I Want to Know What You Ache For

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 center of your own sorrow,

if you have been opened by life's betrayals or have been shriveled 

and closed from fear of further 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 ecstasy fill you to the tips of your fingers and toes 

without cautioning 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 live with failure, yours and mine, 

and still stand on the edge of the lake 

and shout out 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 matter to 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.

-Oriah

Every time I read this poem I am struck with a tightness my throat and a heaviness in my heart.  I know those are both major chakra points and I also know they represent the voice and what I really want to say and the heart is the center of love and compassion.

This poem says so much about the things I want to say to others and the questions I continually ask myself.  Some of the issues I've already experienced, i.e. I can get up again and no matter how deep the grief or despair I can do what needs to be done to feed the children.

I also know I have friends that will stand in the center of the fire with me and not shrink back and I will do the same for them.  I've learned to be alone with myself alot lately and it doesn't scare me.

I still struggle with dealing with failure and I'm still confirming what sustains me when all else falls away.  Maybe if I learn to live with failure more easily I can free myself to really embrace what sustains me and release the fear of failure and share.  

Now that I cracked the facade of failure and shame.  What sustains you?  Does Oriah's poem make you reflect on how you view the world?

What are you FOR?

Learn not to define yourself by what you are against; instead define yourself by expressing with your actions and your words what you are for.  It is easy to criticize, but this has little value, for it is usually not wanted, and therefore not listened to.  It is of more benefit to praise that which is praiseworthy, to speak of the greatness of things.  There are plenty of others to do the criticizing.  -Max Strom

In the world of "I'm against this" and "You can't do that".  What if you were for something?  What if you were really FOR Compassion and acted on it everyday.  What if you were really FOR Happiness and not against sadness or depression.  What if you were really FOR Health and not fighting the battle of the bulge. 

When we are against something we are fighting and always trying to beat something down.  When we are FOR something we are lifting and raising something up.  Personally I think I would rather look up.