The Invitation by Oriah Mountain Dreamer, Indian Elder

“It doesn’t interest me what you do for a living.  I want to know what you ache for, & 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 centre of your own sorrow, if you have been opened to life’s betrayals or have become shrivelled & closed from the 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 & let the ecstasy fill you to the tips of your fingers & toes without cautioning us to be careful, be realistic, or 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 & not betray your own soul.  I want to know if you can be faithful & therefore be trustworthy!  I want to know if you can see beauty even when it is not pretty every day, & if you source your life from its presence.  I want to know if you can live with failure, yours & mine & still stand on the edge of the lake & shout to the silver of the full moon, ‘YES’.

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 centre of the fire with me & 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 & if you truly like the company you keep in the empty moments.”