Tuesday, October 19

The Invitation

It doesn't interest me what you do for a living
I want to know
what you ache for
and if you
dare to dream of meeting your heart's longing.

It doesn't interest me how old you are
I want to know if you will
risk looking like a fool
for love
for your dreams
for the
adventure of being alive.

It doesn't interest me what planets are squaring your moon...
I want to know if you have
touched the center of your own sorrow
if you have been
opened by life's betrayals
or have become shrivelled and closed
from fear of further pain.

I want to know if you can
sit with pain
mine or your own
without moving to hide it
or fade it
or fix it.

I want to know if you can be with joy
mine or your own
if you can
dance with wildness
and let the ecstasy fill you to the tips of your
fingers and toes
without cautioning us to
be careful
be realistic
to remember the limitations of being human.

It doesn't interest me if the story you are telling me
is true.
I want to know if you can
disappoint another
to be true to yourself.
If you can bear the accusation of betrayal
and
not betray your own soul.
If you can be faithful
and therefore trustworthy.
I want to know if you can see Beauty
even when it is not pretty
every day.
And if you can source your own life
from its presence.

I want to know if you can live with failure
yours and mine
and still stand on the edge of the lake
and
shout to the silver of the full moon,
"
Yes."

It doesn't interest me who you know
or how you came to be here.
I want to know
if you will stand
in the center of the fire
with me

and not shrink back.

It doesn't interest me where or what or with whom
you have studied.
I want to know
what sustains you
from the inside
when all else falls away.
I want to know if you can be alone with yourself
and if you truly like the company you keep
in the empty moments.

-Oriah Mountain Dreamer

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