Happy 9th Birthday!
Dear Community,
Happy Birthday to you all!
Here are some things I love about all of you and our community.
-When we champion one another!
-The joy I feel in reading positive listener and group reviews.
-When someone drops by and lets me know how a listener, group, or path helped them.
These things happen a lot and they are a natural byproduct of the work that you all do. You don’t aim to get kudos, good reviews, or have others say how much you have helped them. It just naturally happens. Members, Listeners, Leaders, Therapists - everyone helping one another out. It is beautiful to see.
I think about our community about 20x a day. The community is one of the first things on my mind when I wake up in the morning and all of you are in my thoughts as I go to sleep.
The work we do is more important than it has ever been. There is so much tumult in the world right now. We all need a safe haven. You have all created one for us here at 7 Cups. It is like a big national park with climbing trails, trees, and meadows. You can take time alone, hike with a friend, or scale a mountain with a group.
On days like today, I like to challenge myself to look at our collective work with fresh eyes. That 7 Cups exists on the Internet and works as well as it does is nothing short of miraculous. We have plenty of things to do better and that will always be the case. However, even with our challenges, we have pulled together and created a Haven on the Internet - a place where people are not usually too kind to one another - and I believe that is remarkable.
I look forward to another year of working alongside all of you.
With all my love and gratitude,
Glen
@GlenM
Aww this is super heart touching, Glen. Thankyou for giving us this platform, 7 cups follows the gift of giving concept and I believe you started this chain by gifting us this lovely place (well ofcourse this thanks is extended to the developers and the entire team too hehe). I count my listener experience here as one of the bestest thing in life so far, the most gratifying experiences ever. ❤ Love and Gratitude right back atcha and every single being here.
💛 Happy Birthday 7 cups. 💛
@Sunisshiningandsoareyou thank you for these very kind words! And I agree that listening is some of the best stuff! I appreciate you!
I agree wholeheartedly!
@GlenM
Thank you, Glen for creating 7 Cups 9 years ago.
It was a brilliant idea, an expression of great intelligence, vision, compassion and hope.
Now it has become this massive source of support for so many people all over the world.
It's contribution is immeasurable.
I have seen so many cases of people that 7 Cups drastically changed their lives for the better.
It made all the difference in the world for them.
7 Cups alleviated suffering for thousands and thousands of people and significantly helped them heal from the source of their suffering.
For many, it was the only safe haven they could reach in the most critical moments of their lives.
I am absolutely certain of this because I have seen it in the lives of many people I got to know here.
It's difficult to conceive in our limited brains how massively, astronomically good 7 Cups is.
So thank you, thank you thank you.
In the name of the (tens, hundreds, thousands?) of thousands of people that have benefited from 7 Cups, THANK YOU!
There are not enough words for the gratitude you deserve for creating, struggling with financing, establishing the rules of functioning, staffing, managing, growing, and always improving 7 Cups.
Thank you Glen!
@HealingTalk I was touched when I read this. I read it a few more times to let it sink in. I can take some of the credit, but by far the credit goes to our community. Together, we have pulled through some tough times. We never would have made it without being all in together on it.
The amplified good - how much the waves ripple out - is really something to see and begin to understand. It is magical. I'm so thankful I get to be a part of it.
Thank you again for these thoughts!
@GlenM
Thank you very much for your kind words!
You discovered a huge potential for good and built the infrastructure to mobilize it.
You found the best site, built the dam, installed the turbines...
And little by little the reservoir filled with water.
Now it produces huge amounts of energy.
Thousands provide support, thousands receive it all the time. All love it.
Once built and working, it's like magical.
It wouldn't have happened without your vision that this was possible and good to do, and the determination, perseverance and effort to make it real, to make the infrastructure for all this huge potential to become alive, as the hyper-active Community and vast source of support that 7 Cups is now.
You are not all the water in the reservoir, of course. You are the visionary and engineer that envisioned the dam, designed it, made the overwhelming effort to make it real from zero to at least a prototype, and then grow it into a sustainable organization.
There was no precedent. There were no previous hydroelectric power plants to copy the blueprint. It sprang out of your creativity, vision and hard work designing a new, complex thing that, besides effectiveness and sustainability, had to deal with very delicate matters of confidentiality and care for its impact on very vulnerable persons. This was not Tik-Tok...
At the same time, it was a momentous leap of faith in the potential of people to do good. Trust in people on an unprecedented scale.
There is huge merit in all of this, a merit that is different from that of the (real, great) merit of all the rest of this amazing Community.
I think that a Birthday, with its characteristic reference to the beginnings of things, is a compelling opportunity to reflect and express our gratitude to you for creating 7 Cups, and all the myriad things, vision, compassion, creativity, determination, hard work, dealing with uncertainty, etc. you put into making it real.
And thank you also for giving us the opportunity to join this great humanitarian adventure!
@HealingTalk Humbled by reading all of this. Thank you again for your kind words.
