The company you keep
This is an unscheduled post. I’m breaking my ‘rule’ and posting on an off day. Not to mention, this is not technically a Muse post in keeping with the May theme here.
On the other hand, does the Muse require a label or a reason… or simply, just an outlet?
Tonight I was munching on my dinner and felt guided to pick up an old binder. This was a binder that I hadn’t flipped through in over a year.
I leafed through a few pages before one spoke to me and I began to read.
It wasn’t long before I was feeling moved by what I was reading. So, I wanted to share it with you all to see what you think.
See how it moves you; what opens up. Or, what you are afraid of opening up to… :-)
Maybe you’ll even be inspired to write or paint something.
Enjoy.
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 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, or 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 faithful and
therefore be trustworthy. I want to know if you can see
beauty even when it is not pretty everyday, and if
you can source your life on the edge of the lake
and shout the silver of the full moon.
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
for 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.
Comments?
Any particular line speak to you?
Photo: View at Lighthouse Park in West Vancouver by Davina Haisell
patricia
Hilary
Tony Single
Linda
Barbara Swafford
Deb Dorchak
Chris Edgar
{ 33 comments }
Just on my way to bed but cant tuck in before telling you I Love This!
Hi Hazel.
I’m glad you enjoyed this and that I decided to post off schedule :) Rules were meant to be broken, right? And after all it IS a full moon. I was so moved by this that after reading it, I literally got up from the sofa and marched over the computer to prepare the post. I think it had to get out there. Sweet dreams.
I’m glad you shared this, Davina. There is so much here! Printing it out so that I can read it over and over again … as needed. :D Also tweeting it. x
.-= Chania Girl´s last blog ..The Someone Who Hides Inside You =-.
Loved this. Thank you for sharing it. Off for the long weekend here in the U.S. but had to comment. xoxo
.-= Betsy Wuebker´s last blog ..Hunting and Cooking with Wild Morel Mushrooms =-.
I keep seeing this around the blogosphere. It’s such an anthem to living life fully, with all its glory and agony. One of many lines I like is “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. “
PS – Oriah Mountain DreamER is a contemporary woman. Her website is Oriah and she has a book out.
Hi Davina .. isn’t that just lovely – it certainly tell us life as it is .. I’m glad we haven’t completely lost all of the Indian ways of life .. there’s so much wise knowledge and teaching there.
Your picture at the lighthouse point is lovely too .. on the edge .. a world of opportunity out there .. Thanks Davina .. that is lovely .. Hilary
.-= Hilary´s last blog ..A stroll on the wild side … =-.
I think it’s beautiful in terms of ideal human relationships, but not very realistic. Most of us do care about the shallow stuff.
.-= vered | blogger for hire´s last blog ..Sex And The City: I Hate It Too =-.
I loved this the first time I read it and can’t get enough of it – such insight and wonder and really – words to live by!
.-= The Exception´s last blog ..The Power of Labeling =-.
Thank you for sharing this Davina – very interesting reading and it touches me. Thank you Dot for adding further reference to the piece….
I think i will come back to this again and re-read.
.-= patricia´s last blog ..Arm Chair Traveling =-.
Hi Davina,
Few can dance within those thoughts and live so fully and richly. Authenticity is rare and becoming harder to find. I agree with Vered, in that we often stay in the shallows, in the safer surface feelings. The courage to sacrifice, to stand in the fire, and to open up to the wild, rawness of life is beyond even the thoughts of most people I know. (Present company excepted!)
.-= Lori Hoeck´s last blog ..Self defense and owning your survival =-.
Davina,
I loved this and actually thought you had written it until I got to end. It sort of sounds like YOU to me.
I loved so many lines in this writing, it was hard to pick one. I’m not sure why I picked the line I did, but I read through the writing several times and this one stands out for me:
“I want to know what sustains you from the inside when all else falls away.”
I really like it. Thank you for sharing this writing:~)
.-= Sara´s last blog ..Where You Ought to Be =-.
Hi Chania Girl.
It’s deep isn’t it? In an enlightening kind of way :-)
Hi Betsy.
You’re welcome. Happy Memorial Day. Cheers!
Hi Dot.
You know, you’ve just highlighted the ONE line that moved me to posting this. How bout that? :-D Thanks for the link to Oriah’s website. I’ll definitely check that out.
Hi Hilary.
Glad you appreciate the photo. I like your analogy that goes with this… “On the edge.” Just enjoying the view can be enough; don’t always have to take the leap.
Hi Vered.
I think most people have an interest in the shallow stuff, too. It’s usually the first thing they see on the surface. I wish I didn’t care as much about some of it as I do. I think the last line sums this all up pretty good; “I want to know if you can be alone with yourself and if you truly like the company you keep in the empty moments.”
Hi The Exception.
It’s neat how certain passages can never become old to us. Glad you enjoyed seeing it again.
Hi Patricia.
You’re welcome. Enjoy the re-read… Ms Arm Chair Traveller :)
Hi Lori.
Your comment made me think about living in the shallows; it seems to compare to living in the fast-lane, and these days everyone wants things now, in a hurry. What’s funny is… all the shallow stuff and material possessions end up slowing us down :-D
Hi Sara.
You’re welcome. I liked that line too — gets to the heart of the matter. Actually, knowing what is beyond the ‘surface stuff’ even gives the surface stuff more meaning.
Hi Davina,
I love “The Invitation” by Oriah Mountain Dreamer. It really speaks to the things that matter in life. In fact, I used part of this in a healing service I was involved in earlier this month. (the words just felt so right for the moment)
Thanks so much for sharing this…it is always so deeply good to read…
Thank you for sharing this. It is beautiful. It puts into words what I’ve been trying to say for such a long time about the kind of people I want in my life. I am going to find some more of her writing now…
.-= Dorothy´s last blog ..The truth is (revisited)….. =-.
