Here we are. We have made it through a summer that saw an abhorrent assassination attempt and an unprecedented abdication of power. And all of that happened prior to either party’s convention!

Now that we are on the other side of both conventions, the candidates are more official than ever and have revealed positions, policies, and personalities that will help us all decide how to vote.

At the same time, students are headed back to school, leaving parents, grandparents, and caretakers with more time (theoretically) to be adults and do adult things. And the weather is (theoretically) cooling, and activity involves less sweat and fanning.

We can start doing again. Or rather, with the shift in seasons, we can shift our doing as well.

What will we do with our fall renewal, our fall energy?

“Michelle Obama is asking you—no, I’m telling y’all—to do something.”

Michelle Obama’s third-person, nondescript instruction was a favorite refrain at the Democratic National Convention last week.

“Do something” has a wonderful openness and vagueness to it, while also clearly being a command to act responsibly, responsively, and immediately. It applies to all of us, no matter who we are, where we are, or how we vote.

Do something.

In the gospels (if not in the convention halls) the multitudes responded and asked Jesus, “What then shall we do?”

We have some ideas.

In the remaining weeks before the election, you can volunteer your time to support a get-out-the-vote campaign by canvassing in your neighborhood or writing postcards. You can stuff envelopes and deliver flyers for your favorite candidate. You can participate in a phone bank.

We have a lot of other ideas for how to volunteer your time in Practicing Democracy through Advocacy and Outreach; a concrete list is included near the bottom of that guide.

Since that list includes such a variety of ideas, we thought we’d highlight a few here that seem particularly relevant to this election:

Help protect our waterways and ensure access to clean water.

Promote economic justice by supporting a living wage.

Decolonize local geography by learning about the indigenous history of your neighborhood.

Fight mass incarceration by getting involved with prison reform.

Dedicate yourself to recycling as many materials as you can.