This week has been one of the most traumatic in recent history.

First, protests at Mizzou and Yale against racist action taken by students on both campuses took a radical turn. Death threats were made towards students of color on Mizzou's campus, forcing them to evacuate. The protests have sparked a debate over free speech and its relationship to the treatment of minorities on college campuses.

At Duke, a death threat including a homophobic slur directed towards a first-year student was found in the corridor of East Residence Hall. This incident, coupled with the defacement of a Black Lives Matter poster on October 23, has lead students to feel unsafe on Duke's campus.

On Friday in Paris, 128 people (and counting) died as a result of terrorist attacks throughout the city. Three bombs went off outside of a France-Germany soccer friendly, and 80 people were killed at a concert inside the Bataclan concert hall.

In Beirut, at least 41 people died as a result of suicide bombings on a shopping street. And now we are told there is a tsunami headed for Japan.

Sometimes it seems like the world is a dark, scary place. These are the most important times to remember how much vitality and love there is in the world. Often in the worst of times, the best in people comes out.

Take the Paris attacks. People all over the city started a campaign on Twitter, #PorteOuverte, generously offering people places to sleep and stay who could not get back to their homes.

There are many stories of people helping those escaping the violence. Daniel Psenny, a Le Monde journalist, was working in his apartment when he heard shots going off in the Bataclan theater. Because the scene he saw reminded him of 9/11, he opened the door of his apartment to offer refuge to those escaping the theater. He was able to get one man inside, but not without getting shot in the arm. His sacrifice probably saved the man's life.

There have been massive lines in Paris hospitals of people wanting to donate blood to help with the treatment of the wounded. So many people have shown up that government officials have encouraged the people to stay away, as they are disrupting hospital proceedings.

Landmarks all around the world were decorated in blue, white, and red in order to show solidarity with France.

The outcry of support for France and the people affected in the attacks demonstrate that, while it may not always seem like it, most people are fundamentally good and the world can be a supportive place.

To conclude, I leave you with Hugh Grant's monologue from the beginning of "Love Actually" because I truly believe that "love, actually, is all around."