A reader named Karien sent me the sweetest message yesterday, she said she was thinking of all of the people who have left my blog, my books, my writing because they were upset over something I did or disagreed with something I wrote. The blog, she generously wrote, “offers much more beauty and richness than things to get upset about.” She reminded me that she often disagrees with me and is still upset about my decision to euthanize Orson. “But I have come to learn what it means to live in the real world on a farm with real animals, to embark on your own personal hero’s journey and what beauty there still is in a world gone mad.”
This week, Karen, said, she celebrated that peaceful moment with me on my porch, “surrounded by love and with Flo purring on your lap,” and she said she felt sorry for those who no longer received these images and gifts, as she put it. I was touched by this very generous message, this is just what I hope for in my work and my blog and my photos. The world has not gone mad in my mind, we just rarely see the parts that are not any more. I hope to alter that in a very microscopic way, it has become an important part of my work.
Thomas Jefferson’s view, which was new to the world at the time, was that we would all freely expressed our ideas and share them, and all the disagreements would stew in one big democratic pot. He was very drawn to people who disagreed with him and found them sometimes more interesting than people who did not. In our time, there is this idea that if you disagree with someone, they are your enemy and you must abandon them and only read the writings and thoughts of your own tribe. The “left” and the “right” have pioneered this ideological purity, noxious and a-democratic to me.
People are leaving Bedlam Farm all the time. Because I killed Strut. Because I killed Orson. Because I didn’t keep the old sheep. Because we put Rocky down. Because Rose and Izzy died. Because I don’t grieve enough. Because I don’t let angry people rant are argue angrily on my media outlets. Because Mother left. When I wrote something in support of Planned Parenthood, people left because they couldn’t abide that. People left when I said I felt some compassion for the 19-year-old Marathon bombing suspect. If people think I am on the “right,” they leave, or on the “left.” This happens all the time. People who call themselves Christians seem to have no idea what Jesus Christ actually believed. People who call themselves animals lovers sometimes exploit and abuse their pets and prolong pain and suffering in the name of being moral and righteous. People who call themselves patriots don’t know that running away from disagreement and demonizing people with different ideas is not democracy, it is the opposite of democracy. People who advocate life do not often respect death.
I am not always sorry when people leave. People who can’t abide differences are not likely to be happy here, and they are often angry and intolerant. This is what our culture teaches, that there is only one way to look at the world and the people who look at it differently than you do are your enemies, to be shunned. They don’t want to think much, they just flee. I have worked hard to see the blog and it’s social media offspring become a safe place for disagreement that is expressed in a civil way, the Jeffersonian idea.
Like Karien, most of the people who hang around here disagree with me much of the time, and they let me know, as they should. I don’t argue my beliefs, not on the Internet, but I do listen. And I do not believe that I am right, only that I am honestly following my own values. Animals teach me about life every day, and my job is to share what I am learning.
Karien is quite perceptive. Our greedy and corporatized media no longer report on or show us the beauty and richness of things, and I didn’t used to do that either. If you watch their news every day, you will believe it is a world gone mad because that is all you will see. It is a profitable way to look at the world, because bad news is addictive good news is not. If you know your history, you know the world has often seemed mad, much madder than now, and not too long ago.
Seeking the beauty and light of the world is good and meaningful work, a great window of opportunity, and people like Karien remind me why I love to do it and will keep on doing it. To those who leave, peace and compassion to you, I hope you find what you want. To those who stay, thank you, we are building a genuine community of communication, trust and appreciation.