The Invitation
When going through an old box the other day I came across this poem. It was from when I attended an arts academy when I was in high school.
The purpose of this poem is inspiration. Enjoy.
THE INVITATION
By 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
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, 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's 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 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
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.
Liz, I cannot tell you how much I needed that. Thank you so much for posting this tonight.
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