195. Community and Interdependence as Counterbalances to White Supremacy
Community and Interdependence
Getting clarity on how you want to be in community–whether one-on-one, in a group, or taking time to process on your own before coming back to the group–helps create interdependence by fostering a community of choice that benefits that collective whole.
Interdependence allows us to facilitate spaces where we can be comfortable in our own skin and have our needs met, and where safety is accessible.
Erica digs into showing up as yourself and how fostering interdependence creates counterbalances and safety nets as we navigate liminal spaces, planning for the future as we understand the present.
Listen on your favorite podcast player or keep reading to learn:
Why you need clarity on how you want to show up in community
How interdependence founded on active choice benefits the collective whole
How interdependence creates counterbalances and safety nets that support our forward movement
How You Want to Show Up
On the Pause on the Play® podcast, Erica Courdae (she/her) recalls a connection call she had recently with someone she met during a networking event.
She mentions that she’s grateful for events like the one she attended where it’s not just about connecting as professionals, but also as humans.
And it reminded her of the way she tends to communicate in pop culture references, songs, movies, quotes, etc., and that it is so important for her to feel comfortable showing up that way in community.
“It just reminded me that there really is this space of wanting to figure out how it is that you want to be in community.”
There needs to be space to figure out how you connect with others best, whether that’s in a group setting or one on one, or if you need space on your own to process without being influenced by others.
“I think having that level of awareness of yourself, it’s very powerful.”
Interdependent By Choice
Thinking about giving yourself space to figure out how you want to show up in community brings Erica back to the concept of interdependence.
She says even if you are someone who needs to process and strategize on their own, there comes a point where you need to connect with others.
“Interdependence is something that when you utilize it as a base for how you operate in this world, and it’s a choice…there is something magical that can happen because now you are actively making a decision to interact with one another in a way that benefits the collective whole.”
Interdependence asks us to consider how we can benefit not just ourselves, but all of us. Interdependence in communities helps us share opportunities, possibilities, access, and visibility with others.
“There is so much power in being able to get clear on how it is that you like to be in community.”
Knowing that about yourself means being able to approach community and interdependence from a place of clarity and active choice.
“We are all interdependent on one another. We are all part of a community, whether we realize or recognize it. And being able to choose what that is for you in that moment…that makes such a huge difference.”
Interdependence doesn’t come from “obligation, it’s not coming from need. It’s not coming from scarcity. It’s coming from a place of aligned values, a desire to be of support and service, [and] a desire to be yourself and to connect with others doing the same.”
Creating Counterbalances and Safety Nets
Erica says that interdependence gives us the opportunity and access to create environments where we can be comfortable in our skin, have our needs met, and know that it is safe to do so.
She notes that the safety to do so is not as widely available and accessible as it should be. But she says that every time we connect with someone and create a level of interdependence, it has ripple effects and is a type of behavior modeling that opens up what is possible in an interdependent community.
Having clarity on how you want to be in community from a place of choice, “puts us in a position to facilitate every single piece that is a tenet, not only of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, or belonging, but also how they present themselves as the counterbalance objectives of white supremacy culture.”
White supremacy culture won’t simply go away, we’re still in what Ixhcel Lunar calls a liminal space, where “you are trying to figure out how to do things differently while understanding that you’re still in it. That’s why the counterbalance piece is so pivotal.”
She continues, “When we are a part of enacting those counterbalances, when we are actively in community and choosing to be interdependent in a way that provides support and connection and possibilities, in an environment where safety is possible, we are creating threads to continue to create safety nets.”
When something happens that knocks you off your axis, the safety net created by those counterbalances and by community is there to catch you and help you continue to move forward.
“Community is part of a safety net. Being interdependent on others and allowing them to be interdependent on you means that you are not alone. That helps to provide access to safety.”
Doing the Work in Community
Erica plans to continue digging into counterbalances to white supremacy culture, “because I feel like there is a lot of space around it that for me, has been kind of just laying itself out. I’m…witnessing this tapestry weaving itself in some beautiful ways.”
That tapestry includes the influences of people like Ixchel Lunar, and it will also be Erica’s way of sharing actions, thought processes, and mindset shifts and reframes that allow us “to not only process white supremacy, but what else is needed to happen on the other side? What are the counterbalances that can be enacted as I am living in this liminal space to help me still be whole and to thoroughly enjoy this thing called life?”
When we create counterbalances and safety nets that allow us to be present, supportive, interdependent, to be in community, “we can continue to do our own work, we can continue to do the work that supports those of us that we’re around. But the benefits–many of which we may not be here to take part in, but they will be no less pivotal and necessary–that is why it is so necessary to be in community.”
Ready to dive deeper?
The Pause on the Play® Community is about more than just business, it’s about connecting with people in a holistic landscape, where you are allowed to show up exactly as you are in that moment.
The community fosters interdependence and provides support as we navigate counterbalances and create safety nets, as a way of life.
Join the conversation at https://pauseontheplay.com/community