the invitation

I have had girlfriends all my life. And by girlfriends I mean gal pals. We have been sharing our joys and woes at our various relationships... stories of parents, siblings, workers, other friends, and most especially, stories of lovers. And just as relationships rise and fall, we find ourselves running to our girlfriends, seeking solace, finding comfort, gaining strength and growing in wisdom.

One such gal pal is in need of this kind of sheltering sanctuary... but she's miles and miles away from all that is familiar and comforting. So, via cyberspace, I now do what i usually do for girlfriends in need of wisdom... I give them the words of someone else.

"The Invitation" is a poem which captures my own view of a lifetime commitment. If we choose someone, and they choose us, we should be aware of what it really means to invite them into our lives and vice versa. Because we all deserve nothing less than what is wonderful.

"Life is hard. And life is wonderful. “The Invitation” is about finding what we need-the inspiration, the intimacy, the courage and the commitment to live fully, every day." - oriah mountain dreamer

photo taken in germany... there's a couple somewhere in the back of this courtyard resto... 2005

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 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 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 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 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's 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 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 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.

by Oriah Mountain Dreamer
copyright © 1999 by Oriah Mountain Dreamer