children up in brutal offshore detention camps, impregnate staffers, and treat their female colleagues with disdain.

Even if on a personal level things are going well, it is now pretty much accepted that we live in the worst of times.

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If 2017 was about fear (this Trump guy, what could he do?), 2018 was about learning to live in that fear. The edges of 2017’s anxiety were blunted. We were no longer surprised at the increasingly bizarre and dangerous tone of global politics. Instead, anxiety gave way to jadedness, with a side of depression. The year had vibes of a bad hangover.

If we were unsure about it at the start of the decade, we knew it now: the planet is on fire and there are no adults in the room who want to put it out. Even the drugs of this era – benzos and opiates – speak of futility and surrender. In 2018 it seems easier to see the darkness than the light.

But there was light. Good things happened in this year. And maybe part of the resistance, part of the thing that could rouse us from this jadedness, is naming and celebrating those good things.

The kids

The two areas where a sense of futility had crept in – gun control in the US, and the climate debate – where suddenly given a new jolt of life by teenagers.

The kids of Marjory Stoneman Douglas high school who survived a gun massacre at their school in February, reignited the gun control debate with a sense of urgency and anger that had been missing.

These kids are 100% gutsy. In the midst of their own personal trauma, they demanded a national rethink to America’s gun addiction knowing that they would be labelled crisis actors, have to come up against the powerful National Rifle Association and have their own personal safety imperilled by conspiracy theorists and gun nuts.

Marjory Stoneman Douglas high school student Emma González gave the best political speech of the year – calling BS on previous limp efforts to pass gun control legislation.

Play Video 7:04 Emma Gonzalez's powerful March for Our Lives speech in full - video

In 2018 if the penny hadn’t dropped already, then it was obvious to young people everywhere that older generations had failed them royally on so many fronts. Instead of apathy, the kids got angry and organised.

In Australia in November, there was a massive school walkout over climate change inaction, in a protest organised and lead by teenagers. And young people in Britain are demanding a second referendum over a Brexit vote that will limit their future opportunities.

Facebook rethink

The revelations published in the Observer about data breaches at Facebook on an industrial scale (the profiles of more than 50 million individuals were harvested) led millions of users – particularly in Europe – to delete their profiles.

2018 was Facebook’s annus horribilis. After appearing at a congressional hearing in Washington to answer questions about Russian meddling in US elections, Facebook’s chief, Mark Zuckerberg, admitted: “One of my greatest regrets in running the company is that we were slow in identifying the Russian information operations in 2016. We have kicked off an investigation … I imagine we’ll find some things.”

But the reputational damage and erosion of public trust in Facebook may never be healed.

How is that good news? With more (non-fake news) information about what goes on at Facebook and how our personal information is used, we’re more empowered to make a decision about whether or not to ditch the site.

Meghan Markle joins the royal family

Prince Harry’s story could have been a tragic one: bereft by the early loss of his mother, the lost years of drinking, partying in Vegas and dressing up as a Nazi … But somehow things righted themselves. After a military career Prince Harry set up the Invictus Games for members of the armed forces with injury and illness, started speaking openly about mental health issues, and fell in love with a black American divorcee, a couple of years older than him.

It was a lovely wedding, and a sign that although the monarchy is built on tradition, it is more open to change than we once thought.

Ireland ended abortion ban

This was a well thought-out, well planned and clearly worded referendum that resulted in an overwhelming majority in Ireland deciding to overturn one of the most restrictive reproductive laws in the western world.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest The result of the Irish referendum on the country’s abortion laws is declared at Dublin Castle. Photograph: Charles McQuillan/Getty Images

There was a large voter turnout, with only one county (Donegal) voting no to change.

Ireland’s taoiseach, Leo Varadkar, said after the vote: “Today is a historic day for Ireland. A quiet revolution has taken place, and today is a great act of democracy.

“A hundred years since women gained the right to vote, today we as a people have spoken.

“And we say that we trust women and respect women to make their own decisions and their own choices.”

House prices corrected in Australia

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This, of course, is not good news for everyone – particularly investors. But for the increasing number of young Australians locked out of the housing market because of insane price rises, a drop in prices in the capitals of Melbourne and Sydney was welcome news.

Tide turned against single-use plastic

Supermarkets across Australia banned single use plastic bags, while parts of the US, Taiwan, Canada, Scotland and Britain banned single use plastic straws.

Some of this is led by government, but mostly the initiative is through private companies responding to cues from consumers.

Due to popular shows such as David Attenborough’s Blue Planet we can no longer close our eyes and pretend that plastic just vaporises after we use it. It clogs our oceans and kills marine life.

While parts of the planet, such as California, which was devastated by wildfires, have had their hottest summer on record, the move against single-use plastic may seem like trying to stop a tsunami with a surfboard. But the change in collective consciousness is heartening.

Thai cave rescue

The feel-good story of the year united all if us in hope, then joy at the rescue of 12 young soccer players and their coach.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Members of the soccer team in Tham Luang cave in Khun Nam Nang Non forest park on 4 July in Chiang Rai, Thailand. Photograph: Handout/Thai Navy SEALs via Getty Images

It also came at a time of unrelenting bleakness in the news cycle. Seeing global efforts to rescue the boys made me think “maybe we’re not totally doomed as a species”.

A few honourable mentions for game-changers in pop culture are:

Hannah Gadsby

The most successful comedian of 2018 inspired thousands of think pieces and global acclaim after her show Nanette was screened on Netflix.

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In an era where misogyny is rising to the surface like scum forming on boiled milk, we needed Gadsby – someone smart, funny and deadly serious – to explain the structural problems in art and life that lead to the #MeToo movement. Watching her in full flight felt bracing and absolutely necessary.

Childish Gambino

The clip for This is America with its guns and casual violence (a gospel choir gunned down mid song) was, like Nanette, the shock we needed to properly see where we are right now. The place ain’t pretty, even if the music is good.

Ariana Grande

There is a pretty binary narrative to break-up songs: you’re either saying sorry or “fuck you” to an ex.

Ariana instead this year said thank you to her exes and paid tribute to what they taught her.

More of this please in 2019.