I Want to Know

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

It doesn’t interest me if the story you’re 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. I want to know if you can be faithful and therefore be trustworthy.

I want to know if you can see beauty even when it is not pretty every day, and if you can source your life from god’s presence. I want to know if you can live with failure, yours and mine, and still stand on the edge of a 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 a night of grief and despair, weary and bruised to the bone, and do what needs to be done for the children.

It doesn’t interest me who you are, 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.

你以什么為生我不感興趣。我想知道的是你因什么而痛苦，想知道你是否敢于去夢想滿足心靈的渴望。

你的年齡我不感興趣。我想知道的是你是否甘當傻瓜去追求愛、追求夢想和經歷生活的驚險刺激。

是什么磨圓了你的棱角我不感興趣。我想知道的是你是否觸碰過自己受傷的心，是否因為生活辜負過你而變得豁達，還是因為害怕遭受更多的痛苦而變得無助、緊閉心扉。

我想知道你是否能痛苦著我的痛苦而不是避開它，躲著它。

我想知道你是否能歡樂著我的歡樂，是否能狂舞一曲，讓快樂溢滿你的指尖和腳趾，而不是告誡我們：要小心翼翼、要現實、要牢記做人的局限。

你說的是真是假我不感興趣。我想知道的是你是否為了忠實于自己而敢于令他人失望，是否敢于承擔背叛的罵名而不愿違背良心，是否能做到誠實可靠從而值得信賴。

我想知道你是否能領略美，是否因為生命的存在而追溯生命的起源，我想知道你是否愿意接受你我的失敗并仍然敢于站在湖邊，對著銀色的滿月大聲回答“是”。

你棲身何處、有多少金錢我不感興趣。我想知道的是一夜傷心和絕望、一身疲憊和傷痕之后，你是否照樣起床，履行應盡的義務，養育待哺的孩子。

你有何背景、何以成為現在的你我不感興趣。我想知道的是你是否愿意與我一道，站在烈火中央而不退縮。

你在哪里受的教育，學的什么以及與誰為師我不感興趣。我想知道的是一切消逝之后是什么在內心支撐著你，你是否能夠獨自面對自己，是否真正喜歡你在空虛的時刻結交的伙伴。