friends in town & how they can remind you to dance & appreciate the place you live in
impromptu dancing at the top of red rocks
one of my dearest friends came to visit a couple weeks ago & it was such a gift. living in colorado is awesome for obvious reasons (mountains, city, etc) but having so many people you realllllllly love live halfway across the country is NOT awesome. so when i get a text saying "can i come visit in the beginning of march?"...i get all kinds of giddy. especially when they say they're bringing their gracious & loving boyfriend too.
apart from some altitude sickness, the time together was sweet & cherished. it went fast, as it usually does with these kinds of visits.
the day before they left was my favorite day. we ventured up to red rocks amphitheater & then loveland pass afterwards. on the way to loveland it started snowing. the world morphed into a snow globe feel in minutes. as CO residents, we're used to the snow. but nicole & mathis are from FL so their senses have not been dulled to the magic of the flakes. their childlike wonder of it helped my eyes to lighten & linger a bit.
as we get older, so many things just become so familiar. we become enslaved to routine & don't allow ourselves to be surprised by the painted sunset sky or the cloudlike snowflakes. the rocky mountains are majestic. they demand attention & awe. & yet less than two years of living here & i've already started to take them for granted. so, to have two sets of bright-eyed friends in town reminded me to not take this beautiful place i live in for granted.
& in the spirit of mountains & beauty & open eyes...here is an image story of our day & one of my favorite poems by 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 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."
- Oriah Mountain Dreamer
