Exploration Garden: New Rules to Foster a More Focused Exploration Environment

@ASilentObserver

Clearer rules and guidelines make facilitating and participating in supportive chatroom sessions even better. Thanks for putting this together!💗

@Sunisshiningandsoareyou Thank you Sun. I hope it helps all to explore their thoughts in a structured and effective way, 

@ASilentObserver

Thank you for this information, Obs! 🐘 (..◜ᴗ◝..)

@VictoriaLove7 Thank you Victoria for the support. much appreciated 

@ASilentObserver

In the guide it says "Exploring without joining the queue to avoid time limits will not be allowed".

What does this mean?

@Gettingbettertoday

I believe it means if you're not in the queue to share/explore, you're not able to take a turn to avoid jumping ahead of others or sharing while someone else is currently sharing.

@Gettingbettertoday Hi Getting, good questions, and thank you to @Jenna for explaining it. It simply means we maintain the structure and guidelines of the session to ensure everyone gets an equal chance to explore their thoughts. Your support and help would mean a lot. Thank you 

@ASilentObserver

Thanks, Obs. Things are nicer when structured and organized to help the purpose of something grow. I hope this new schedule brings the room back to its full potential and motivates us to bring on more hosts.

@Jenna

How does this create  a new opportunity that wasn’t already there for new hosts?

it wasn’t a inhospitable environment so I’m wondering how? 

Is it that the obligation is actually documented and clearly defined? Or that due to the such unexpected changes people may voluntarily become a host?

@LabeledBPD Great questions Labeled.  Thank you for bringing them up. 

• How does this create  a new opportunity that wasn’t already there for new hosts?

There was an opportunity for everyone earlier too but we hoped as we tried to streamline it, it would make it clearer for all and you all could step up to organize structured and inclusive sessions for all. 

• it wasn’t an inhospitable environment so I’m wondering how? 

It wasn't. We never said that it was. But based on the feedback from you all, the request was to make it more structured so we can stay on track and everyone gets an equal opportunity to share and explore their thoughts. So it is an effort in that direction and we will continue to make further efforts to strengthen these sessions.  

• Is it that the obligation is actually documented and clearly defined? Or that due to the such unexpected changes people may voluntarily become a host?

It is clearly defined and something you all can refer to at any point and share with anyone during the session to ensure we all follow the guidelines to participate in it. And it is something you all requested for. 

I  appreciate your support and help and I hope all can adapt and follow a structured environment for participation. 

@Jenna Thank you, Jenna. That is what we are hoping too. 

@ASilentObserver

I understand the change ...🥺💜 hearts to all the EG fam. love you guys 

@TheSunIsUpTheSkyIsBlue Thank you Blue, appreciate your support in exploration garden sessions. 

Thank you for the update. I understand the change but I feel sad about it.

@Fallonbird14

💜hearts fallon

Thanks. I finally had a place where I mattered is all but it's all good.

@Fallonbird14

I felt the same way... EG was home for me. I even painted it. It feels like a major loss

I know it is not gone completely and I try to go to other rooms, but I get ignored. If I'm lucky I will get a "hello" but then it's like what's the point of being here if all I do is watch others talk. Oh well, its all good.

@Fallonbird14 I understand it is upsetting a bit, but I hope we can eventually able to get full coverage as well. i appreciate your support. 

@ASilentObserver

I've advocated for improvements for a long time as EG garden has seen (at points) a significant deterioration. Joy was mortar and bricks, that’s to much to sustain alone.

makes sense that as exploration is not venting and most likely not to be such a imminent requirement. Therefore time used wisely.

i really, really, really wish however prior notice was given. As cutting people off without notice hurts especially if you came to explore and find it’s gone. Let alone the lack of opportunity to say goodbye.  

Us member interaction between members is valued between us. We don’t even get to say goodbye or prepare for the change. 

Thanks silent 

@LabeledBPD this!!! I have really enjoyed consistently being present at 10pm ET. I have connected with so many amazing people and followed their stories and to just have it cut off like this makes me feel really sad. I feel like I just lost my support group without any closure. 😥 I need to be able to share some days. Other days I can help host, but I don't know which days are which until I get there. I am just shattered right now. 

