The Invitation by Oriah

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 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 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.

By Oriah © Mountain Dreaming,
from the book The Invitation
published by HarperONE, San Francisco,
1999 All rights reserved

music “Stars” by Brian Eno https://brian-eno.net/the-ship/

My friend asked that I post it again . . .

I had posted this poem in my voice on Valentines Day as I had heard it sometime before on a radio show, but I was hurried and wanted to feel it seep into my heart once more. I decided I would record it in my own voice as a vibrational calling to the souls needing it as a reminder to what Love is on this lovers day, but most importantly to me…my vibration I hoped would reach the one meant to answer it’s call (fool for LOVE …YES I AM) who also understands a call for authenticity. 

They say we have our own special vibration that our soul families can feel and magnetize toward us creating our friends and families here on earth.  Apparently, we also do the same when we are needing to find a missing piece/link, be it a lesson or introduction to something that may play BIG in our lives from meeting someone.  Oriah who wrote this poem did exactly that out of frustration in searching for more than companionship but unity in what she knows about her own journey:

“I wrote the prose poem, The Invitation one night after returning home from a party. I don’t usually attend parties but on this occasion, berating myself for being anti‐social, I made an effort to go and be friendly. I returned home feeling frustrated, dissatisfied with the superficial level of the social interaction at the party. I longed for something else.” Oriah  https://www.oriahmountaindreamer.com/pdf/the_invitation.pdf

I believe we’ve all experienced a time when “We ought to be” a certain way with someone, but as you love yourself more and include others, that is just bullshit and tiring.  What this poem tells me is that it doesn’t matter what baggage you come with or if your suitcase is packed neatly or messy, but are you okay with your luggage and can you love what’s in it on your own? Am I willing to show it truthfully unashamed? I don’t have answers or valid reasons for crap I’m carrying but I am willing to find them and I’ll show them to you so long as you don’t judge me, but support me.  Do we expect others to bring us happiness in the dreams we ourselves created? For myself, I think our dreams and creations are our own! Just as my children draw art inspired by themselves (and shown/shared with me) do I adore what they made and pin it up in admiration for their own talent…not mine! I receive the same with them in my creations and we either laugh at my failures or they are incredibly supportive when I try anything new. 

I’ve included my recording I had done, and although I wanted to re-record parts I feel I spoke too fast or rushed, I decided what I felt at the moment is more important than how I’d like it perfected. I dare you to record your own voice and listen to yourself ask what you truly want creating that vibration and really feeling it within.

The Invitation by Oriah and music “Stars” by Brian Eno 

my next personal mantra recording:
“I picture my dinner table, and it’s a large banquet table with room for many people to gather for a bountiful abundant life; while my mate is at the opposite end holding their own balance. We will steal glances often with big smiles knowing what we created (on our own) admiring the other and what we’ve created together, along with the offerings and help of all those seated at the table we exchange with. Amen.”