CupsGiving-The PAT Edition!🥰
Hey hey everyone, it's thaaaaatttt time of the year, and of course our lovely Peer Appreciation Program had to step up!🥰
(For what?😮)
For Thanksgiving. (duh!)
While traditional festivities often center around enormous feasts with family and friends gathered around a table, we have the unique opportunity to adapt our celebrations for a virtual world, our beloved Cups-Space here.
Thanksgiving, however one sees it, is mostly, I feel a joyful occasion that calls for gratitude, connection, and, most importantly, a genuine appreciation for the wonderful people in our lives.
As we gather virtually on Cupsland, let’s celebrate the spirit of Thanksgiving by shining a light on one another and making this a joyous celebration of our friendships, support systems, love, kindness and the compassion we share.💛
So this year, let’s celebrate "Cups-giving"~ a delightful riff on Thanksgiving where we celebrate and "refill" each other's cups with positivity and gratitude.
And what better way to do that than through words of appreciation? Because hey, a few kind words, and some genuine encouragement really does go a long long way.🥰
Each of us carries a unique cup filled with our emotions, experiences, efforts, and moments shared. The beauty of our community lies in the support and joy we bring to one another, yes(?).
I believe, every interaction, every smile, every encouraging word, every kind act, every thoughtful gesture adds a drop to our collective cup~ the giant 7CupsCommunityCup that has every possible flavor brewed with love, and garnished with kindness!💛
I can really go on about the Spirit of Thanksgiving, the Importance of Gratitude and my Excitement to see the Appreciations flowing in, but we got to do this early, so the notes can be delivered *this* year 😂 and therefore, without further yapping, to kick things off, here are some fun and heartfelt prompts for you to spread joy and appreciation around.💛
(I think I already did half the work here for you 😛) All there's left now is to truly embrace the spirit of gratitude within and make someone's day with a heartfelt message!🥰
⭐ Send a thank you message to a listener here. (Someone who listened and supported in either PMs, Forums or Chatrooms)
💕 Send a thank you message to a fellow peer (member/ listener) who inspires you.
💙 Send a thank you note to someone who mentored or guided you here. (In any way big or small)
😄 Send a thank you message to the last peer who made you smile on here. (Ah tough, because sooo many smiley-spreaders here)
🤣 Send a thank you note to the person who always makes you laugh. (We've got some around here with the best humor lol)
🌻 Send a thank you message to someone you find encouraging and uplifting. (Easyyyy)
💬 Send a thank you to the last person you talked to here. (Hopefully it was a good chat hehe, they deserve to know they've left a mark)
💡 Send a thank you note to someone who has shared a helpful resource or tip or insight with you. (Mhmm, can think of so many)
🤗 Send a thank you message to a friend who’s been there for you through ups and downs. (You get to appreciate your palsss woohoo)
🎨 Send a thank you to someone who brightens your day with their creativity. (Ooh if you're ever confused, please hop over to the peer appreciation program thread and you'll find some very talented people to appreciate)
🦋 Send a thank you message to someone whose passion inspires you. (Could be for anything really, a hobby, to get better/ work on their goals and health, a passionate 7 cups leader etc etc)
💥 Send a thank you to a peer who has shared a meaningful experience/ deeply resonant interaction with you. (There's conversations, and then there's some conversations that leave an ever-lasting impact, can you think of someone who did this for you?)
🤩 Send a thank you note to someone you admire for their hard work and dedication. (Oh to be spoiled with choices)
🥳 Send a thank you message to someone who encourages you to be your best self. (Someone who brings out the best in youuuu here)
🌈 Send a thank you note to a peer whose kindness has made a difference in your life. (I've got plenty)
📚 Send a thank you to someone who has taught you something new recently. (About cups or life, again, anything big or small counts)
🧚♀️ Send a thank you message to a forum-fairy. (Someone who is seen being a supportive, uplifting fairy in the forums)
🤝 Send a thank you note to the Group-Support-Hero. (Someone you've witnessed hosting fantastically or participating enthusiastically in a group chatroom)
🫶 Send a note to someone you think could use some kindness, encouragement, support and love. (Legit everyone here hehe)
🥰 Send a thank you note to yourself. (No no, dont you roll your eyes at me lol! You deserve it too~because you are amazinggggg)
To make this funn-errr, how about a little game-ish spin to it?
