Thursday, January 25, 2007

The Invitation

" It doesnt 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 doesnt 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 doesnt 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 ecstacy fill you to the tips of your fingers and toes without cautioning us to be careful, to be realisitic, to remember the limitations of being human.
It doesnt 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 ... trustworthy.
I want to know if you can see beauty, even when its not pretty, everyday, 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 doesnt 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 dispair, weary and bruised to the bone, and do what needs to be done to feed the children.
It doesnt 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 doesnt 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."
From 'The Invitation' by Oriah Mountain Dreamer.

19 comments:

Shafinaaz Hassim said...

Hey all

My dear sweet friend Julie recently made a copy of this extract of The Invitation and gifted it to me. I was moved and inspired. And in the spirit of such inspirations that abound in the lives of those whose souls touch us, i needed to share this..

happy reading :)
hope all enjoy as much as i did.

shafinaaz

Anonymous said...

hey kim

this was long but interesting

too metaphorical for me though

or something deep like that

but sounds like you

more or less

*IM*

Anonymous said...

the invitation is meant to be read as a sort of affirmation for seekers of the path that leads that way

Shafinaaz Hassim said...

lol

hey imo, im really surprised that u bothered to read it! thats like doubled ur readings for the decade?/millenium even?? :P

thanks, even though i know ur 'sounds like you' isnt quite the compliment and most probably accompanied by a 'upward roll of the eyes'.

Crimson Shimmer said...

Kewl post Kimya: The invitation is truly amazing, yet so obvious.
More than it is meant to be read, it is meant to be lived.
Here’s to everyone finding the wisdom to do so :)
and if they don’t find it...
To just create it!
If they don’t create it
To just Nike it!
If they don’t Nike it
To just do it!

Hasina Suliman said...

be sure to get urself a copy of
THE DANCE
and
THE CALL :)

i know u gonna love love luv it

Saaleha said...

It's wonderful. And so very true in every word. I loved it.

Shafinaaz Hassim said...

Hey AlienLS :)

Alhamdulillah, imagine the sense of eUphoria to actually cross paths with someone who does live life by such a beautiful manifesto!

Lady ;)

Saaleha.. In words as these, lie the glimpses of hope and heaven that we travel weary souls so urgently seek :)

May we all find such soulful inspirations enfolding us as we walk through life. Ameen.

Anonymous said...

That was lovely.
It's really quite inspirational. Something to actually read when you feel as if you've lost your way.

:)

Shafinaaz Hassim said...

hi fatima..

yes, its really uplifting in its message, isnt it :)

glad u like it!

slms

Ruby :) said...

very inspiring... thanks. btw, liked the rumi post as well..

Anonymous said...

hey ruby:)

me thinks u shud share ths one with the Guy.. if ur really on the same wavelength, this would be a great way to measure its worth!

or to revive a common dream ;)

all the best, slms. shafs.

Shafinaaz Hassim said...

hmm, how did that happen?//

sigh

seems my fone blogging has decided not to identify me

Shafinaaz Hassim said...

note:

i deliberately missed a spot, btw.

where it sposed to say..'if you can be faithless and therefore trustworthy'... didnt appeal to my sense of understanding; unless anyone cares to offer up a challenge?/

Anonymous said...

hi there, i went to the oriah website after i read your post and also picked up that bit, especially since it did not make sense to me i read it over a few times, and realised that you definitely did not have that in your rendering.

i still prefer the alchemist style though. this stuff is gendered writing for the women. coelho rocks ;-p

Shafinaaz Hassim said...

geNdered for wOmen how?

:/

bb_aisha said...

This was really powerful n beautiful. I read it at a time when im questionin who i am, n it answered many q's

Anonymous said...

gender is rather obvious!!!

Shafinaaz Hassim said...

I disagree with the obvious.. I still believe that works of spirit can be read in a non-gendered way. Spirit, being in spirit and being inspired are deeply moving in their natural non-gendered intent.