The Invitation

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.

你賴以什麼維生，我並不感興趣；

我只想知道，你所渴求的是什麼，

並且是否敢去夢想去觸碰你那真心的渴望。

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.

你的年齡多大，我並不關心；

我只想知道，

你是否願意冒險，

為了愛，為了夢想，為了活著而冒險。

儘管有時看起來像個傻瓜一樣。

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.

我並不特別關心是什麼行星牽引著你的月亮，

我只想知道，

你是否觸及自己內心最深的悲痛，

是否因生活的種種背叛而開闊心胸，

抑或者因為害怕更大的痛苦而消沉封閉！

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.

我想知道，

你是否能與傷痛共處，無論我的或者你自己的，

沒有隱藏、塗抹或修飾。

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, remember the limitations of being human.

我想知道，

你是否能享受喜悅，我的或者你自己的，

你是否能充滿野性地起舞，

讓你從指端到足尖都被狂喜所充盈，

而非告誡我們要小心、要現實、要記住生而為人的限制。

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.

我不在乎你告訴我的故事是真是假，

我只想知道，

你是否能真誠地對待自己、即使那會讓別人失望，

你是否能承受背叛的指控、而不是出賣自己的靈魂。

我想知道，你是否能夠拋棄曾有的信念，因而更加值得信賴；

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.

我想知道，

你是否能看見美好，即便它每天都不漂亮，

你是否能從它的存在中尋得你自己生命的源頭。

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.

我想知道，你是否能與失敗相伴，無論你的和我的，

卻仍然能夠佇立於湖畔，對著銀色的滿月放聲大喊：

「是的，就是這樣！」

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.

我並不關心你在哪裡生活或者擁有多少金錢，

我只想知道，

在悲傷、絕望、厭世和痛徹骨髓的夜晚之後，

你是否能起床，為養育孩子做那些需要的事情。

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.

我並不關心你是誰，如何來到這裡，

我只想知道，你是否願同我一起站在烈焰的中心，毫不退縮。

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.

我並不關心你在哪裡受到教育、你學了什麼或跟誰一起學，

我只想知道，

當全世界都背棄了你，是什麼在你的內心支撐你前行。

I want to know if you can be alone with yourself and if you truly like the company you keep in the empty moments.

我想知道，

你是否能單獨地與自己共處，

你是否真正喜愛那個你在空寂時分下的那個人。