Life is the flash of a firefly in the night.
It is the breath of the buffalo in the winter.
It is the little shadow which runs across the grass
and loses itself in the sunset.
~Crowfoot~

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 in 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 in 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 tip of your fingers
and toes

without cautioning us to be careful,
be realistic, or remembering
the limitations of being 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 if you can source your life
from Spirits 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 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
(A Native American Elder)

Art Work © By Denton Lund