I wanted to also take this opportunity to share a little more from my perspective. I am glad that you can see 7 Cups and that you are interested in mapping it. I share that very strong interest and have spent a lot of time thinking about it. I think multiple perspectives can help us better see 7 Cups and how it has evolved.
I very much wish I could have understood what 7 Cups was to become and then have reverse engineered it from our launch. I am nowhere near that smart. It would have been much easier though! Instead, we collectively had to do it the hard way to learn/uncover/understand 7 Cups through tens of thousands of iterations of problem solving.
I have shared that I see 7 Cups as an organism or a complex adaptive system. It evolves with each challenge that we solve. The more problems we solve the stronger it becomes. The less problems we solve the weaker it becomes.
One of our values is this idea that the problem is the path. You don't really need to have a plan so much as you need to be able to steer into problems and then work with others to solve them. When we launched 7 Cups it was pretty obvious that there were going to be wayyy to many problems for us to solve with just our small team. We were straightforward with the community about this and encouraged people to look at 7 Cups as a sphere where they were responsible for their square on that sphere. If they saw a problem, then we were depending on them to a) solve the problem; b) ask for help to solve the problem.
Over time, the community has solved thousands of problems. I wish that we would have had some way of cataloging them all on a weekly or monthly basis. Our code commits would capture some of this and the robust social infrastructure we all co-developed could capture some of it too. There have been endless conversations and problem solving sessions by so many in this community.
I don't think this perspective is immediately visible to people. I wanted to share it because - to me - it helps to capture the way that we all worked together to help 7 Cups evolve. ✨❤️
Happy birthday.. 7 cups 💝🙌😄
THANKS FOR THE opportunity.
SO PROUD TO BE HERE AS A Global LISTENER🥰
@MifiHelpholic I'm proud of you too! and I like that - global listener ❤️
@GlenM
Thanks a lot for the words 😊😇😇😊
@GlenM Thank you for creating it 🧡
@7cupscommunity Happy Birthday 🤗
@DonaldDraper
Thank you, we been having a lot of cake recently to celebrate.
@GlenM
Hi O.G.! 😊❤️ Thank you so very much for this amazing forum post! Of all people today, it is you that should hear Happy Birthday! Yes, Happy 9th Birthday Glen! ❤️ Thank you for creating this place. For creating this safe haven. Many of us see it as sacred ground, just as you do.
You truly did set the tone for this place all along. It was your brain child and I think if anyone knew the origin story of 7 cups, everything that you and your family went through to make this happen, Y Combinator, the whole shabang, it just might cause them pause. They just very well may have empathy for you and your sacrifices, have a new born respect for your "stop at nothing attitude" and a deeper respect and commitment towards 7 cups and to all of our teammates!
A few years back, we may have gotten off of the track a bit. You came forward, saw that it had happened and asked for support and help. For me personally, that was a pivotal moment for me. For you, of all people, to come down to meet me and ask little ole' me for help, me and everyone else! I think at that moment, somehow, something truly did spark in me.
I think I really started embracing the concept that "oh, even the flap of a butterflies wings can cause a tornado". 😊❤️ And I was right! A change happened around here and you getting the right people in place that truly understood your original plan as well as many of us jumping in, doing what it was that we could do, even in the smallest of ways and quietest (or not, might have to think about that one for a moment, lol) to not change the original culture but reinforce the original culture and help to get the wheels of the bus back on the road.
I have listened to so many things that you have said and they really have brought a great deal of inspiration. Any confusion around here, go to the 7 cups core values. There is so much value there in what you said. I have loved hearing your mindset about the "wounded healer", "following our north star", how we are a "gift giving society" as well as you seeing us as an eco system.
On our 9th birthday, I feel pretty happy! 7 cups wants for me to! They want me to see the value in me, they want for me to feel good about myself and they want me to see how I have created change in a positive direction, even if no one else is able to see it! It's really all about intrinsic motivation as opposed to extrinsic and little things do add up over time. It's such a communal effort! I'm simply happy to be a part of this eco system and to be able to follow my little path, know my intentions and know that I got some serious traction around here! Weeeeeeeeeee weeeeeeeeee! 😊 It simply feels good to be a part of something bigger than than myself.
The magic happens around here every day! We either have to see it or we create it! Happy Birthday 7 cups and.........abracadabra! *high fives* 😊 and big *hugs* ❤️
@SparkyGizmo
Hi sparky.
Do you know where I can find Glens words about "The wounded healer"?
@Helgafy
Hi Helgafy! 😊❤️ Thank you so very much for the question and it's a really, really good one. As for me, I have read so many things that Glen has said over the years in his forum posts and they were quite inspirational.
