The Invitation

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.

The Invitation - Oriah Mountain Dreamer

Hello beautiful friends.  I may not be blogging daily at this moment, but please know that I am thinking of you all. As noted in my last post, I have much that I must address right now and have had to "tread water" with some of the things I adore...this blog being one of them.  I'm making headway and hope to be back posting on Monday again.  I want you to know I have missed your funny words, bittersweet stories, hilarious adventures, glorious photography and most of all the creativity that each of you so willingly shares with the blogging community.  I wanted to share "The Invitation" with all of you.   The Invitation was a declaration of life by Oriah Mountain Dreamer and how she wants to live it with others and one of those small book titles that caught my eyes many years ago.  It stopped me in my tracks and had me gasp, "Wow."  If only I could express myself in such a powerful way.   Her book is an interesting read, although I found I did not agree with her choices based on her "Invitation."  I felt they conflicted, however, it was that declaration that captured my heart. I was thinking about all of you and how much I missed reading your postings when my eyes came across her book on my table and so I share her Invitation with you. 

Have a wonderful weekend and I look forward to rejoining the community next week.  Sea Witch