THE INVITATION

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
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 is 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.


© 1995 by Oriah House, From "Dreams Of Desire"

*************************************************************

Invictus

Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the Pit from pole to pole,

I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.

Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the horror of the shade,

And yet the menace of the years
Finds, and shall find me, unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,

I am the master of my fate;
I am the captain of my soul.

by William Ernest Henley

************************************************************
Kickin' Stones...

I remember sittin' in my old man's truck
Watchin' him and all the other men
down on their luck
Standin' around the fire
Fightin' off the cold
Smokin', swearin', kickin' stones

You know hard times
can turn a good man bad
Make him do things
out of anger, he wish he never had
Me and mama would watch
him rollin' home
Smokin', swearin', kickin' stones

Kickin' stones, kickin' stones
Down a long winding road
They were smokin', swearin', kickin' stones

All the dark days
turn into years
And all the hard times
They sure stole alot of tears
But there came a time
Where I had to move on
From the smokin', swearin', kickin' stones

Kickin' stones, kickin' stones
down a long and winding road
Brought me here
Brought me home
Where two boys, of my own

They come running
They come laughing
When I start singing
They start dancing
We go walking
Hand in hand
Kickin' stones.. kickin' stones

Kicking stones

-Sung by Johnny Reid

I like to keep first meetings simple and comfortable but first dates should be memorable enough to find their way into my journal. An afternoon horseback ride, a picnic somewhere beautiful, an evening of dancing and finding "our song"... A time that makes us smile when we think back on it... That's what first dates should be.