A couple of weeks ago I wrote about dating sites. Then I received an email with this poem by Oriah Mountain Dreamer.****
Next time you are on a date, forget the usual “what do you look like,” “what do you do,” “how much do you earn,” “what car do you drive,” “how many children do you want, and when?” Go to the real heart of the matter with an inquiry into the soul:
**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 centre of your own sorrow
if you have been opened
by life’s betrayals
or have become shrivelled 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 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.
(By Oriah © Mountain Dreaming, from the book The Invitation published by HarperONE, San Francisco,1999 All rights reserved)
