Pods for Our Current Moment

[Image of wooden blocks with black letters on them that read “NEW YEAR FRESH START” against a pink background surrounded by yellow, gold, pink and blue festive balls of lights on silver wire.]

We are in a political moment that is exacerbating a deep contradiction: we will need each other more than ever before and we are still fully engulfed in a heavily-documented epidemic of loneliness that seems to get more acute with each passing year. This is not a new contradiction by any means; we have been living inside of it for some time. It has wreaked havoc on our ability to organize well and to bring down the rates and intensity of internal conflict, harm and violence inside of our movements as well as many of the geographic and identity-based communities that support them. 

What is new is that now we are in a quickly unfolding reality where we do not have the luxury of pretending this contradiction away or dismissing its very real impacts. As the reality of what is at stake over the next 4-plus years settles into the consciousness of more and more people around the country, we are watching in real time as two things collide: “we will not survive without community” and “I don’t have community.”

The concept of “community” has become so revered and romanticized inside of movement and social justice cultures on the left that people have become embarrassed to admit that they do not have one. Loneliness and isolation abound and the lack of community has become a heavy, quiet form of shame that all too many carry. As if not having community is evidence of faulty politics and values or their unloveability as a person instead of the reality of social, political and economic forces coming together with the intention of keeping us evermore disconnected and isolated from each other for the purpose of profit and social control. It has gotten to the point where it is even hard to know where actual communities exist–and they do exist–as well as what constitutes true community.

It is well-meaning in this moment to tell people to ‘plug into community,’ and if you are able to do that, wonderful, but most people in this country are not connected to community or have lost their community. Community takes time to build and is often not something that can just be thrown together. This is not to stop people from joining community or trying to build community, that is a good and smart thing to do now. Rather, this is to right-size people’s expectations. Joining a community and immediately expecting that they will be able to show up for you on a moment’s notice is not realistic. That takes time because community relies on relationships and relationships are not built overnight. Community is made up of many different kinds and levels of relationships, it is not being best friends or chosen family with everyone, but it is also not being acquaintances with everyone. Community does not have to be geographically located either. Many people have built and found thriving communities online when geographic community was not an option because of conditions such as inaccessibility, stigma/oppression or political affiliation. 

For those who do not have community (and for those who do), I would offer that a pod of a few or more people can help in the interim and especially in the years to come. A pod is made up of the people that you would turn to for support. You can have as many pods as you like and you can be part of as many pods as you have the capacity for. It is worth explicitly noting that even those who may be part of a strong community can find pods useful, especially during a time that will be rife with constant crises which may drain many community members’ capacity. 

Building a pod for ourselves and being part of pods for others is a critical kind of community infrastructure we can invest in creating. It is the kind of community infrastructure that is endlessly adaptable, hard to destroy and a kind of renewable resource we can draw from again and again. Pods are a form and practice of not only collective care, but interdependence. They are a way of giving and receiving. Being part of a pod can feed you in ways you never knew you needed. Pods are a practice in intentional relationships because they require purpose, consent, communication and commitment. They are a kind of relationship unto themselves, distinct from other types of relationships. 

There is power in building a pod for yourself or for someone else, but the true exponential power of pods is when they are built en masse, forming a network of pods that could be mobilized for any number of things. Imagine what a network of pods could do together. They could help to provide or find safe shelter for families in need of protection. They could help support a neighborhood that is being targeted by the state. They could help feed an entire community, as well as provide collective childcare or community-based transportation for any number of people or families.

The beauty of pods is that they are grounded in relationships and not bound to any specific location, demographic or issue. They can be used for long-term or temporary needs, shifting to adapt to whatever is most needed. They can be small or large and there is no limit to the amount of pods that can be networked together, decentralized, stretching across a city, state or country. Indeed, one could even make a community out of pods. 

I believe that we have yet to tap into the full potential of pods and that our current political moment could provide opportunities to see just how powerful a tool and a container pods can be for both meeting immediate needs and building the conditions for the world we desire. 

Here are just some ideas of how we could use pods in our current conditions (none of which are mutually exclusive to one another): 

-Action Pods to support each other to take one action a day/week, as doing something can significantly help with the feelings of overwhelm, heartbreak, rage, anxiety and grief that are sure to continue. Action pods are a way to help stay motivated, engaged and purposeful. They can help people share the load when it comes to taking action, which can be overwhelming to do on one’s own. They can especially help to fight fear, apathy or intimidation, as having support to take action can help us stay brave and in alignment with our values. They may also provide a place for creativity too, as actions can be anything from calling your political representatives, to volunteering with a grassroots organization, to creating community art projects, to building new skills together.

-Protest Pods. It feels important to pull protests out from general action pods because of the sheer amount of protests and direct actions that will be needed in the months and years ahead. It also feels important to list it on its own because of the particular risks and threats that protesters will most likely encounter such as state-sanctioned violence and vigilantism. Having a designated pod for protests would be a very smart and practical use of pods, if you don’t already have one. Not only can you and your pod members become familiar with one another’s (access) needs and information (e.g. memorizing each other’s phone numbers and emergency contacts), but you can also have protest go-bags equipped with any and all necessary supplies. You can build up your skills in things such as basic care if any of you are pepper sprayed or how to interact with law enforcement if you are arrested or targeted. You can make signs together and link up with other protest pods to help keep each other safe. 

