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 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 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'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.
Oriah Mountain Dreamer received her name, which
means one who finds and
pushes the edge, from the inter-tribal elders with whom she has
apprenticed for fifteen years. Since 1984 she has facilitated
workshops and
wilderness retreats, and evenings of poetry, storytelling, and
meditation.
Blending ruthless honesty, humor, insight and compassion for our
human struggle,
Oriah seeks to inspire and challenge herself and others to live
life fully.
Oriah is author of the book "Confessions of a Spiritual
Thrillseeker:
Medicine Teachings from the Grandmothers" (Moonfox Press, 1991)
and a
small chapbook of poetry, "Dreams of Desire" (Mountain Dreaming,
1995). More
recently she has contributed to an anthology of women's prayers,
"The
Flowering of the Soul" (Random House 1999) edited by Lucinda Vardey
and
"Prayers for A Thousand Years" (HarperSanFrancicso, 1999) edited
by
Elias Amidon and Elizabeth Roberts.
In 1994 Oriah wrote a prose poem entitled "The Invitation"
which was
unexpectedly copied and shared by thousands around the world through
bulletin boards, the Internet and readings at weddings, funerals,
spiritual gatherings, and workshops. Just one Internet search
engine had this poem
posted at 1¼ million websites. The book, "The Invitation"
(HarperSanFrancicso, 1999)
expands upon the thoughts, feelings and insights of the original
piece, exploring
what it is we all "ache" for at the deepest level of our being.
Living in Toronto with her two sons, Oriah continues
to facilitate
workshops and speak at conferences while studying philosophy at
the University of Toronto.
