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Profile Thomas A. Battle
My name is Thomas Anthony
Battle, and I have been condemned to California's
The Invitation… To Those Curios 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, or for the very 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 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 tip of your fingers
and toes without cautioning us to be careful, to be realistic, or 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 accusations 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’s 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 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 a 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 center of the fire with me, and not shrink
back in fear and doubt. It
doesn’t interest me where, what or with whom you have studied. I want
to know just what sustains you, from the inside, when all else falls
away. I
want to know if you can be alone with yourself, and truly like the
company you keep, both is the shadow and empty moments of you life. This,
is the invitation… to those curios.
Address: Thomas A. Battle #V05994
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