Hi Davina,
This is beautiful. Like Sara, I also thought you had written it as it mirrors your writing style.
I love the last line, too. “I want to know if you can be alone with yourself and if you truly like the company you keep in the empty moments.” It makes me think of how it is when we have truly “arrived”.
.-= Barbara Swafford´s last blog ..Confession – I Delete Real Comments =-.
Hi Davina,
I am so glad you shared this with your readers today!
The entire passage speaks to me; I use the book “The Invitation” as part of my life coaching practice. The book is broken into chapters each examining one verse of her poem. It has been life changing for me in many ways; I wish to live as authentically as expressed in each verse, and have done (and am still doing) the work to make sure that my external life is in alignment with my internal beliefs. When I began life coaching, it was not only as a career, but as a life change for myself…and using this poem, and the book as tools for growth has allowed me to watch much unfold in my life and the lives of those around me.
Hi Lance.
You’re welcome. This passage speaks volumes. Must have been powerful to work with this on a group level.
Hi Dorothy.
Welcome and thanks for your comment :) I followed the link that Dot (above) suggested and have now subscribed to her blog. I look forward to reading more of this, that’s for sure.
Hi Barbara.
Thx, I’m flattered :) “When we have truly ‘arrived’” — like that. Re that statement in regards to the empty moments… kind of makes those empty moments seem not so empty after all :-)
Hi Joy.
I’m glad you enjoyed this. Okay… so I must check out “The Invitation” now. I can appreciate what you’ve said here about life coaching being a life change for yourself in addition to a career. I feel entirely the same way. Living authentically… when a person comes from that place they seem less likely to judge — themselves or others. Thanks for the recommendation on this book.
What a great find, Davina. There is a lot of good information to contemplate.
It is really important, that your best friend is yourself.
I believe when you are not being judgmental, everything will be ok.
Hi Jim.
If you like this you should check out her website at the link that Dot shared in her comment above. Really good writing over there. I always believe things work out in the end… even if you are being judgmental :)
Davina, I have to sit with this awhile. It has put words to all the things I’ve wanted to say but didn’t know how to. This especially gave me pause in a good way:
I want to know if you can see beauty even when it is not pretty everyday, and if you can source your life on the edge of the lake and shout the silver of the full moon.
I am genuinely moved by this. Thanks for posting it even though it wasn’t according to your schedule to do so. :)
Hi Tony.
You’re welcome. I’m tickled that you are so moved by this. There is, in some weird way, some beauty in the depths of despair. Not that I go looking for it, or would choose it over the other, mind you. But, I’ve been *down there* before and when I’ve taken the time to sit with it and give it some voice, there really IS something good there. We tend to run from it or try to bury it without giving it a chance — or think we shouldn’t ‘go there’.
Hi Davina — thanks for this — I’ve been hearing this poem in a number of different contexts recently. In me, it can bring up doubts about whether I’m “enough of a man” — I tend to interpret the poem as spoken by a woman telling a man what she really wants from him, and I wonder whether I can be all of those things. On the other hand, I can also see that the idea of being “enough of a man” is really an illusion — enough for who or for what, after all?
Hi Chris.
That’s interesting that you see the man/woman polarity here. “Enough for who or for what…” — Exactly! You have high standards, right? Enough for you is what counts. Have you imagined yourself saying this passage to someone else, as opposed to having it said to you? That switch of perspective opens the door for compassion, at least it did for me.
Davina,
In a perfect world I wouldn’t care either…meanwhile I’m inspired by Oriah!
Joy from above gave me her book. Joy is Oriah’s twin sister…but shhh nobody knows this!
I love breaking my own rules. It must be why I love you!
.-= Tess The Bold Life´s last blog ..The Bold Life: Loving Choices Change Lives =-.
Every word resonated with me, and powerfully. It hits on the fundamental truth of our existence: that we are each alone, that we make painful choices throughout life, that reveal backbone or the lack of it. It speaks to the deepest parts of our deepest selves. I love it, Davina, and feel enriched for having read it. THANKS for sharing it. And I love your photo!
.-= Lynda Lehmann´s last blog ..The Luck of the Seagull =-.
Hi Tess.
That’s odd… it appears that Joy’s blog has disappeared? I wonder if she’s shy and you scared her off :)
Hi Lynda.
You’re welcome! I’m glad you enjoyed this — and the photo; it was one of those lucky shots. She just happened to be standing in a pensive pose and I snapped it. This is a powerful piece of writing and it sounds as if it grabbed you as powerfully as I felt it. If you have a chance, check out Oriah’s website.
“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.”
This has always been my favorite line in that poem. Something strong and powerful about it. It actually describes the kind of relationship I’m looking for.
.-= Tom Volkar / Delightful Work´s last blog ..Stop Career Insanity =-.
Hi Tom.
I know what you mean. Being able to stand in the ‘fire’ with another person — it’s like both people surrender to the process and put their trust in how things will play out, knowing they will handle it the best way they can. I guess it’s about being “conscious” and not personalizing things. Good luck with your search.
Thanks for this. Very insightful. An absolutely beautiful poem!
Hi Ralph.
You’re welcome — thanks for your comment. I hope you have a chance to check out Oriah’s blog for more of the same.
Life has no rules except for those you choose to make and break for self. Self is the only judge and jury. The ego mind imagines emotions such as guilt and self-doubt to distract you from remembering who you truly are.
.-= Liara Covert´s last blog ..Practice the Middle Way =-.
Liara,
Part of the fun is making them and then breaking them. There’s almost an air of smugness about actually following the rules, lol.
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