Today was a challenging day. Fear gripped  me by the throat and wouldn’t let go.… At least for a while.

Fear is not a place that I visit often. I’m usually pretty grounded and pretty levelheaded. If I’m fearful about something, I’m usually able to figure out what I need to do and the fear dissipates quickly.

That wasn’t the case today, unfortunately. And I think it was because this wasn’t just normal fear… It was compounded fear… Many things coming together that concern me.

When I look for the common denominator… I would have to say that it’s me being fearful about how we as individuals/communities/nation are treating people. I don’t like what I see.

It seems like there is so much thinking around “us versus them.” I hear it in politics. I see it on the Internet. And it always carries an angry, ugly energy… However it‘s said, it feels ugly.

I want to see more thinking focused on WE! I don’t care where someone was born. I just want to know if they’re kind. I don’t care what their gender is or who they sleep with. I want to know if they believe in treating everyone with respect.

As I’m writing this, I’m aware that it’s starting to sound like The Invitation by Oriah Mountain Dreamer. I’ll paste that poem at the end of this for those that have never read it. She says it far better than I anyway.

I think it’s time to get past our politics… Seriously… If we stay busy judging each other, then we won’t notice all the other, more important things happening in our world. And maybe that’s the point…

I’m going to get my fear in check. And I’m going to continue to lead with love.

After all… Love is the only thing that can make a difference anyway!

I hope you’ll join me.

The Invitation

By Oriah Mountain DreamerMore Oriah Mountain Dreamer

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.

This post is part of the month long blogging challenge called Nanopoblano. Please visit my other blogging team members Here