Sooo when you've submitted your thank you note, along with your thoughts on our Cupsgiving Celebration, you can comment "Done" and drop the emoji of your choice from the above list, to serve as a prompt for the next person coming across it. 🥳
(In the slightest case, you wish to opt for a different prompt rather than the one you got from the previous comment, please feel free to pick and choose; it's the intentional participation that matters more here hehe)
Okay Sun, that was a lot to read, Can I get started already?😮
Yessss, you can, just one last teeny message more and then off you gooooo spreading smiles and gratitude!🥹
Soooooo besides the smiles you're going to spread and receive here, we also have you covered with cheers!
(What are cheers now? Read Up here lol!)
For us, cheers are virtual tokens of appreciation that we like to award you with, for being your cheerful self spreading smiles!
(🥳You recieve 20 cheers for each submission🥳)
So when you spread gratitude, you’re not just making someone’s day brighter, you’re also getting rewarded for your kindness. It’s a win-win, yeah?! (I'd like to believe the reward is an "extra" here, like a bonus for your time and love, but in all honesty, just realizing you've made someone's day and made someone smile is worth every second spent in typing out a heart-warming message)
Said everything but the most important thing? Where to send the note and where will we see it once posted?
Oops yes, Click Me To Spread Joy (or the respective emoji you got) and the appreciations will be posted in the Peer Appreciation Program Thread itself.
Yes, you can fill out as many appreciations you want to, for as many people you want to express your gratitude to or want to send a little "I'm thinking of you this thanksgiving" note. Utilising as many prompts you like to, or even without!🥰
Alrighty, everything's covered, I thiiiinkkkk. So now just would like to take this opportunity to thank *you* for being a part of the community.💛
Wishing everyone a joyful, loving and content Thanksgiving!🤗
The first person to come across this, you've got the early-birdy pass to pick any prompt of your choice and start the game for us, by leaving a prompt emoji for the others. So go ahead and start the gratitude chain!🥰
done - 💕
what a awesome idea to spread grattitude sun! *sends hugs if okay* thank you PAT for always brightening everyone's day and spreading smiles as usual! happy thanksgiving peoplesss!
bunny-
@amiableBunny4016
Woohoo bestest Bunny got us rolling!🥰
Thank you for dropping the next prompt (💕) Send a thank you message to a fellow peer (member/ listener) who inspires you. for the next peer!💛
And *hugsssss back* Lots of love and gratitude for you always, my sweet shining buddy!🤗
@Sunisshiningandsoareyou
I'm thankful for all the Listeners who set aside time to tend to different members, it is a lot for me and I don't even have a job lol
@LovesSprintCars
Aw that's a well deserving recognition for all listeners, it's volunteer-work here and everyone's got their own life to deal with too, despite that finding the time and energy to support others is truly commendable, and you deserve a thanks for it too.💛
If you'd like to send out more specific appreciations to any peers here, feel welcome to use this form- https://docs.google.com/forms/u/5/d/e/1FAIpQLScsCXyPYjQ4dsfLMh2ZzXC4of1lEutJsSasbkzc6JLDq7b8ow/viewform 🥰
@Sunisshiningandsoareyou
done! 🤗🤣
@ListeningEar49
Aw same!🥰
@Sunisshiningandsoareyou
happy cupsgiving and thanks for helping encourage these appreciation efforts Sun and team!
@Heather225
Always!🌈🥰🌈
@Sunisshiningandsoareyou
This seems so cheery :)
@HopieRemi
I'm all for celebrations! It matters what we're celebrating. I wonder
how inclusive such a celebration as Cupsgiving is, being tied to
American Thanksgiving.
Why do I say this? Is it because 7Cups is an international platform now, celebrating an exclusively American holiday?
