My Ideal Person
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 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 withjoy, mine or your own,
if you can dance with wildness
and let the ecstay 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 tell 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
trustworthy.
I want to know if you can
see beauty even when it
is not pretty everyday,
and if you can source your life
from God's 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
a 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 midnight 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 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 CAN TRULY LIKE THE COMPANY
YOU KEEP IN THE EMPTY MOMENTS.
-Oriah Mountain Dreamer
THE INVITATION

Favorite films: Forrest Gump, The Green Mile, Shrek. Happy Feet

View more of ylena's responses