-Protection Pods for undocumented immigrants, trans people, and pregnant people (and anyone else who may need significant protection). These pods can function as emergency contacts, create safety plans, assemble go bags/supplies, identify safe places to take shelter, help people access medical care and anything else that is needed to keep people safe and reduce harm to them, their loved ones and communities. These pods could be organized together to create a network of protection pods that could take action at a moment’s notice.

-Mutual aid/Information-Sharing Pods can assist with the gathering and sharing of resources, such as essential life-saving medications, supplies or services that have become unavailable or are inaccessible. Reliable information will especially become important as we continue to see mainstream media and social media participating in the dissemination of misinformation and disinformation. Finding people who want to provide trustworthy information to their communities could be one of the most useful ways to be of service (e.g. information about current and future pandemics, weather, or anything that affects oppressed communities). Furthermore, an underground network of information-sharing pods could help keep people across the state, region or country safe and informed. 

-Pandemic Pods. Hearing scientists talk about a new “era of pandemics” in 2020 will forever be burned into my brain. Scientists across the globe are clear that it is not a matter of if, but when the next pandemic will hit, especially because the steps needed to avoid future pandemics require interdependent prevention, not just response. Creating a pandemic pod or preparing your general pod to function as a pandemic pod will be just as critical as it has been during the on-going COVID-19 pandemic. It is not at all unreasonable to think that we will be contending with multiple pandemics at a time either. Thinking through pandemic preparation can be something we can do now, so that we are not scrambling in the midst of chaos or panic. For example, some viruses may be transmissible via touch, while others may be airborne. “Who will I be able to ride out the next pandemic with?,” is a timely and valuable question that we should all be asking ourselves. (Note: Pandemic pods can work together with care pods in the face of infection or disability, as well as grief pods in the event of death.)

-Care Pods to support elders, disabled/chronically ill people, and children/youth (as well as anyone else who may need on-going or temporary care). All of these groups are often forgotten and they will still need care, connection, access, play, guidance and love, even on days that bring the harshest headlines. Care pods can be created for specific individuals or connected together to create a network of care pods that is able to offer collective care to any number of people and families (e.g. communal childcare, community-based elder/disabled meal trains).

-Grief Support Pods for the many people who will be navigating grief in the years to come, whether it is because of state or vigilante attacks or the natural ebb and flow of death and loss in the midst of bleak political and material conditions. For those who are especially adept at offering support during times of loss, these kinds of pods could be invaluable. They could not only offer support to individual people or families, but could also provide collective grief spaces, rituals, and support for entire neighborhoods and communities. 

-Mental Health Pods to support each other’s mental health, stay connected and not fall into despair, apathy or hopelessness. It goes without saying that we are only a month in and already people’s mental and emotional health are unraveling. Creating pods to check-in on each other day-to-day or week-to-week can be life saving. Having people who you can reach out to when you are feeling on-edge or crumbling from the heartbreak of it all will be a vital form of resilience. 

-Resilience Pods can be similar to mental health pods, but with more of a focus on active resilience-building such as reminding each other to engage in their resilience practices or doing them together. Resilience practices can be things such as breath work, meditation, journaling, dancing/movement/stretching/exercise, spending time in nature, creating art, making and listening to music/singing, taking walks, making time for one’s spiritual practices, time with children and pets, gardening, cooking/eating, and hanging out with friends/loved ones. All of these will help with the fear, pain, isolation, anxiety, grief and rage so that we can stay in the fight and not quit or burnout. (Note: Taking action in any form, especially collective action with an action pod, can also be a powerful resilience practice.)

-Pods to Address Violence. It goes without saying that violence, in particular domestic and sexual violence, will not stop and if anything will become more prevalent in the years ahead. These forms of violence were why TJ was originally created and what pods were intended to help respond to. For those who feel called to do so, building pods and your overall TJ capacity to respond to and prevent domestic and sexual violence in your communities will be gravely needed in the years to come. Having a network of these pods can help to ferry survivors to safe housing, assist them in accessing medical care or support them in their healing; as well as intervening to stop the violence and support harmers to take accountability and transform. 

No matter what kind of pod you are a part of, simply being more connected, especially in intentional ways can be a profound antidote and act of resistance, even if it is with just a handful of people. Remember, in pod work, we measure our success by the quality, not quantity of our relationships with one another. The quality of your relationships will better determine how effectively you and your pod can respond to harm, violence, emergency, crisis, needs and change. 

I hope the dangerous political moment we are in will ignite and deepen more community building. I hope it will expand our communities, welcoming more and more people into them. I hope it will compel more people to develop the skills and shared understanding so that they can transform the internal things that often fracture community and break connection: conflict, gossip, lack of empathy, individualism, ego, privilege, trauma, harm and violence. Most of all, I hope we will come out of this terrible chapter of our history with an unbreakable love for one another that defies anyone or anything that threatens it.