I want to KNOW........

• 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 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 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 bearthe 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 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 standin the centre 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 keepin the empty moments.
  
  
  - The Invitation, Oriah Mountain Dreamer