Michelle Obama Had The Most Inspirational 2018 & She's Got The 'Grams To Prove It
As the New Year approaches and 2018 comes to a close, Instagram users are celebrating by sharing their top nine photos of the last year. The former first lady is no exception, and Michelle Obama's New Year's Instagram for 2019 is a wild look at the past 12 months. In her post from Dec. 31, Obama wrote,
As I reflect on the past year, I’m so thankful and overwhelmed by all the new experiences and memories. From launching new endeavors and engaging new voters to sharing my story with all of you—and hearing about so many of yours as well. Thank you all for joining me on this journey and for sharing so much of yourselves. There’s so much to discover in 2019!
The collection of posts is a walk down what feels like a very long and meandering memory lane of a year, and the former first lady has had quite a year to say the least. Unlike 2017, this year might not have begun in the White House, but it was no less tumultuous. Settling back into civilian life saw Obama involved in numerous community building and outreach efforts throughout the year, as well as plans to build a center in honor of her husband's presidency. Her feed is dotted with award show and book tour appearances, as well as cameos by celebrities like Sarah Jessica Parker and Oprah Winfrey. One could say she is, to use an apt phrase, living her best life.
Among the photos is one showing Obama's involvement in the When We All Vote campaign, which encouraged voters to show up on Election Day for the 2018 midterms and make their voices heard at the ballot box.
Another post is a photo of the first lady's official portrait to go in the National Portrait Gallery, done by artist Amy Sherald. This portrait became famous for making a little girl's day when she saw it, and inspired an adorable mini-me recreation of the portrait for her Halloween costume this year in an homage to the first lady. (There's also video of Obama meeting the young Parker Curry, and it's equally cute.)
It's clear the portrait, which continued to inspire the new generation, is a big deal for Obama, too. In a caption accompanying the post, she wrote:
As a young girl, even in my wildest dreams, I never could have imagined this moment. Nobody in my family has ever had a portrait - there are no portraits of the Robinsons or the Shields from the South Side of Chicago. This is all a little bit overwhelming, especially when I think about all of the young people who will visit the National Portrait Gallery and see this, including so many young girls and young girls of color who don’t often see their images displayed in beautiful and iconic ways. I am so proud to help make that kind of history.
Little Curry even got her own personal shout-out in another of Obama's posts with a photo next to the former first lady (and a dance party to boot).
Amidst all of this, another post honoring the former first lady's role in planning out the future of the Obama Presidential Center, which is slated to go up in Chicago's South Side.
There were also multiple posts highlighting Obama's solo book tour for her new memoir Becoming, which was officially released on Nov. 13. (This is where that stunning outfit — you know, the one with the bright yellow dress and $4,000, glitter-covered Balenciaga boots — comes in, and none of us have ever been the same since.) Whether this aesthetic was your favorite of Obama's or not, there's no denying it was a big look.
On that note, there's a wonderful array of classic MObama moments to look back on from this past year and be inspired by. Whichever one is your favorite, cheers to getting some 2019 #goals, courtesy of the first lady.
