I Want To Know You!
I first heard Mountain Dreaming, by Oriah, at a workshop I attended a few years ago. It’s on the long side, but so worth the read. I think different parts will resonate at different times of your journey. I so want to know what resonates with you.
The following excerpt landed deep within me shortly after writing Wholly Sober, last summer.
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
In it, I wrote of an incredibly vulnerable and difficult time where I had to be willing to disappoint the one person I felt held my reigns and kept me sober, my sponsor. I was accused of betrayal. My intention was not to hurt her. But I did to save myself, my soul. I could not continue the path I had started and remained sober. It was an unfortunate situation that tested me in many ways. I felt trapped and abandoned. But I persevered. Today, I have no doubt I made the right choices with over fourteen years sober. Uh-hmmm, excuse me, not just sober, but WHOLLY SOBER. I live in peace.
I love Oriah’s words and hope you find inspiration to take a thought or two deeper. Perhaps break out a notebook and open your mind letting it flow over the pages.
Allow these words to work through you and be aware of which words speak to you.
“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 centre 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 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 at 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 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 centre 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.
By Oriah © Mountain Dreaming,
from the book The Invitation
Teresa Rodden is the founder and owner of Pink Cloud Coaching, Author of Wholly Sober, creator of 28 Day Resolve, and of several woman based groups and organizations that recognize the unique needs and challenges of 
women.
She’s passionate about helping women identify their personal power and break the need to misuse life-sucking vices robbing women of their one and only precious life experience. Living Wholly Sober is not recovery! Click here to talk.