It has been, to say the least, a turbulent year.
The calendar turns as the Israel-Hamas conflict enters its third month and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine approaches its third year. Incidents of anti-Semitism and Islamophobia are on the rise, and it feels as if people are more divided than ever.
The globe experienced its warmest year in recorded history in 2023, the fingerprints of climate change felt around the world in extreme heat waves and severe flooding. Canada experienced its worst wildfire season by area burned as more than 150,000 people were forced from their homes.
Add to those struggles the overlapping crises of inflation, of skyrocketing housing prices, of a toxic drug supply.
It can be easy to be consumed by the heaviness of world events, to lose sight of the good through the bad. But doing so would underestimate the tenacity of the human condition, the ability to find light in the darkness.
Children playing, couples embracing, people laughing – photo editors at The Globe and Mail compiled scenes that show the moments of joy and kindness that persist through difficult times.
