Here are some things they tell you not to do when you’re writing: start your piece with a definition (this is a lazy copout), use a conjunction (for all of you less than inclined at English writing; ‘and,’ ‘but’, etc.) to begin a sentence, employ fragments, or use run-on sentences (something this opening could easily turn into).  I might use all four…

According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, ‘lip service’ (noun), is defined as: support for someone or something that is expressed by someone in words but that is not shown in that person’s actions.

The first time I heard this word was in fourth grade.  We were required to complete various stations, one of which was to help us improve our vocabulary.  We simply opened up the dictionary, looked on the page the book had opened to, and found a word we’d never seen.  The only word I remember from that exercise was ‘lip service.’  

I had to use it in a sentence.

I remember calling the teacher over, naively questioning what something as silly as ‘lip service’ could possibly mean. I comprehended it at the most basic level, but I did not fully understand it. There’s part of me that wishes I could have re-wrote my sentence for the word in high school; I was presented with real examples there…but the best example was given to me last week.  

I had the pleasure of attending the Diversity Matters Town Hall Meeting. I would genuinely recommend this event to each and every faculty, staff, and student at the university. I learned more about the works of this campus for the sake of diversity in a ten minute opener than I ever knew existed (but that’s another opinion column entirely). The majority of the meeting was dedicated to keynote speaker, Dr. Heather Hackman of Hackman Consulting Group.  She was incredible. Not only well-spoken and confident, but well-read and researched.  And then she brought up the most interesting concept, the ‘trend’ of ‘changing the world.’  

“Does buying Toms really mean you’re changing the world?  Is having a phone case with the emblem (Red) displayed on it actually doing anything?  Is carrying a coffee with a Fair Trade stamp on it truly working for the greater good?”

Then that word, “Lip service…”  And my brain was churning. “Hoping isn’t enough,” Hackman enunciated.  “We must work for it.”  

I thought about all the well-intentioned people I knew. I thought about myself. How many times had I reposted something and patted myself on the back for being an activist? For doing my part? How many times had I attended a movement of solidarity, or a protest, or a rally and felt as though my presence were somehow changing something?  How many times had I no more than finished clicking that “share” button to feel empty? How many times had I left a gathering feeling impassioned, but having no direction as to where, or how, or when to make my next move? To continue making a difference?

Hackman continued, “I heard of a campus-lead movement that took place in the fall in response to social media harassment. The title was great . . . but I think what it really underscored was the concept, ‘It scares me and I don’t know what to do.’” 

There are these things called action and accountability, and personal next steps.  “Lean in to individual change,” she encouraged.  “Shift your attitude from guilt to curiosity. Develop your what/why/how. Coordinate and implement and remember to listen deeply and profoundly.”         

***

So I wonder what my fourth grade teacher would say, well over a decade later? I can say with almost guaranteed certainty that she probably doesn’t even remember that moment. As a first year teacher, fresh out of college, I assume she had no idea that the simple activity she implemented for vocabulary development would come rushing back to me while listening to a keynote. 

I’m also sure that the speaker, with the intention to stimulate critical thinking, would suppose I was reminiscing on such a minor detail of my past. But I was. And I did.     

And now I encourage you:  Think about it.