There are three traditional options when faced with a state of affairs one disagrees with: voice, exit or loyalty. Say something, leave, or disagree and commit. A fourth option is agency; do something, either to alter the current situation or, even better, to steer future recurrences down a different path. These four yield a nice acronym: VELA.

But do you know what’s a better acronym? SVELA. Simultaneous Voice, Exit, Loyalty and Agency.

When faced with a state of affairs one disagrees with, the best thing is to do all the things at once. Say something, exit the recurring scenarios where plausible, keep showing up and fighting the good fight, and act to change the state of affairs for the better.

What makes SVELA coherent and legible (in the best sense of the word) to others is the narrative that wraps around the simultaneity. The story of the SVELAing.