And yes, this and this together, both at the turning of the year, do have me acutely aware of what a strange mix of light and dark this business of being human and alive really is.
“The world is indeed full of peril and in it there are many dark places. Yet still there is much that is fair. And though in all lands live is now mingled with grief, it grows, perhaps, the greater.” –J. R. R. Tolkien
Or more to the point:
“This is. And thou art. There is no end. The word must be heard in silence. There must be darkness to see the stars. The dance is always danced above the hollow place, above the terrible abyss.” –Ursula K. Le Guin