Invitation

I came across this poem by Oriah Mountain Dreamer many years ago. And even if it's been years and I have changed, the world has changed, this poem has the same powerful meaning. Maybe it means even more in today's world. I invite you to read it and contemplate the depth of it...

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 shriveled and closed from fear of future 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 or 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 your and if you truly like the company you keep

in the empty moments.

― Oriah Mountain Dreamer