“A ship in a harbor is safe, but that is not what ships are built for.”

The source for the above quote is a bit unclear– several online searches attribute the  quote to several different individuals– thus I can’t quite say for certain who said it.

Yet, the intention is clear. Ships aren’t meant to be built and left in the harbor. They are meant to sail.

The sturdy canoes and colorful kayaks in the picture above are useless, if they are never tested in the water, if they never carry anyone out over the deep.

Oars are not meant to stand looking like giant fly swatters. They are meant to slice the water, to propel one forward and onward.

I am reminded of these words from The Artist’s Way, which I have been reading this summer: “…the unexamined life is not worth living but consider too that the unlived life is not worth examining.”

Oh.

So… an unlived life can be likened to a list of intentions (or dreams?) that are like boats that just… sit there.

It makes me wonder.

What canoes are parked in my yard?

***

Sharing with Jen at Finding Heaven, Laura at The Wellspring, L.L. Barkat at Seedlings in Stone, and Jennifer for God-Bumps and God-Incidences