Filling Time: TwinLife Empty-Nesting

Part of my identity involves being an advocate. I’m not usually the shout-into-a-megaphone kind of person, so my kind of advocacy might be called everyday advocacy. It involves showing up, organizing, and listening in spaces where voices need lifting. In the last week, I’ve found myself in three very different spaces that reminded me what advocacy can look like in practice.

I started my Saturday like I usually do – at the gym. But this past week, most of us in attendance were decked out in pink. My gym organizes an annual workout to support breast cancer awareness, and whenever I’m in town, I carve out time to attend. Facing a weekend of FillingTime after my kiddos went back to school, there was no question where I would be Saturday morning – sweating for a cause!

Getting there was a little tricky because I had committed to join a friend at a local rally that same day. In fact, several of my gym friends did not go to the workout because they were headed to the rally. But it was important to me to do both – and in my mind, the two causes were connected. Women’s healthcare is important. And its availability has been under attack lately. As I said to my husband before I left the house, “As a man, your rights do not change when you cross state lines. Your daughter’s can.”

It was important to me to show up in both spaces that day, to join in solidarity with my local gym community and to join a crowd in a public space to take a stand for justice. The larger rally called out the importance of being an American who values the humanity and lives of all. Equity and justice for all. It was an event filled with speakers from a variety of organizations, clergy who led us in a spiritual togetherness, and, always my favorite, singing. Being in community with others fueled my soul and reminded me of the importance for aligning ourselves with others’ and showing up to stand up for all.

Then yesterday, I got a second dose of soul-fuel. For the last three years I have organized an AI and Writing Symposium at my university. Educators from across the state have come together to think critically about the impact of generative AI on writing, thinking, and learning. This year’s event was even bigger than the last, and the energy hummed through the rooms. At the end of the day I asked each participant to use an old-fashioned tool of writing – a pen and piece of paper – to jot some thoughts from the day. Then, I invited them to turn and talk to someone they hadn’t talked to during the day, not necessarily the person next to them. I asked them to be human, to engage in conversation, and to create community in a space that was intended to help them be advocates for their students. My hope is that they are inspired to go back to their schools and make changes that will lift up access, engagement, and, ultimately, learning for all.

The day itself was a success, in part, simply because it brought people together in the same space to talk. Just like the event at my gym and the larger rally, it was a space where people could take a stance, listen to other viewpoints, and think about how to organize others to the cause. Advocacy isn’t just political; it’s personal, physical, intellectual, and communal. And everyday advocacy is a great way to fill time.