Mountain Dreamer Speaks  [Back]
                                    
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 to 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




Oriah, Mountain Dreamer,Indian Elder