A Perfect Dream

22/03: 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 centre of your own sorrow
if you have been opened by life’s betrayals
or have become shrivelled 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 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

That was about six years ago. I was going through a very rough patch in my life then. I was living my life day by day like a diseased zombie, waiting for Death to lay his claim on me. All I could feel was the dull ache in my heavy heart and a vague sense that my sanity was slipping away slowly but surely like the sand in an hourglass.

It was one of those forwarded mails i received from a friend. As I read the words, a wall crumbled within me and I became a sobbing wreak. When the tears finally subsided, I felt my heart lightened. I printed a copy of it and pinned it on the partition of my cubicle. Every morning I would read it once to start the day. Every read infuses me with a little strength and resolve to face the world. Every recital reaffirms my sense of self against the strong current of social acceptance. It was with this self-medication that got me out of that depression and possibly postponed my appointment with Death.

A few days ago, I came across Oriah's site while I was blog hopping. It's interesting how the poem surfaced in my life again when it is going through yet another downward spiral. Whether the higher powers have a hand in this, or was it through a random fluke of events, I do not know. What I do know is, the words still have the same soul-strengthening effects on me.

If you are reading this my dear, it might help you too.

Thank you so much Oriah, for your magical words, for the wonderfully inspiring masterpiece.