Cover photo: John Perrett, a.k.a. “Potato Creek Johnny”, credited with discovering the largest gold nugget (7.75 oz.) found in the Black Hills, 1929. Public Domain. (Adams Research and Cultural Center, Deadwood, South Dakota).
Today's Nugget
Glimpsed, Stumbled Upon, and Panned from the Stream of Life
The Invitation is unique in many ways. It is the longest of all the Nuggets, the only copywritten selection, and a most appropriate introduction to the collection as a whole, as a call to honor the most basic bonds of humanity.
Day One Nugget: The Invitation
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, be realistic, 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 on the edge of the lake and shout to the silver of the full moon, "Yes."
It doesn't interest me 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” House, The Invitation from her book, THE INVITATION © 1999. Published by HarperONE, San Francisco. All rights reserved. Presented with permission of the author, and with apologies for formatting. www.oriah.org
About the Book
Nuggets is a collection of quotations I have "Glimpsed, Stumbled Upon, and Panned from the Steam of Life." It is not merely a compilation of words, but a carefully curated exhibition of human experience, distilled into its purest, most resonant forms.
Each entry within these pages represents a moment of clarity, captured and preserved much like a precious stone pulled from a rushing river. These are words meant to be weighed, considered, and carried with you as you navigate your own stream.
The Sifter's Method
HOW THIS BOOK WAS WRITTEN
Glimpsed
Caught in the periphery of daily existence. Fleeting moments of clarity observed before they vanish.
Stumbled Upon
Tripped over while walking unfamiliar paths. Unexpected wisdom found when wandering off routine.
Panned
Carefully sifted from the rushing currents. The heavy gold of truth separated from the noise.
A collection of wisdom glimpsed, stumbled upon, and panned from the steam of life.
Add Wisdom to Your Shelf
"Glimpsed, Stumbled Upon, and Panned from the Stream of Life." Secure your physical or digital copy of the Nuggets collection today.
