Poison Ivy.....

One of the things that matters a lot here is that people can come by and speak their minds openly, even if they disagree with me.

Disagreeing with me is really okay. I'm a big girl and I can process the idea that people might think or live differently than I do.

However, I wonder about the mentality of people who would come by here (or anyone's site) and leave nasty comments that are intended only to insult, not discuss. I'm not even sure I want to understand someone like that. They're not worth the energy.

I decided some time back that I would protect this site as best I can for people who want to come by and say something. That includes the comments section. It's a short skip from insulting me to insulting other commenters. I want people to know they will be received with kindness and consideration. The only conflict I've ever had with anyone on this site is because the individual was insulting one of my regular commenters.

And last night I had a conflict with someone who intentionally insulted me.

It won't be happening anymore.

I've decided to disallow anonymous comments. It seems to be a better option than that wretched word verification thing. I really don't want to have to place any limits of anyone's ability to comment freely but apparently this site has drawn a few people who don't have the maturity to handle freedom. They see the ability to post without accountability as an invitation to behave badly and to make demeaning and diminishing comments about other people or leave thinly veiled advertisements for some kind of money-making scheme. It's unfortunate since I am someone who values the ability to speak freely - but responsibly. "Responsibly" means having the courage and the integrity to own your words.

Hopefully this will only be a temporary measure until the poison ivy that has invaded this site dies off.

Please let me know if you have any problems. Don't just go away. Let me know what is wrong and I'll do my best to correct it. The setting should be open at this point to anyone who has an ID through any of the various blogging applications.

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