Not
entirely. It's also because Thanksgiving itself isn't a universally
recognized good thing to celebrate within the American border, where I'm
guessing 7Cups is located. We might risk excluding and alienating
Indigenous Peoples, who have been trying to get their voices heard about
the myths surrounding Thanksgiving through observance of the National
Day of Mourning, which takes place on the same day as American
Thanksgiving and which centres Indigenous perspectives on Thanksgiving.
In particular, the Wampanoag people and other Eastern Indigenous Peoples
- whom the Thanksgiving story we were all taught in schools and in
media as fact involves - past and present.
Do their perspectives
and experiences matter, or does only one side of the dinner table - so
to speak - deserve being listened to?
I worry that the
celebration of Cupsgiving sends the implicit message that only certain
peoples' mental health, experiences, and perspectives ultimately count
as valid. I worry 7Cups may not be a place where Indigenous Peoples will
be listened to, nor a safe place to come to for their mental health
needs.
No one can participate and feel appreciated and connected if
they're alienated altogether, nor if participation requires swallowing
the very real hurt they may feel. If you don't have an idea of what I'm
talking about, that gap where understanding could be is showing you why
their perspectives are worth listening to. We are empathetic people
here, yearning to understand and connect.
It is from my
appreciation for my Indigenous friends that I share this. Perhaps we can
come up with a celebration and enjoy these activities in a way which
affirms and uplifts all, from a place where we're mindful about what it
is we are celebrating and why. Our creativity can be best guided when we
listen - which is, after all, what 7Cups is all about!
Anyway, thanks for listening. Someone please pass the mashed potatoes. 🍠
@Zeraphim
@Zeraphim
I totally agree with you...I have often wondered about people in different parts of the world and wondered how they think and feel when these kinds of celebrations are offered for everyone when they are more specific to American culture. I think it's nice for people to share their culture and give information - I mean I guess I never really understood what thanksgiving is actually and what it's significance - but I think here should be more cultural inclusive. I guess it would be nice to either adapt things to suit people globally. We could learn more about other cultures - or just have celebrations and events suitable to seven cup culture and not related to any particular country.
I do appreciate your concern for indigenous people. Ideally we should not have any people called indigenous or even third world. I think here on this site could be the beginning of better understanding and equality around the world for all peoplento be included and feel equal and equally valued
@quietlistener2023 Thank you for your thoughtful reply. I appreciate you
taking the time to read my post and write a response. I'm not sure
what you mean by there shouldn't be anyone who are called Indigenous as
an ideal. It's precisely because of the fact they are not treated as
sovereign peoples with their own identities and cultures that they face
such erasure. It's a vitally important distinction.
Otherwise, I
agree with you. People shouldn't be impoverished, no matter who they
are. Especially when it is by design that Indigenous Peoples were
dispossessed of their lands, starved of their resources, and forced into
reservations, then demanded that if they want opportunities out of that
inescapable poverty, they should assimilate and give up their culture,
their identity, their distinctiveness, their land rights, etc. and be
absorbed into the culture of the people who did that to them.
There
are reservations where the nearby water sources are so polluted with
industrial runoff that the land, the water, the plants, the animals, the
people are all heavily mercury poisoned. Mothers have so much nerve
damage, they can't feel their newborn baby in their arms. And this has
been and is still on-going for 50+ years with full knowledge by the
corporations and the government who allow it to happen. It's beneficial
for industry to put the pollution around those who aren't considered
human. There were entire government-funded and church-run boarding school systems set up to take
Indigenous children from their parents, to intentionally destroy their
culture and erase their existence. They were beaten if they spoke their
own languages. Horrific abuses went on in them. Thousands of children
never made it home. To erase Indigenous identity is to participate in
the same project trying to erase them now and allow the people erasing
them to succeed entirely.
For this reason, I cannot agree with
the erasure of Indigenous Peoples on this planet. They protect the vast majority of the world's biodiversity on the tiny amount of land worldwide which they
have the rights to manage - all while dealing with polluting forces and
fighting constant battles just to keep those lands sovereign. Without
them, the Amazon rainforest would die and the world would be in peril,
as just one example. We need them if we want to survive. And we should
respect their ecological knowledge and culture by respecting and
preserving their distinct identity and land rights, as a bare minimum.
