Words of WonderWhat if there is no need - Oriah Mountain Dreamer

What if there is no need to change?
No need to transform yourself
What if the task is simply to unfold
To become who you already are in your essential nature –
Gentle, compassionate,
and capable of living fully and passionately present?
What if the question is not,
How would this change what you think you have to learn?
But by recognising and receiving the people and places and practices
Will arise from deep within
And guide you every time you simply pay attention
And wait.
How would this shape your stillness, your movement,
Your willingness to follow this impulse
To just let go
And dance?

by Oriah Mountain Dreamer


It’s interesting how something can be ‘just’ a nice text/poem/picture/song and then something happens and suddenly it speaks to you in a way it didn’t before, it suddenly holds meaning in a way that feels important and personal… That’s what happened for me with these words by Oriah Mountain Dreamer (who many will know from her words The Invitation). They come from the prelude to her book ‘The Dance’, and following some links I came to this exerpt which again really hit the spot for me today. (It makes me wonder what other delightful words I may have glanced at already that will suddenly come to life one day in the future? A bit like a treasure hunt through life!)

So, that question… why do i so infrequently want to be the person i really am? Yes why? Why does it so often feel safer or wiser to edit myself into what I hope will be acceptable to others, when I know how delightful it is to ‘just let go and dance?’ No real answers today, but a willingness to live the questions and see what will unfold…


Photo by Bailey Kovac on Unsplash