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 centre 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 a human.
It doesn’t interest me if the story you’re 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 every day –
and you can source your 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 centre of the fire with me –
and not shrink back.
It does not 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.