The Invitation
I doesn’t interest me what you do for a living. I want to know what you ache for. And dare to dream of meeting your hearts longing. It doesn’t matter how old you are. I want to know if you’ll risk looking like a fool For love. For your dream. Or just for the adventure of being alive. I would like to know if you’ve touched the center of your own sorrow. Have you been opened by life’s betrayals? Or are you shriveled and closed from the fear of further pain? I want to know if you can sit with pain. Without moving to hide it, or fade it, or fix it. I want to know if you can your dance with wildness without cautioning yourself to be careful, to be realistic, or to remember the limitations of being human. I want to know if you can disappoint another, To be true to yourself; Can you bear the accusation of betrayal, but not betray your own soul? Can you be faithless, and therefore be trustworthy? I want to know if you can see beauty even when it’s not pretty. Everyday. And if you can source your life from its mere presence. I’d like to know if you can live with failure. And still stand on the edge of the lake and shout out “yes!” to the silver of the full moon. It doesn’t matter where you live, or how much money you have. I would like to know if you can get up after a night of grief and despair 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 would like to know if you’ll stand in the center of the fire with me and not shrink back. It doesn’t matter where, what, or with whom you have studied. I want to know what sustains you from the inside when everything else falls away. And finally, I would like to know if you can be alone with yourself. And if you enjoy the company you keep in those empty, quiet moments. - Oriah Mountain Dreamer (modified by Karey Spady)
