The Invitation
by Oriah Mountain Dreamer, Indian Elder
May 1994
"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 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,
be realistic, or to remember the limitations of being human.
It doesn't interest me if the story you're
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. I want to know if you can be
faithful 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 life from ITS presence.
I want to know if you can live with failure, yours and mine, and still
stand on the edge of a 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 a night of grief and despair, weary and bruised
to the bone, and do what needs to be done for the children. It doesn't interest me who you are, 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."