(Don't) Rock the Boat!

Whenever I hear the expression, "don't rock the boat!" I think of Girls Camp when I was 12 years old. I was in a canoe with at least Cindy, Laurie, Katie, and who knows who else. I do recall we had way too many girls in the canoe. We pulled up alongside another canoe that had a much more manageable number of girls in it (maybe 2?), and decided to unload a few passengers. At the same time, two other girls from the lake decided to climb in our canoe with us. I can still remember Cindy yelling, "Don't rock the boat!!" She was quite determined to not fall in the water. For some reason I am also remembering that we had some crazy idea that we could do lake activities that day without actually getting in the green, murky water.
Multiple 12 year old girls, moving water, and 2 canoes, obviously you know what happens next. We all fell out into the green, murky water.
(I also recall that for some reason we were convinced there was a large sea turtle living in the bottom of this lake. We had a name for it, which sadly, I don't recall.)
But the most important part that I remember, is that rocking the boat is what lead to thousands of giggles and laughter and fun. (And drama, because 12 year old girls THRIVE on drama!) Good things came from rocking the boat.
Yesterday was a rock the boat day for me. I published two different columns yesterday, both rocking the boat in their own special way.
The first one was for Meridian Magazine, "Life's Instruction Book for Single Women." To be honest, I was shocked at what positive response it received. (Not that I expected negative responses.) It isn't an earth-shattering rock the boat. It is just an eye-opener. It really has me motivated to continue on with some new endeavors in that area. It was also very inspiring and heart warming to see several of my friends endorsing it in their Facebook feeds! Thank you everyone!
The second article was for the Examiner, "Religion vs sexuality in the courtroom of political correctness." And it was definitely a more inflammatory rock the boat experience. In fact, it lead to me getting a LOT of hate thrown at me on Twitter. So far, surprisingly, it hasn't received a lot of comments on the actual article. I predict that changes with time.
I like rocking the boat. I like saying things no one else will say. I like making my point clear. Staying in the boat isn't memorable. No one ever says, "Hey, remember that time we didn't stand up for what we believe in, and we just sat there and did nothing?" It is falling in the green, murky water that you remember.