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 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 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 or to
remember the limitations of being human.
It doesn't interest me if the story your 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 or not betray your own soul, I want to know if you can be
faithful and therefore be trustworthy.
I want to know if you can see
beauty even when it is not pretty everyday, and if you can source your
life from Gods presence.
I want to know if you can live with failure
yours or mine and still stand on the edge of a 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 a night of grief and despair, weary and bruised to the bone, and
do what needs to be done for the children.
It doesn't interest me who you are, 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 empty moments.
Oriah Mountain Dreamer, Indian Elder
Raymond Powers
310-364-0622
