I want to know: "The Invitation"

[heyokah]

.....

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, 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.
I want to know if you can be faithless and therefore be 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 a 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 for the children.

It doesn't interest me who you are, 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 Mountain Dreamer

[Christine]

siSTAR ... of sky born, heart worn. Thank you beautiful being, to sit in the silence where all emerges in harmony is key.

[Naga_Fireball]

Very good post. Native writings seldom fail to teach humility. How far our modern slings & arrows fly in missing the mark any human can see & touch @@

[Eelco]

.....

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.

I dream of a world where peace reigns..
Where all inhabitants are free from fear, free from worry.
Where they have friends to share their sorrows with, and friends who make them laugh.

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.

Definetly, You should see some of my selfies...

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.

Touched I have that center. ANd although it hasn't shriveled me up completely, I am not sure I have opened up enough already.

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.

Yes, I can.. Though sometimes I find I lack the incentive to release some of the tension..
I found that sometimes someone cracking a tasteless joke can relief so much more than sitting with pain together.

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, to remember the limitations of being human.

Yes I can...

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.
I want to know if you can be faithless and therefore be trustworthy.

Oh definetly, you should see the list I have of abandoned side quests in order to be true to my choices

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.

Sometimes... I know i try to remember every day.
strange how easy it is to see the ugly and have to make a conscious effort to see the beautiful.

I want to know if you can live with failure,
Yours and mine,
And still stand on the edge of a lake and shout to the silver of the full moon,
"Yes!"

"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 for the children.

Without as much as a second thought, I tend to include the children of others as well.
That said they may experience a grumpy old man version of myself after such a night.

It doesn't interest me who you are, 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.

Only if you keep standing as well

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'd have to say my undying love of life, My wonder and curiousity in what we can endure and experience.

I want to know if you can be alone
With yourself,
And if you truly like the company you keep
In the empty moments

Some moments more than others.. There's times I think I can't be with myself.
Those usualy don't last long though..

-Oriah Mountain Dreamer

With Love
Eelco

[Spiritwind]

What a joy to read, and thought provoking too. I definitely have no problem looking foolish. The only one I probably still struggle with, more than any other, is the ability to just sit with someone else's pain, and not try to fix it. Especially when it comes to my children, although I am consciously working on this one. Can't help it, I do still look for that magic wand sometimes.

I do stand in the center of the fire with you though.

The children, that is one close to my heart, and that is ALL children. No words can even come close to expressing how I feel. My heart is big enough for them all, just not the ways and means. Something to keep working towards, as they are the future.

Much love to you,
And thanks

[Exit-0]

heyokah, my oldest internet friend. What's it been now, nearly 10 years?

I know why you've posted this soliloquy, and provoke me to respond. You challenge those inner-most demons that haunt me. You alone know them by name. You alone have earned the right to do that.

I want anyone among us to tell me how one forgives, after one is left sitting in the bombed-out rubble of their once-happy life, holding-on to nothing but the dead memories of all that used to be? ....with a gaping hole in their chest, where a heart once resided?

Forget at best.... but forgive? Hardly any left standing have that capacity....

[Christine]

It isn't about forgiveness ... I have always found that a superficial word. It is about letting go ...

Feeling so much love for you right now, just had to say that. Wow, right to the core.

Thank you for your courageous heart, that hole, there is your key.

I am going to sit silent with this until I can find an appropriate response.

You beautiful being.

[heyokah]

My dearest friend g. In this beautiful poem, written by Oriah Mountain Dreamer, forgiveness was not mentioned.

But since you brought it up, I'd like to share what I think of forgiveness - but of course you know that by now

I fully agree with you Christine, it's all about letting go, to give change a chance, to give peace a chance.

In my humble opinion, there is only one type of forgiveness that will lead to freedom - self-forgiveness.

Only through applying Self-Honesty and Self-Forgiveness, one will be able to Let Go - all the sh*t - and become Free.

~~~~

I'd like to share with you, "Dear Human", by Courtney A. Walsh.


Dear Human:
You’ve got it all wrong.

You didn’t come here to master unconditional love.
That is where you came from and where you’ll return.

You came here to learn personal love.
Universal love.
Messy love. Sweaty love.
Crazy love. Broken love.
Whole love.
Infused with divinity.
Lived through the grace of stumbling.
Demonstrated through the beauty of… messing up.
Often.

You didn’t come here to be perfect. You already are.
You came here to be gorgeously human. Flawed and fabulous.
And then to rise again into remembering.

But unconditional love? Stop telling that story.
Love, in truth, doesn’t need ANY other adjectives.
It doesn’t require modifiers.
It doesn’t require the condition of perfection.

It only asks that you show up.
And do your best.

That you stay present and feel fully.
That you shine and fly and laugh and cry
and hurt and heal and fall and get back up
and play and work and live and die as YOU.

It’s enough.

It’s Plenty.

~~~~

Oh, I wish I had written this one, but I'm not a good writer.

[heyokah]

Oooops dubble posted

[Eelco]

After suppressing my first urge to react to Exit-0’s thoughts on the importance of forgiveness, I am humbled by the reactions.

As a gut instinct I would have said forgiveness grows over time. Possibly as an effect of letting go.
Then I see Christine’s post who states forgiveness is a fun(k)y superficial word. And I start to wonder. How does Forgiveness relate to our ability to continue. Broken and bruised or even deeply wounded. So I start thinking about Love. And here comes Heyokah talking about the only forgiveness being self-forgiveness and ending with a poem about Love

I can’t help but to agree there.
I am almost incapable of hate, but someone in my past came unforgivably close. Over time though I found those feelings soften and although I can’t say I like that person now. I can state that those feelings of anger and resentment have subsided.

Mind you if someone were to bomb my children and glee about all over the media I’m unsure how I would feel and/or whether forgiveness would ever come into my consciousness..
I figure though that in time I would have no choice but to let go of the anger involved to continue on…

I also trust that in time that is exactly what will happen.

With Love
Eelco