TIME 100 MOST INFLUENTIAL PEOPLE

This week saw Time release the prestigious 2018 100 List of World’s Most Influential People, a globally diverse and treasured list of Earth’s most impactful activists, Presidents, thespians, writers, athletes, innovators and more. Broken up into the sectors of Pioneers (Chloe Kin), Artists (Lena Waithe), Leaders (Kim Jong Un), Icons (Janet Mock) and Titans (Jeff Bezos), the list does an impeccable job of highlighting the folks who have and continue to shape life in 2018.

Beautiful is that the nuances of each honoree’s impact is qualified through the words of other grand influencers. Bill Gates wrote about Roger Federer. Ava Duvernay spoke on Ryan Coogler. Cindy Lauper praised Ke$ha for her early stance on sexual harassment.

The most impressive (and perhaps influential) contributor was none other than Barack Obama, who with expected eloquence noted the courageousness of the Parkland, Florida teenagers behind the March for Our Lives.

What separates this list from Times’ previous is the record 45 people who clocked in under the age 40—including the youngest designer ever, 14-year-old, Millie Bobby Brown. Another refresher is the diversity has never been richer. Cher offered glowing sentiments towards pioneering Olympian Adam Rippon, of which were possibly most illuminating: “I had no role models—everyone looked like Sandra Dee and Doris Day.”

Cher’s words highlighted how pivotal it is for media imaging to realistically reflect the balance of the world’s aesthetic. Seeing or reading a reflection of oneself and life can possibly change a course for the better.

Read more stories for the soul in search here.