An invitation

Oriah Mountain Dreamer

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 dream, 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 centre 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,
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 faithless 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 at the edge of the lake and shout to the silver of the full moon,
'Yes.'

It doesn't interest me to know where you live or how much money you
have. I want to know if you can get up after the night of grief and
despair, weary and bruised to the bone and do what needs to be done to
feed the children.

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 centre 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.



Peace.