There are four basic categories people find themselves in when it comes to the Partner in Crime:
- The Want Need/Want One
- They Have One
- They Are One
- They are Both 2 & 3
To the surprise of absolutely no know that knows me, I fall, definitively, into the 4th category. I have the great privilege of not just having Partners in Crime, but of being a Partner in Crime.
Why is the Partner in Crime crucial to any Tribe? Because they bring the fun, the whimsy, the adventure that brings sun to the day to day, often dreary, trial that is human existence.
- They encourage you to throw caution to the wind and eat cake & ice cream for breakfast once in a while. Or splurge on that adult coffee…
- They’re the people that agree to take the road less traveled with you, even if it makes the kids in the backseat nervous.
- They’ll join you as you trespass in an old castle because you’ve never been in a real one.
- They climb on pool furniture, as if you’re playing a game of Hot Lava, at a hotel pool with you.
- They’re labeled with you as the “crazy drunk ladies,”(even when you’re stone cold sober) by the pearl clutching naysayers of life.
- They’re the ones that you travel half way around the world with not knowing where you’ll sleep.
- And finally, crucially, they’re the ones that arm up with you when you’re headed into battle. They may not know how you’ve been wronged, but they’ll be damned if they won’t help you find justice.
We all need that friendly, mischievous voice that encourages us to step out of our comfort zone. To conquer a fear that we thought would always have a hold over us. To take a chance, even if we might fail, because they know we’ll come out better on the other side for having tried. Thankfully, in my Tribe, I can always count on at least one Partner in Crime to leap into the abyss of the unknown with me. Even if it takes a little shove to get me to jump.
If your Tribe doesn’t yet have a Partner in Crime, perhaps it’s your vacancy to fill.
*It must be noted that you can’t have an entire tribe full of Partners in Crime at any one time. Every well-rounded Tribe needs a Bail Holder. But we’ll get into that one another time.
Shannon R. Brown 