Standing Tall

/

It wasn't always like this you know

There were dark moments

When I felt so disconnected

When I felt like I did not fit in at all

When I had no idea who I was

There were moments of incredible sadness,

loneliness

, and deep

despair

Where I hid myself

Trying to blend into the background

I did not speak up

I tried to go unnoticed

Afraid of making a fool of myself

I do not recall the exact moment it shifted

Maybe it wasn't a moment at all

Rather a series of events

Unlocking my heart piece by piece

Making me more aware

Allowing myself to feel more

Slowly shifting

Slowly my eyes opened

Opened up to the person who was me

Standing inside me this whole time

But I was to scared to look

To afraid to take notice

Now here I stand

Deeply rooted

Leaning towards the sun

Soaking in the beauty of life and living it each day

Smiling widely

Never would this have been possible

If I had not opened up my heart

My soul

Myself

But that tender moment

occurred

That moment of opening

And now I stand

Showered in love

Heart feeling so full

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 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, to be realistic, to remember the limitations of being human.

It doesn't interest me if the story you are telling 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's 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 the night of grief and despair, weary and bruised to the bone, and do what needs to be done to feed your 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