*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 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 center

of your own sorrow, if you have been opened

by life's betrayals or have become shriveled 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, to 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 faithless and therefore trustworthy.

I want to know if you can see beauty

even when it's 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 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 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.

The Invitation

by

Oriah Mountain Dreamer

copyright © 1999 by Oriah Mountain Dreamer

Have a wonderful day !