The 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
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 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.