“Work, Work!”

Note: I make no apologies for the amount of Hamilton references you might not catch if you’re not a superfan. Note to the note: If you’re not a superfan, you should be. I will not equivocate on my opinion. I have always worn it on my sleeve.

You’ll enjoy the substance nonetheless.

“If you stand for nothing, Burr, what’ll you fall for?” Alexander Hamilton to Aaron Burr, according to Lin-Manuel Miranda.

This quote can be traced to many-a -great men, up to and including, my father, the late-great Phillip Herrmann and Alexander Hamilton (arguably, says the internet).

Here’s the thing. I stand for a lot of things. I stand for using my smart phone to pre-order my Starbucks doubleshot on ice so it’s ready when I walk through the door. I stand for scanning everything I pick up at target on the cartwheel app to make sure I don’t unnecessarily pay full price. I stand in really long lines on Black Friday for the thrill of a good deal. I stand for blue suede booties and bright red lips. I stand for freshly manicured nails and necklaces that jingle jangle when I walk down the hall (bonus if they’re on sale at Target). I stand for dressing my kids in ridiculously perfect outfits and then handing them ice cream cones (because #yolo and #babyoxyclean).

I stand for a lot of really superficial stuff that brings me a disproportionate amount of joy. I’m not here to apologize for that. That’s me. And I’m not sorry. Not even a little bit. If you can’t accept me at my vainest and most superficial, you don’t deserve me at my deepest and most compassionate.

If you’re my friend on the facebook you, no doubt, are inundated with sweet and funny quips from and pictures of my darling heir-apparents. They are sweet and fun and pretty much my entire life. (Don’t tell Joel- I hear he doesn’t read this so it’d be inadmissible hearsay, anyway!)

There are maybe some of you that either don’t “unfollow” me or find me in your newsfeed frequently because you “like” these posts, both literally and figuratively. That’s quite a commitment on your part. I try to make good on this pledge to your entertainment and my joyful self-expression a large majority of the time. I’d say I’ve even substantially performed on the social (media) contract.

But there are times you probably find yourself blindsided by a highly political post where my words are not sweet nor funny but maybe bitter and critical. What’s worse- you might not agree with them or they may offend you.

You should know that these posts are not without thought. I sometimes think twice about these posts, particularly when I’ve just posted something warm or funny.  In these contemplative moments, I wonder if I ought to be more cheerful and light all the time and avoid sharing things that are uncomfortable. I wonder if I should avoid the confrontation and keep things safe.

I think twice about these posts because I don’t enjoy making people feel bad, sad, judged, or attacked. (Though I’ll fully admit that I do all of those things from time to time both intentionally and unintentionally.)

But here’s the thing: I’m building a legacy (legacy, legacy). Whoooooaaaaa, right?!?

I’m entirely comfortable with the fact that I am merely a tiny speck on this earth and an even tinier speck in the universe(s). But I’m here. And by being here, I leave a mark. I leave a footprint. I create a legacy. We ALL do.

“What is a legacy? It’s planting seeds in a garden you never get to see. I wrote some notes at the beginning of a song someone will sing for me. America, you great unfinished symphony!” Hamilton, so says Miranda.

I get to decide how my song will begin. I get to decide my part in the great American symphony. I get to stand up and strike those first chords, necklace jingle jangling all the while.

So when I stand up in my blue suede booties, Starbucks doubleshot in hand, I stand for human rights. Not just the ones you read about in the constitution- though those are a great start to the conversation. I stand for the right to life meaning not only the right to not be killed but also the right to access to food, water, and education. I stand for freedom of movement, immigration and asylum not only allowing people to move across town but also meaning that no group of people own exclusive rights of citizenship in a land they strong-armed from other people to begin with.

I stand for freedom of culture and personality and allowing racial and cultural minorities to be different and celebrated instead of feared and imprisoned. I stand for challenging implicit bias even when it means admitting that I, too, am uneasy passing men in hooded sweatshirts on street corners.

I stand for allowing women and girls to wear the clothing they feel comfortable wearing in the face of those who would tell them it is “risky” to do so. I do so even if I wouldn’t choose to wear those clothes myself or pick them for my girls to wear.

I stand up against racism, sexism, and classism even where it means admitting my unintentional but unavoidable contribution to the societal norms that perpetrate it. I stand on the right side of history. I challenge any conclusions that lacks proper evidence because it relies on a narrow world view and an abandonment of compassion.

“God help and forgive me- I’m trying build something that’s gonna outlive me! What do you want, Burr? What do you want, Burr? If you stand for nothing, Burr, what’ll you fall for?”

If in a billion years, someone finds the ruins of my facebook timeline, I want there to be no confusions about two things:

1) Kate’s fashion sense was #onpoint and

2) Kate stood on the side of social justice ALWAYS and for EVERYONE-                                            even when it made her and others uncomfortable. Even when she                                                  chooses a battle that seems impossible to win. Even when it makes her                                     heart feel tired and shaky at the end of the day.

So in the face of debate over who’s standing for the national anthem and who’s not, I challenge you as I challenge myself:

What do you stand for other than pomp and circumstance? Do you stand for the perilous fight? The fight that might make some friends scared, some friends leave and other friends think? Do you stand gallantly on the side of humanity and goodness?

Are you standing for something worth standing for or are you merely building a symbolic rampart for a song with a high F note most singers can’t hit and lyrics most people don’t understand? (see generally: ramparts)

There’s no prize at the end for being well-behaved. If there is, I don’t want it.

Instead of hiding behind this edifice of patriotism, lets be real and stand for something worth standing for. Stand up, speak out and join me in #theroomwhereithappens! I wanna be in the room where it happens.

I have the honor to be your obedient servant!

K. Tru