Parable of the Canoe

A canoe

This is my retelling of a parable I learned from my time in Boy Scouts. It’s not my original story, but it is my retelling. I'm using the parable specifically in the context of an essay about conspiratorial thinking, but it's useful in other creative contexts.

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You're making a canoe. You have a big log, and you carve and whittle at the log until it's in the shape of a canoe.

You're going and going, and a person comes along and sees what you're doing. And they say "make sure it's a little thinner over here" on the side where they're standing. So you do.

And another person comes along later and sees what you're doing. And they say "make sure it's a little thinner over here" on the opposite side. So you do.

More people come along. They tell you to make the canoe a little thinner, and a little thinner, and a little thinner.

And then when you take the canoe to the water, the sides are so thin that water breaks through them - and your canoe sinks.

You're going to get a lot of advice about what shape your life should look like, even though the people giving that advice aren't seeing the whole thing. Be wise about who you listen to.

Assume the neighbors and communities around you want to be helpful. Don't assume they see the whole canoe.

No matter how reasonable or charismatic people are - or how much compassionate intent they have - you are the one who floats or sinks in your canoe. Consider advice from people, even unusual advice from unusual people. But don't let them sink your canoe.