We need to see them as human and equal. All our lives depend on it.
@Zeraphim
@Zeraphim
Thank you for your reply. I totally agree with you about indigenous people and others having their culture respected. I guess what I meant when I replied first was that terms are used such as 'indigneous people' and 'third world countries,' which are often used in a derogatory manner - as if such people are less valuable and can be just pushed out or taken other or worse situations - such as being wiped out.
You explained what you meant so I understood what you meant and I think we agree. I guess I do not know the whole history of indigenous people everywhere or whom you are referring to, yet I have read about what happened to others such as in Australia and places and I just see these kinds of incidents - including what is happening in Palestine - as having an underline racism and a superiority issue. For this reason I said it would be better to get rid of terms that are often used in a derogatory or degrading manner but if they are not used that way but rather out of respect for them as people and their culture then in this case I agree.
I unfortunately have come to a horrible conclusion that there is still a lot of racism issues in the world and superiority issues between cultures and in some cases this leads to horrible mistreatments and disrespect for those people and even to wars and genocides. I wish we could live in the world respecting each other as human beings regardless of language, culture and place and then perhaps many wars and inequalities would subside. This was what I was trying to articulate - so I do aplogise if that was not clear and if I have offended yourself or anyone.
Thank you for sharing your views
@quietlistener2023 The horrors I described in my most recent post happen to Indigenous Peoples in within the borders of both the US and Canada, because both governments share similar policies.
The term "Indigenous Peoples" isn't, to my knowledge, a slur or an inherent term of derision. I don't use it as one either. It's a broad category which describes a multitude of culturally distinct groups of peoples. On many of the official websites for Indigenous nations and among the Indigenous individuals I know, it is the preferred term when broadly describing the first peoples on the continent known by a consensus of Indigenous communities as Turtle Island (but was renamed North America by European settlers). When one knows the specific name for the community an individual is from, then being specific as possible is preferred, as they are members of what are supposed to be sovereign nations, i.e. Jim is broadly Indigenous but specifically, he's Lakota. "Indigenous Peoples" is a term internationally recognized in the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), signed by some 144 countries around the world.
Here's how the UN defines it:
https://www.ohchr.org/en/indigenous-peoples/about-indigenous-peoples-and-human-rights
Here's UNDRIP in a variety of languages, if interested:
https://www.ohchr.org/en/indigenous-peoples/un-declaration-rights-indigenous-peoples
I hope this helps clarify.
@AgentPuffball420
Woohoo, thank you for participating and for leaving two awesome prompts for the next peer to choose from!🥰
🦋 Send a thank you message to someone whose passion inspires you. (Could be for anything really, a hobby, to get better/ work on their goals and health, a passionate 7 cups leader etc etc)
🤩 Send a thank you note to someone you admire for their hard work and dedication. (Oh to be spoiled with choices)
@Sunisshiningandsoareyou
Thank you for this thoughtful and super creative Cupsgiving activity, Sunshine! 🌞❤ღ(´͈ ᵕ `͈ ღ)💗
Based on the prompts, me submitted some appreciations:
‘done’ the thank you with these emojis 💕 🌻 🤗 📚 clues
@VictoriaLove7
You always show everyone so much gratitude, Viccc, thank youuuu for participating and for never hesitating to remind people how appreciated they are!💖
Please also remember how appreciated *you* are too, for being your incredibly wonderful self!🤗
I love this picture hehe, soo cute!🥰
@Sunisshiningandsoareyou
Thank *youu*, Sunshine 🌞❤ for everything that you have done for Cups and for being the brightest light in our Cups world! ପ(๑ᵔ ᵕ ᵔ๑)ଓ❤
You light up our lives, Sunshine 🌞❤! o(^▽^)o❤
I hope you know how amazing you are & I hope you keep being more gentle towards yourself, everyday ٩( ᐖ )۶❤
Me is vv glad that you like the picture, I customized it for youu ୧⍢⃝୨💗
