It doesn't interest me what you do for a living. I want to know what you ache for, & if you dare to dream of meeting your heart's longing.
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.
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 & closed from fear of further pain!I want to know if you can sit with pain, without moving to hide it or fade it, or fix it.
I want to know if you can be with joy, if you can dance with wildness and let the ecstasy fill you to the tips of your fingers and toes without cautioning you to be careful, to be realistic, to remember the limitations of being human.
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 & not betray your own soul; if you can be faithless & therefore trustworthy.
I want to know if you can see beauty even when it's not pretty, every day,& if you can source your own life from its presence.
I want to know if you can live with failure, & still stand on the edge of the lake & shout to the silver of the full moon, "Yes!"
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 & despair, weary & bruised to the bone, & do what needs to be done to feed the children.
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 & 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 & if you truly like the company you keep in the empty moments.

by
Oriah Mountain Dreamer