27 Days: Leaning - What does the word mean?

What does the word Lean bring to your mind? I'm thinking of several pictures - an old lady, laboring along, leaning heavily on her cane... Two men, deep in conversation, leaning comfortably against a wall or fence... A tired child, eyes drooping and head nodding, leaning against a parent's shoulder. What do these pictures all have in common? They're all leaning, yes, but there's more to it. They're all relying on something besides themselves. Imagine if the old lady's cane would suddenly break, she would quite likely land on her nose! The two men, what do you suppose would happen if someone sneakily removed their prop? And the tired child, they are about to close their eyes and depend completely on their caregiver to keep them from falling. All three are depending totally on something other than themselves to hold them up. They are trusting their "props" implicitly! None of them are leaning gingerly, fearing they'll fall any second. This is the picture. This is the kind of leaning that I'm talking about.