Quiet Advocacy - is it possible?
Quiet Advocacy – is it possible?
Advocacy is sometimes NOT speaking up. It’s sometimes quiet without words.
Imagine this. 12 gritted, gifted and life-shifted women speaking up about life’s turns, churns and burns and their “why” around their reason now for speaking up and asking (in fact demanding) change. My Advocates Rising event last Sunday was such a pleasure for me to lead in the presence of powerful truth-speaking change-makers.
But these women are not all self-proclaimed “speakers”. In fact, most downplayed that ability. Who cares? Advocates don’t have to be grand speakers. You can write, paint, music, lobby, fundraise, entertain, crochet, blog, placard-hold, or use your God-given other creative skills to channel your “voice.”
Another profound moment at the workshop was this. An activity where we “zipped up” (no talking allowed) and I simply stated, Step forward if you’ve…lost a baby or child, suffered emotional abuse, been at the hands of the WINZ department, been in front of the justice system, had a mastectomy, been through divorce and financially humbled, cared for an aging parent, had a near death experience…and other life “turns and burns.”
Our cue was simply to observe our own visceral reaction in our body when we spoke and revealed truthfully and vulnerably without speaking.
The second cue was not to go and rescue or feel sympathy for the others who had journeyed through that lived experience. Not rushing in to rescue, meant we focussed on noticing, honouring, and emanating huge respect, and to see them as gritted women totally prepared, “good enough”, skilled enough and utterly capable to help other women. We can be sympathetic, but there comes a time to help someone transform their back-looking woundology story to more of their forward-visioning legacy story.
It’s timely therefore “That bloody woman” theatre show (story of suffragette Kate Sheppard) is coming to my local hometown this month.
We don’t have to be Kate, whose public appearances, petitions and events rallied women to obtain the voice in terms of voting, but we need to be ourselves – speaking out loud (or roaring) or NOT speaking but actioning, which can sometimes speak louder.
Get out that paintbrush or crochet hook, attend a community cuppa, leave the room when you don’t want to show your opposition in words, photograph a protest, text your grandchild even when you’ve been told not to, write an opinion in the privacy of your journal that ‘listens”, or let me know how you’re “loud” by being quiet or a non-public speaker.
And when you’re stirred, I can teach you public speaking, writing and eventing skills, which too are power-packed advocacy means.
Want bespoke 3 sessions to take your next steps into speaking up in your style? Make contact today.
