paddle your own canoe: o que isso significa?

Imagine you have a son that's about to leave college and start his professional life. Well, that was your expectation. As soon as he left college, he came back living with you, and has no plans for future. While talking to your husband, you say: I thought after leaving college he would paddle his own canoe.

When you paddle your own canoe, you're independent and don't need the help of anyone. It also means you're alone. For example, you're left alone at your office and all your coworkers went home. Only you are in charge of getting all the work done for the next morning. In that situation, you could say that you've been left to paddle your own canoe at the office. Take the literal meaning of the expression. A canoe is what you see on the picture right above. When you're paddling it all by yourself, it means you're alone doing all the work without the help of anyone else. And that's the expression of the day. Take care!