The Invitation

The Invitation (By Oriah)

It doesnt 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 hearts longing.

It doesnt 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 doesnt 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 doesnt interest me

if the story you are telling me is true.

I want to know if you can

disappoint another

to be true 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 doesnt 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 doesnt 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 doesnt interest me

where or what or with whorm

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.

Thank you to blog reader, Markus, from Germany for sending me this beautiful poem along with well wishes for my travels!