‘The Invitation’ - Oriah Mountain Dreamer

It doesn't interest me what you do for a living.
I want to know what you ache for,
& 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 & 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 & let the ecstasy fill you
to the tips of your fingers & 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 & not betray your own soul.
If you can be faithless & 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, mine or your own
& still stand at the edge of the lake & 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 a night of grief & despair
weary & bruised to the bone
& 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
& 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
& if you truly like the company you keep in the empty moments.