@HealingGriz

i know right. Hope you wasn’t needing or trying to explore when this change was realised. 

You build an understanding of people and become part of their journey, they become part of yours. A false sense of belonging and belief you’d have such a knowledgeable and supportive set of people who are there.

exploring is not always desired but supporting others who you have grown to know has/had so many benefits.

it’s difficult I know. You are not alone in feeling this way. I’m sorry. 

@HealingGriz

Feeling the same way , griz. I just can't muster to find the words for it. It's a loss for us, especially given that the "schedule" above is not panning out. Miss you and everyone.

@HealingGriz I am sorry Griz :( I hear you are feeling sad. I get that this is an important group chat for you. Whenever you are available and like to take lead on hosting, maybe you can do onspot hosting and we can help you lead sessions but  we would need to maintain the environment and its structure of these sessions. Feel free to message me in case you like to discuss more about onspot hosting. 

Thanks @ASilentObserver . I appreciate the offer. I will consider this. I am completely overwhelmed in so many areas right now, I can't do anything for the moment. I will contemplate on it though and reach out if I decide to take you up on it.

@HealingGriz same I’m angry 

@LabeledBPD

Thank you for putting so many of my thoughts into words.💜

@LabeledBPD I hear you Labeled. I can understand how frustrating it  feels when changes happen. It is so natural to feel mixed emotions about it. I appreciate you for recognizing the efforts of everyone to maintain the environment of the session. But also, I get that you are a bit disappointed. I would definitely incorporate your feedback in future updates and try to ensure that we get an early heads-up before the changes get into effect. 

@ASilentObserver

i don’t believe you.

Everyone please stop saying change is difficult.

i don’t mind change, sort of sick of my reaction being labelled as my inability to adjust to change. I actually actively welcome change provided it’s ultimately good and positively beneficial change for everyone. 

The EG garden how now become a scripted, therefore insincere environment. A place where your story and emerging emotions are reduced to script and rules that have removed all sense of community.

people do not want to support as they are not scripted humans , or even share as exploration hour may not suit their current desired intentions to explore. Not to mention the overbearing and ridged rules are easy to unintentionally break. 

It’s left many of us who would support in what would now be deemed an unorthodox method (personal, taking the whole humans experience into consideration) that we was either useless or unsupportive in enabling exploitation.  We can’t adjust to being scripted and it pains us when not thinking we was actually not preventing true exploration as the new rules would make some feel.

@ASilentObserver

excited to see feedback implemented to continue making the eg a safe space for all!
thanks obs and H for constantly working to help make the space healthier for everyone!!!💗🌼

@innateJoy9602 thank you to you too Joy for all your thoughtful work and leadership there. much appreciated . it is our collective efforts to bring these changes with the hope to support our community better. 

@innateJoy9602 Jim jam 

So, I get why 7cups would want to make this change. EG definitely had a tendency to get off track with people socializing in between explorations. However, simply closing the room half the time (or in the case of good ol' Positivity Corner, all the time) doesn't solve the underlying problem, which is that we need a casual, positive chatroom available. Don't say Member Community Room, that is not the place we need. If it was, we'd be in there. 

A lot of folks are feeling like their support group has been cut off, obliterated, without warning. I'm surprised that 7cups would make this mistake AGAIN, making a drastic change to chatrooms with almost no advance warning to the users, and leaving them in the dark after the fact. I had to ask a mod in Sharing Circle what happened, and some users are showing up in other rooms asking where EG went. Yes, you've made a forum post, but a lot of us don't touch the forums, I'm only touching it because said mod gave me the link, and as you can see, I have some thoughts. This kind of move has hurt people before, and it's hurting people again. 

Bottom line,  A: can we please get some more advance warning when changes like this are in the pipeline, preferably in the actual chatrooms they affect, and B: can we please get some kind of casual, positive support room in the lineup? It's sorely lacking.

