The Invitation by Oriah
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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
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
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 on 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 a 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 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.
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By Oriah from her book, THE INVITATION (c)1999. Published by HarperONE, San Francisco. All rights
reserved. Presented with permission of
the author. www.oriah.org
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