"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 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, be realistic,
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."
Oriah Mountain Dreamer, The Invitation 
Pri Macedo
