For the second or third time in the history of my blog, someone has written me and asked to be taken off the subscriptions list. Dianne said she has been reading my books and blogs for yours, “but you are becoming much too political.” She thanked me for “how your postings inspired and warmed my heart in the past.”

I thanked Diane back and told her she didn’t need to ask to be removed from the list (I can’t add or remove people, for their own freedom and protection), she could instantly do it herself, and wished her every good luck. I would never ask anyone to sign up for the blog, which is free, or try to talk them out of leaving.

If people are not comfortable here, they should, of course go, and I completely respect their decisions, they are private and personal. Diane’s message prompted me to write a bit about the intrusion of some politics onto the blog lately. I have written many times that this is not a political blog, but a respite from politics and the insanity of the news.

People are entitled to some mission statement.

I have also said that I share my life, good and bad, and in recent weeks, politics have intruded onto my consciousness and life, and so I am sharing that, along with other things. I never want the blog to be a political blog, neither do I want it to be in hiding from the world, a place only for pretty landscapes and cute animal photos. That is too small a menu for my head, too small a scope.

Among my other missions is the hope that people have some inspiration for thinking here, I am not a prisoner or the left or the right, I think I swing both ways much of the time. In our culture, I know that is sometimes considered heretical.

I was surprised in November to learn that many of my blog and book readers voted for Donald Trump, and that truly got me to thinking – and listening. We have had some good dialogues with one another, I am learning a lot.

One or two regular communicators have disappeared, I suspect they can’t bear some of my feelings, but there are all sorts of reasons in life to change one’s habits, they don’t all have to do with me and my blog.

I am happy that almost all of the people with different points of view that I know about have stayed with me, I think they know I respect them as people of conscience, and have no need to denigrate them, judge them, or drive them off.

I do not need to be agreed with, and I believe in listening to other points of view. There is no other way I know of for a mind to grow.

Hopefully, we all learn again how to talk and listen to one another. This is as good a place as any to start.

As I have written, issues like immigration are deeply personal for me, and I don’t think I can, in good conscience, ignore my feelings about them. They are part of who I am, and the blog is about my life, it is my living memoir.

I don’t argue these feelings, I never write to persuade people or tell them what to do.  What happened this week was very difficult for me, and many others, and I would be a poor writer if I did not share the experience of working through it.

I have no desire to let the day-to-day mayhem of our political system infect my blog, or to join in the left-right raging on social media. There are lots of places to go for that. I love to say this is not CNN or Fox News, and it is true.

In the interests of full disclosure, I will be writing about some of these political issues from time to time, as they emerge. I did not imagine a Donald Trump presidency when I began the blog. I did not even imagine it in November.

I hope to write regularly about the refugee families I will be helping with Maria. There might be some others.

I could not live with myself if I didn’t try to show that the refugees I know are not threats to us or our way of life. I will also write about what is on my mind, and I can’t predict precisely what that will be.

I have also written about ways for all of us to stay grounded in this sometimes disturbing times and find better ways of expressing ourselves than through anger and hate messages. I hope to keep on doing that.

Mostly, I wrote about the farm and the animals here and share my photographs of my world and my life. That will not change and has not changed. Politics has taken up a very small amount of space here, even lately,  my life goes on and so will my promise to share it. There are wonderful subjects here at the farm – Maria and her work, Red and his, Fate’s joyous ride through life, my search for love and  spirituality, the sweet donkeys and spunky pony.

Those are the big stories for me, the stories of my life.

Not too long ago, it was common for Americans to read things they disagreed with and seek out other points of view. It was how our democracy worked. That is an idea that seems to have nearly perished in our polarized world, we are increasingly trapped in our own echo chambers and bubbles. People write me every day to say they don’t agree with me, but keep on reading me, and it shocks me every time.

Is agreeing with someone all the time the new measure of good writing?

In our bubbles, we only believe what we want to believe, hear what we want to hear. I strive to be a bubble-popper, for my sake, for yours, for the sake of free speech and thought.

I hope that does not happen to me, this retreat into closed and angry spaces.

I will work hard to avoid that awful fate, that is the death of the mind. We will either survive together or perish together.

So thanks for being here, Diane, I sincerely hope you find what you need. You owe me no explanations of any kind.

I wanted all of you to know what I am thinking and planning, it is obvious to me, but not, of course to you.

Nobody should remain here for a second against their will, and I hope the blog continues to be a source of nourishment and uplift and stimulation for people. That’s the idea. If you need to go, go in peace, and blessings to you for having shared this space.

I should say the blog traffic is higher than ever, and thanks for that also.