The Invitation

Hey lovers. By the time you read this, I'll be road-trippin' with DB to Michigan's upper peninsula! Exciting, yes? I'll be back late Monday, so don't expect a Monday post - I'm sorry! I promise something awesome (maybe) on Tuesday.

Anyways.

I wanted to leave something special for you guys while I was gone. I wanted to write something meaningful, something touching, something that would inspire you.

Haha, fat chance. Guys? I suck at writing unless I spend some real quality time on it. And I've been busy.

So, instead, enjoy this poem. My step dad shared it with me one night and I've never forgotten it. It reminds me that life itself and everything in it is a miracle. It inspires me to live better and love more. It reminds me to stay true to what I believe is right, no matter who disagrees. It's one of my favorite pieces of writing, and I really hope it speaks to you like it did to me.

***

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 hearts 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 the 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 your joy, mine or your own,

if you can dance with wildness and let the ecstasy fill you

to the tip 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 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,

everyday, and if you can source your own life from its presence.

I want to know if you can live with failure, yours or 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 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.

***

I hope your weekend is beautiful.