The Invitation by Oriah Mountain Dreamer

from the book, “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 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 tip of your fingers and toes without cautioning
us to be careful, be realistic, or to remember the limitations
of being a 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 faithless and therefore be 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 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 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.