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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 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, be realistic, 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 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 stand in 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 keep in the empty moments.
A few weeks ago, a reader left a very thought-provoking comment on a recent blog post:
“Your transparency is remarkable. Thank you for being so open with your life and your scars.”
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Carol Cassara says
October 10, 2017 at 9:11 PM“I’ve always loved this. Oriah is a friend of mine and she is as amazing as the piece is. She is working on a new book, too.
Kristi says
October 10, 2017 at 10:10 PM“A new book?! I can hardly wait! As for The Invitation, I would love to find someone who could write that on a canvas in calligraphy for my living room wall. It has always been my favorite piece of her work! Please come back and visit anytime. Thank you for commenting!”
Sarah says
July 27, 2017 at 12:08 AM“Thank you for your words and thoughts on paper/webpaper. It’s hard to be open with strangers, but it’s comforting to know others including you feel the same or has been through similar things like me.”
Kristi says
August 24, 2017 at 11:08 AMIt’s one of my favorites!
Stephanie Vega says
April 5, 2017 at 6:04 PMI’m not familiar with that book or writer but I can say when people see what they get life is much simpler.
Kristi says
April 6, 2017 at 10:04 AMYou should read it. It’s an awesome book!!!! Thanks for stopping in!
Ian says
March 22, 2017 at 2:04 PM“The first time I ever heard of Oriah Mountain Dreamer was from a new age book club I was a member of back in 2000. The order booklet was highlighting her forthcoming book “”The Dance””, and used a quote from the book. The quote, simple as it was/is, changed my life. I use it as a quiet mantra for myself in the hours, days, and weeks that I find myself at battle with my own being. The dark days, the times I doubt who I am, the times I turn myself into someone new or different to be counted or seen amongst people who usually don’t have my best interests at heart I am reminded of her quote. And I recite it to myself, and it helps align and calm me.”What if the question is not why I am so infrequently the person I really want to be, but why do I so infrequently want to be the person I really am?”” ~ Oriah Mountain Dreamer
Kristi says
March 25, 2017 at 1:03 PM“Oh Ian…first, I love you and I am so grateful for your unwavering friendship. Second, I hope you know that I have always admired you for standing in your own truth and living an authentic life. You may not know it, but you’ve taught me a lot over the course of our friendship about just learning to accept who I am. I haven’t read “”The Dance”” yet, and I suspect I’d slam it shut a lot just like I did “”The Invitation””, but perhaps I need to purchase a copy, even if it gathers dust for ten years until I’m ready to read it (LOL). I think we all struggle with accepting and liking who we really are, and I think we often try to shift our uniqueness as people to fit in with others when we really don’t have to. Human-ness can be so damn complicated sometimes, right? Thanks for commenting. XoXo!”