7 Cups Sharing Circles are now LIVE!
Last week, I introduced our new initiative to improve support within group rooms and bridge activities across the site. Yesterday, we began trialing the Sharing Circles meetups. Heres what its about:
What? These circles are an opportunity for us to share and support one another in a turn-based environment. Everyone who wants to participate can enter a queue to be called on when its their turn.
Where? Sharing Circle Room
Where did this idea come from?
We conduct sharing circles in the tradition of other support groups like Alcohol Anonymous and Overeaters Anonymous. These groups have helped millions of people and we believe they can help people in our community as well. These groups refer to a Higher Power. We use the word Love as love is a neutral term.
The host will recite this mantra to get everyone situated in this safe space and aligned in our intentions to support each other and ourselves:
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Please imagine taking the hand of the person above or below you. At the end, if comfortable, please say Let it Be.
Love, give me grace to accept with serenity
the things that cannot be changed,
Courage to change the things
which should be changed,
and the Wisdom to distinguish
the one from the other.
Living one day at a time,
Enjoying one moment at a time,
Accepting hardship as a pathway to peace,
Taking, as many spiritual leaders did,
This difficult world as it is,
Not as I would have it,
Trusting that love will make all things right,
If I surrender to love,
So that I may be reasonably happy in this life,
And supremely happy with love in the future.
Let it be.
-
What happens next?
The Rules!
Please send * to enter the sharing queue once the queue is open. Please do not enter * during a share. The queue to share will be opened after each share by the host while time permits. Queue is first come first serve. The host of the circle will say the queue after each share so you know when your turn will be.
Please do not ask questions to the sharer and keep supportive phrases short. You may use phrases like ‘That sounds hard, offers hugs, sending beams.
Only members can share. Listeners may support members, but if you want to participate, you must be logged in as a member. Please wait to be called upon to begin your share.
Please do not interrupt other shares to share your own story. Please wait your turn, so everyone can receive support.
Please break your share into short sentences so that we know you are sharing/present. Avoid typing paragraphs.
Please limit your share to under 5 minutes when there are less than 10 people in the queue and under 3 minutes when there are more than 10 people in the queue.
Type ‘Over or ‘Done as a separate message to show that you are done sharing.
Sharing Circles last one hour. We close the queue ten minutes before the end. If we are not able to get to you, you welcomed and encouraged to hop into the next one we have. These will happen twice a day for now, and if it becomes popular, we will host more.
Drop any questions in the replies, and we look forward to seeing you!
Hey! That's great, and it'll be so therapeutic! What are our lores here, as a listener?
I have an idea. Could you bring back the share your story room for this?
@Heather225 I like this idea and have benefited from participating. I have suggestion that will help the chat run smoothly:
What if somehow the chat bar is disabled until the user has read all rules? That way there are less interruptions and less chance of the mod having to repeat the rules.
Also, what if the rules are always displayed above or below the chat?
I think it would be a helpful update on both the app and the website from the web & app developing team.
@hypnosis
I don't think they have any feature development budget at all, to be honest. I've been here since December 2017 and I've haven't seen any new functionality in the chats. Only removal of the journal feature.
@GoingSafari I'd say some development activity is visible.
For example, there's a language translation project at the moment, which I guess requires some development. The listener training has been intermittently broken recently, and there are signs that this might have happened in relation to language translation work.
Another example—in chats, someone added a button a while ago that expands the chat area to fill the screen (although they didn't label the button, not even after I pointed out that they'd forgotten to label the button).
So things are certainly happening. But the common factor seems to be that the things that get development attention are things the community didn't ask for and don't necessarily want.
Charlie
When lurking in these sharing circles (im not much of one to talk in discusions) The beginning of it really felt as though the leaders were imposing religion which would that not be against the views of the site. It really just in changing the word of power to love did not really take it out of context. When reading the script it is a prayer and I get that you are trying to think of the other cricles but ive been to sharing circles online and offilne and really how it is going is not the most benefical way to go. Just the begining bit maybe get rid of that but still have the turns to share? That is what I suggest I have seen a few people leave the room and also say the prayer like thing is not comfortable.
Feel free to delete if I overstepped here
@Mediclife @SharpiePen I'm going to start a new topic for people to share suggested openings & closings and feedback so it's easier to separate that from the discussion here.
I have joined the sharing circles and then quickly left them. They got really uncomfortable for me from the start it seemed really religious and that first bit was uncomfortable. I left this until now to share after going into a few sharing circles with different hosts and still feeling the same way. The word love still with it being in a prayer like form and even I understand people they.. are saying yes you can agree to it or not but in the end I have read all the comments and numerous people are feeling the same way as me in this situation. Yes you guys want to be inclusive of everyone but ... maybe getting rid of some parts may help out as people do need to feel safe on site or maybe... make it in not one of the 24/7 rooms and put a caption that religionous type messages are shared because that is what it is seeming in all the sessions. This is just my chunck im sure may others will have more to say
- Sharpie
I made a thread over in Safety & Knowledge as this section of Group Support is for CMs to share information.
Hopefully there's some interest to collectively come up with something that can be unique to 7cups and suitable for what we are.
@AffyAvo I like that
Just cross-posting a suggestion I mentioned in group chat re: the Serenity thing.
Maybe the leaders can come up with a pool of inspirational quotes to use and rotate through them at the beginning and end.
@BlueRaspberry27253 I think that would be a great idea!
@Heather225 how can i enter the teen community?
@Heather225 What a great idea! Love this
Please could my mute be unlocked I'm waiting to join in the group chats 😔
