Book of the month ...

The invitation - written by Oriah Mountain Dreamer.

I needed to read a book written by somebody REAL, somebody who was not afraid to share all their so called mistakes knowing that those lessons would inspire others & bless others with hope. I needed to read a book that would show me that the author had remained REAL, not become hidden by a "celeb" mask of love & light while inside feeling that their world was crumbling with no where to hide where it would not be seen ... & there it was suggested in an email when I needed it to most to banish my fears of "what ifs" & losing my own sense of integrity & truth...
Just read the poem below & allow the author's words to seduce you - you know you have thought them too but not had the courage to say them out loud, only for them to burn inside you through "another uncomfortable evening" trying to be someone you are not - the book will invite you in & I very much doubt you will want to put it down....
Michelle x

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 dreams, 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 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's 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 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 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 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.

Excerpted from THE INVITATION by Oriah Mountain Dreamer (published May 1999). Copyright © 1999 by Mountain Dreaming Productions. All rights reserved. May not be reproduced in whole or in part without the permission of HarperCollins Publishers, Inc., 10 E. 53 St., New York 10022.