The Invitation

By Oriah Mountain Dreamer

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 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 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 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 wilderness
and let the ecstasy fill you up to the tips of your
fingers and toes
without cautioning us to
be careful
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 on 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 a 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.

Yes We Did, America! Hope Always Wins.

"For as long as I live, I will never forget that in no other country on earth is my story even possible."
- Barack Obama

(Phil Velasquez / Chicago Tribune)

What a poignant, exciting, electrifying moment and movement in world history! Wow, words can not express the way I feel today.

I am so proud not only of President-elect Barack Obama, but also of everyone who came together to make democracy and progress happen before our very eyes. In Alice Walker's thoughtful open letter to Barack Obama, she says "we are the ones we have been waiting for". Her wisdom is true.

I know I'm not alone. The whole world is celebrating intense feelings of joy and renewed promise in the United States of America. Regardless of how you voted, it's a great day to be alive, participate and bear witness to history in the making and breaking. We are moving forward!

"From far away, this is how it looks: There is a country out there where tens of millions of white Christians, voting freely, select as their leader a black man of modest origin, the son of a Muslim. There is a place on Earth — call it America — where such a thing happens."

Poplicks via Patrick Moberg (click to enlarge)

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I guess it's one step at a time though. On a truly disappointing note, I will never understand 52% of California, where some people care more about chickens' rights than fundamental human rights. Are you as confused as I am? The fight against Prop. 8 is definitely NOT over! With lawsuits flying, ballots still being counted and thousands upon thousands of Californians more ready than ever to repeal Prop. 8 (sign the online petition if you can), there's hope that the California State Supreme Court Justices will overturn this illegal step backwards.

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After 8 long years, it's a new dawn, a new day. Sing it high priestess of soul Nina!