<p>It doesn’t interest me<br/> what you do for a living.<br/> I want to know<br/> what you ache for<br/> and if you dare to dream<br/> of meeting your heart’s longing.</p>
<p>It doesn’t interest me<br/> how old you are.<br/> I want to know <br/> if you will risk <br/> looking like a fool<br/> for love<br/> for your dream<br/> for the adventure of being alive.</p>
<p>It doesn’t interest me<br/> what planets are squaring your moon…<br/> I want to know<br/> if you have touched the centre of your own sorrow<br/> if you have been opened by life’s betrayals<br/> or have become shrivelled and closed<br/> from fear of further pain.</p>
<p>I want to know if you can sit with pain<br/> mine or your own<br/> without moving to hide it<br/> or fade it<br/> or fix it.</p>
<p>I want to know if you can be with joy<br/> mine or your own<br/> if you can dance with wildness<br/> and let the ecstasy fill you to the tips of your fingers and toes<br/> without cautioning us<br/> to be careful<br/> to be realistic<br/> to remember the limitations of being human.</p>
<p>It doesn’t interest me if the story you are telling me is true.<br/> I want to know if you can<br/> disappoint another<br/> to be true to yourself.<br/> If you can bear<br/> the accusation of betrayal<br/> and not betray your own soul.<br/> If you can be faithless<br/> and therefore trustworthy.</p>
<p>I want to know if you can see Beauty<br/> even when it is not pretty<br/> every day.<br/> And if you can source your own life<br/> from its presence.</p>
<p>I want to know if you can live with failure<br/> yours and mine<br/> and still stand at the edge of the lake<br/> and shout to the silver of the full moon,<br/> “Yes.”</p>
<p>It doesn’t interest me<br/> to know where you live or how much money you have.<br/> I want to know if you can get up<br/> after the night of grief and despair<br/> weary and bruised to the bone<br/> and do what needs to be done<br/> to feed the children.</p>
<p>It doesn’t interest me who you know<br/> or how you came to be here.<br/> I want to know if you will stand<br/> in the centre of the fire<br/> with me<br/> and not shrink back.</p>
<p>It doesn’t interest me where or what or with whom<br/> you have studied.<br/> I want to know <br/> what sustains you<br/> from the inside<br/> when all else falls away.<br/> I want to know if you can be alone <br/> with yourself<br/> and if you truly like the company you keep<br/> in the empty moments.</p>