Sunday, November 18, 2012
The Invitation
The
Invitation by Oriah
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 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
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.
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 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
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.
Thursday, November 15, 2012
Yoga Love: Heart check
A couple rounds of sun salutations with the eyes closed during tonight's heated flow class. No worrying about alignments, drishti and comparisons.
Sometimes it's not even the perspective that is important.
Sometimes it's just about trusting how it makes you feel.
Works on the mat, works in life.
Namaste. :)
Sometimes it's not even the perspective that is important.
Sometimes it's just about trusting how it makes you feel.
Works on the mat, works in life.
Namaste. :)
Sunday, November 11, 2012
A modern fairy tale
“Stories have changed, my dear boy,” the man in the grey suit says, his voice almost imperceptibly sad. “There are no more battles between good and evil, no monsters to slay, no maidens in need of rescue. Most maidens are perfectly capable of rescuing themselves in my experience, at least the ones worth something, in any case. There are no longer simple tales with quests and beasts and happy endings. The quests lack clarity of goal or path. The beasts take different forms and are difficult to recognize for what they are. And there are never really endings, happy or otherwise. Things keep overlapping and blur, your story is part of your sister’s story is part of many other stories, and there in no telling where any of them may lead. Good and evil are a great deal more complex than a princess and a dragon, or a wolf and a scarlet-clad little girl. And is not the dragon the hero of his own story? Is not the wolf simply acting as a wolf should act? Though perhaps it is a singular wolf who goes to such lengths as to dress as a grandmother to toy with its prey.”
This is the kind of fairy tales I'll read my little girl someday to let her know waiting for a prince is unnecessary since she has the magic sword that can save her inside her heart of hearts, and to my little boy, too, to remind him that every girl is strong enough to handle her own life if she decides to, and it won't make him less of a man to let his girl do exactly that.
24: Cracking the secret adult code
I've always wondered how come adults effortlessly exude calmness and authority, and from what point they start doing so. I don't know if I can be considered an adult already but I sure do not possess that kind of confidence yet. Or at least, I did not. Until recently.
When I was a lot younger I thought being an adult means being more certain about myself and my desires- having all the answers; I thought it was another 'I woke up one morning...' kind of thing. It was a long process from holding on to that idea to finally figuring out the truth. And I truly feel that it's this year when I'm able to comprehend what being an adult takes and where that enviable sense of security comes from.
It's about learning to control my actions and at the same time, letting loose of the usual tied-up expectation that the outcomes are controllable. It is focusing on the present rather than incessantly worrying about the future. It is taking ownership of my time and being productive rather than letting the hours slip away. It is not about knowing everything but trusting that everything will fall into place somehow.
Basically, I learned that the calmness adults radiate comes not from knowing everything, but from not knowing and being okay with it. And this year, I feel like I finally mastered that trick.
Thank You for the many, although initially painful, wonderful lessons I've learned this year that contributed so much into helping me mold a heart strong enough to trust its struggles. :)) If this is what being an adult means, let me join the club.
When I was a lot younger I thought being an adult means being more certain about myself and my desires- having all the answers; I thought it was another 'I woke up one morning...' kind of thing. It was a long process from holding on to that idea to finally figuring out the truth. And I truly feel that it's this year when I'm able to comprehend what being an adult takes and where that enviable sense of security comes from.
It's about learning to control my actions and at the same time, letting loose of the usual tied-up expectation that the outcomes are controllable. It is focusing on the present rather than incessantly worrying about the future. It is taking ownership of my time and being productive rather than letting the hours slip away. It is not about knowing everything but trusting that everything will fall into place somehow.
Basically, I learned that the calmness adults radiate comes not from knowing everything, but from not knowing and being okay with it. And this year, I feel like I finally mastered that trick.
 |
| Happy 24 to meeee! |
Thank You for the many, although initially painful, wonderful lessons I've learned this year that contributed so much into helping me mold a heart strong enough to trust its struggles. :)) If this is what being an adult means, let me join the club.
Sunday, November 4, 2012
Yoga love: On greed
aparigraha-sthairye janma-kathamta-sambodhah
When one becomes selfless and ceases to take more than one needs, one obtains knowledge of why one was born.
When one becomes selfless and ceases to take more than one needs, one obtains knowledge of why one was born.
I was looking forward to a power class last Saturday but it turned out there was a switching of schedules and found myself in a jivamukti class, instead. The theme for the month is Aparigraha, which means non-possessiveness. Simply put, it is a practice of living simply so that others may simply live.
I only wanted to be back on my mat and practice, but I got so much more than physical strength from that class. Some days you get what you need without asking for it.
I pray that I may be strong and kind enough to strip away the inessentials.
Works on the mat, works in life. :)
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