good gypsy....bad gypsy

One things I have noted through the years.  There are good gypsies and not so good gypsies...a few bad ones, too.

It is a mixed -up tribe, for sure...

Gypsies are karmically complex.  We are drawn to one another on deep levels. 
In modern society it may take years for us to fully realize who we are...
and a little longer still to recognize it in the others that we have drawn into our lives.

Remember here that I am using 'gypsy' in the archetypal sense, as well...

There is a natural sympathy and mutual understanding that may never
be articulated...but it is there.

We give each other license where we might not extend it to others. 
We pass over, forgive, turn a blind eye...
It is largely underground in our psyches....

One of my unrealized companions was famous for her restaurant antics.. .
She loved to dine well.  She would invite me to a restaurant that I knew she
could ill afford and once there, we would truly enjoy a great meal.  It was always
a grand experience with laughter and wine and intense conversation.

But when the check arrived, she would suddenly, and sometimes loudly,
find fault with some aspect of our meal. 
By the time she was done complaining, she had gotten us a free meal. 

I was slow to see to see it for what it was...a con...a ploy.  Her act was that good...  
I forgave her some of that, knowing that her life was generally hard. 
People need a little relief occasionally.

"Sometimes," I thought to myself, "just because you don't have money doesn't mean
that you shouldn't live well..."
and she had more capacity for enjoying life and living well than anyone I knew.
But as I got to know her better, I saw that this was a common tactic.
It had become her way of going through life for a time.

She always needed a few dollars...and then a few more dollars. 
She was always quick with a promise to pay the money back or do something
in exchange for the loan.  It never happened.
Coupled with the fact that she was pretty mercurial when it came to working,
I realized what I was dealing with....bad gypsy.

The sad thing about living a life of trickery is that it tends to build all the wrong karma.
Her life is still one of constant struggle. 
Surprisingly and painfully, she is also frequently conned by others ...
Perhaps it is true that the most dangerous lies are the ones we tell ourselves...

As I have said... It is so much more complex...

With all that said,  you've still got your tired gypsies, your discouraged gypsies
 and some gypsies that feel entitled to anything that's not nailed down,
though it is still true that society puts too much emphasis on money and possessions. 
As well, you have those gypsies for whom life has not been fair no matter how much
they try or how hard they work or how gifted they are...and they are so very gifted.

Gypsies sometime seem to carry a cloud over themselves...of difficulty, ill repute,
defiance, 'out-of-placeness'...that makes it hard to help. 
It can seem inpenetrable, unfixable...both to themselves and others.

There is history in the blood....many times difficult history.

We inherit more than DNA.   We inherit history...
the experience of that sometimes wandering, sometimes settled tribe...
that ancient, complex tribal bloodline.  

It emerges in us in a myriad of ways and times...
It can surprise, dismay or confuse us.
No one prepares us for the deeper facts and experiences of life...
the intricacies and layers of who we are and where we've come from. 
But there is no doubt that we live from it....out of that history....like it or not. 

We would do well to learn from it...even cherish it.

Perhaps, rather than judging from our customary myopic view point,
we would do well to stand back and observe ourselves,
as well as the fellow souls with whom we share this journey through life...

It has been a long and extraordinary and, at times, difficult journey.

We are fortunate beyond words to be here...we who have sprung from those
who have survived so many centuries ...so many difficulties...so many wanderings.

It leads me to realize how precious each survivor of survivors truly is.
That is everyone walking around today...

It should not be surprising to any of us that we are a bit misshapen or a bit corrupt
or that we struggle in strange ways and that we carry deep knowing and sadness
as well as joy.

It makes easy sense that we experience difficulty in relationships... 

It takes a lifetime to discover yourself, let alone a lover or child or friend....

There is much mystery hidden in our folds of skin and bone and brain. 

We cannot be condensed to the current person of such and such date of birth,
marriage and death. 

We are the living representatives of far more than is remembered. 

The memories are in this blood and tissue...sleeping and sometimes stirring.

With this sure knowledge, we should be ever be delicate and patient
in our dealings with ourselves... and with others...

Tenderhearted, Curious, Fascinated....

Not quick to judge or correct...or corral or tame this majestic creation that is ourselves. 

so many blessings...