Leaks

“If there’s water pouring in to a boat through some leak or leaks, the water isn’t the problem.”

“What do you mean the water’s not the problem?!”

“For a boat the water is a given. The problem is the leaks. Once there’s a leak, then there’s water pouring in. So you keep taking care of the boat, then that takes care of the leaks and then there’s no water pouring in. Once it’s not too catastrophic, you can even look on the sight of the water that’s coming in as doing you a favour. It’s letting you know there’s a leak and weakness in the boat that you have to shore up. Otherwise you’d probably be oblivious to it. It kind of teaches you humility, you could say, about your boat. And it’s a pretty serious business having your boat seaworthy, especially if it goes out into deep waters.”

“So the problem is internal, not external.”

“Well the external is real, but its negative manifestation, as in water pouring in, is in perfect sync with the flaws of the internal.”