Thanks for reading.

@StoicSteamStoker

💯. 

Ironic to macerated as a mental health and wellbeing site. 

Your actions are anything but 7cups!

you won’t ever make everyone happy but at the very least In decency and respect you let people know your actions if they may hurt people. Making a active effort to establish if your attempt to inform people has even reached at least one member 

@StoicSteamStoker Thank you for sharing your thoughts Stoic. I admire and appreciate your support in the group chats. I understand how frustrating this is for you and many others. I hear your feedback and work on that to apply it in future updates. I will try my best to give an advanced heads-up whenever these changes are in process. 

And a good point on how many of you did not look into forum posts, so a forum post isn't enough. We will try to share the updates in the group chat too so all can follow. Or at least roll out the forum post link, so you all can check 

Also, you all can ask Community Mod on shift to open Positivity Corner when you all want it to be open. I would encourage all of us to come forward and help with overseeing a casual and positive support chat. Also I am open for further discussion on this front and feel free to send me a message and we can discuss together. <3 

@ASilentObserver

Thank you 

@HopieRemi Thank you Remi 

@ASilentObserver Hello! Honestly, I don't understand how closing EG is deemed a solution to run an "effective" exploration session. 

Yesterday, I went to EG at 10 AM EST as usual like my routine. I went out and was surprised that EG was closed at 11 AM. Now I knew because a mod gave me this link, but oh well. 

So yeah, I was disappointed that the changes were not communicated in the said group (EG). We don't get prior notice of the changes. But oh well, it happened. 7 Cups do have a habit of doing things without notice, it's fine, I guess, but I do hope it can be changed. 

Now, here are my thoughts a bit about the changes. 7 Cups tend to see the world as black and white, good or bad. From these changes, I think you just see that the "lighthearted convo" in EG is bad and needs to be fixed immediately, hence closing EG when there's no facilitator is a solution. But no, a lighthearted convo when there's no share or no facilitator is not entirely bad. Like all humans, we too need a break from all the deep stuff and this lighthearted convo helps that, like asking each other how we are doing or things that you call "superficial".

There will be no deep exploration without a lighthearted convo (just like how there's no light without darkness). Lighthearted convos help the sharer to be more at ease and comfortable in sharing deep stuff. Not all of us like to share deep stuff when we don't know how the other person will react. So this lighthearted talk helps to understand and ease the sharer that EG is a safe space for deep exploration (at least, that's actually my first impression of EG and why I kept going back at it, but these changes just robbed that experience entirely, lol). 

Now here is the feedback after the changes have been implemented. After the changes, the other groups are getting a bit more chaotic and disorganized. Well, it's predictable, of course, the groups are getting lesser. But here is the hard truth on why the changes might not be working: you guys don't have the human resources to maintain all of these. Hosts and mods are getting less and more inactive. Even there are times when people are not acting according to the guidelines and making people uncomfortable when hosts and mods are there. But yeah, the hosts and mods are not fast enough to tackle them. I don't blame them though, it's a human thing and everyone is just voluntary here. 

With the hard truth that groups don't have the human resources to maintain everything, there can be 2 solutions, either let EG be maintained by the people there without a facilitator, or close it when there's no facilitator. Honestly, closing it means that you don't need help from the people in EG to help maintain it. So, I strongly hope that the facilitator will be prepared for the consequences. 

All those aside, I would like to know why closing EG is a solution here. Honestly, I'm just Asian so the scheduled timezone is not working for me, lol. So, I'm okay if what I can get from EG can sometimes be just a lighthearted convo between members. Sadly, the other groups are too chaotic and disorganized for my taste. 

@kindEyes9789

well said , eyes. 💜💐

@kindEyes9789 Thank you for sharing detailed feedback, Eyes. I appreciate you. I hear how you value the lighthearted conversations within EG as a way to build comfort and create a safe space for deeper explorations. And, the changes have impacted your experience, causing you to feel disappointed and frustrated. But please also know that these changes are based on the feedback shared by you all. I get your feedback and will work with the team.