I am so sorry. I too wish I had bookmarked all of them. I didn't save (bookmark) all of them. I think at that point in time, for me here on the site, I didn't even fully understand how to bookmark things and use my dashboard to it's fullest potential. ❤️
In an effort to help, this is what I can do! I will do my best for you! I can tag Glen here for you and, perhaps he might have the link to provide for you here in this thread? He might not have it and that's okay too! 😊 ❤️ If he doesn't have the link, for me, it's understandable. It was a moment in time when he was reaching out to his community to inspire them and for me, well, it worked! I embraced it. ❤️
@GlenM
In addition, I will do my best to kind of paraphrase as I cannot quote him, and maybe simply tell you what the "take away was" for me as a human being and a teammate here on 7 cups! So, in that moment, with Glen speaking of "the wounded healer", what I "heard" him saying was:
Come one, come all. All are welcome here on 7 cups! I have created a platform because there is a huge love deficit in the world. 7 cups is trying to bridge that gap. Listeners are not therapists or counselors. There are the "wounded healers" here on this platform. People that have been there, people that have suffered, been through what you have been through. And even if they haven't been through, exactly what you have been through, sometimes the best listeners of all can be the ones that have suffered greatly. It could be that someone who is the "wounded healer" would be the one to be able to display the most empathy of all.
Glen speaking of the "wounded healer" tells me that he cares about all of us and that he understands that maybe, most people that come to this site have been hurt in some way or form. He respects us and appreciates all of the many gifts that we might be bringing to the table.
Even Glen, one night (as a trained and licensed therapist) just needed someone to listen to him. My understanding is that he sat at his kitchen table and his wife, a trained and licensed therapist, simply listened. I think it may have been at that very moment that the concept for 7 cups was born! That Glen felt that everyone just needs someone to listen to them and also is highly deserving of it.
I think it might be why Glen has given us the opportunity to put what are called "lived experiences" on our profile pages, so that members can feel even more comfortable reaching out to someone that may have experienced some of the same things.
As an aside, I'd like to give a "shout out" to Glens wife. Never met her, probably never will but she was instrumental in getting this enterprise "off of the ground", part of the "brain child" and she, as well as Glen, were our very first listeners here on 7 cups! 😊❤️
My words are simply this: Sometimes we as people end up walking through the fire. There, can be times that we, come out on the other side and bring buckets of water to the others.
*high fives* 😊 big *hugs* ❤️
@SparkyGizmo @helgafy - yes, this is a great summary. You can learn more here. Basically, yes, I'm a wounded healer as are many of you and most other therapists. People have cared for us and helped us heal and grow - though it is a never ending process - and we in turn give back. Someone pulled us up and now we extend our hands down to help others climb up.
I think there is lovely interdependence that happens with this. It doesn't have to just be with listening. The truth is we need help from each other in all kinds of ways. We have lots to learn here!
@SparkyGizmo
Thank you so much Sparky - I'll also read Glens answer. Thank you.
@Helgafy
❤️❤️❤️
@SparkyGizmo high fives sparky! Yes, I do see it as sacred ground. We don't talk too much about it, but I do think that is one of the best words that captures the work we do here. It is real, quiet, and deeply meaningful. A lot different than other kinds of work. Soul work.
@GlenM
❤️❤️❤️
@GlenM
Glen, thank you so much for taking the time to post your heart-felt message. I haven't been here long, but I'm learning a lot. To think about this community that much during your day is the sign of a true care-giver, loving spirit. Thank you so much. I'm glad you let things continue to evolve, and let other's ideas into the mix.
I've never seen a place like this on the Internet. This truly feels like an oasis in the middle of a troubled world.
Thank you for starting this great community and your continued love and support for it. ❤️
@EmbStitcher33 you've got some real insight and a great way of expressing ideas that are hard to capture. Thank you for sharing them with us.
That key point you made about adding other ideas into the mix needs to be underlined. This is very much a collective process. We are all building 7 Cups brick by brick. The best ideas come from the community. Think just about this birthday as an example. The idea of it came from the community, the celebrations, high fives, and even the birthday video. All ideas from the community. If you look around the site you'll see that much of this has surfaced from different members and listeners along the way.
@GlenM
Hi again Glen.
Just assosiating "brick by brick". There was this man - laying down brick by brick in building. "So you're laying down bricks" was a comment. "No" the man said - I'm building a cathedral.
@GlenM
Thank you for your comment. It's like a beautiful bouquet of flowers. One lone flower is pretty but when you surround it with more flowers of different shades and sizes, colors and greens and even the little baby's breath flowers... it ends up being 100 times more beautiful than that lone flower. That's what 7 Cups is now with all the avenues of engagement open. You lit the fire but now you have many, many fire-tenders. It must be so rewarding to sit back and see all that this has grown into.
(S'mores anybody...lol)
And again, thank you, and Happy Birthday to 7 Cups, may you have many, many more!!
Hello Glen,
Our baby is 9 years old and I have been associated with it for 7 years .
What a beautiful and fulfilling journey it has been. 7cups is the brightest star in my life. And what meaning and purpose it has added to my existence.
How fondly and with passion you talk about the baby you ou gave to., it's so endearing.
May we grow more and more.
🌷🌷🌷
@RideaRainbow thank you for being with us on this journey for 7 years! I appreciate your kind words. And thank you for co-parenting along with me. We are all raising this kid up. I'm incredibly proud of 7 Cups, and super relieved, because it is getting to the point now where I know it is all going to be okay.
Cheers to many more years to come!
@GlenM
7 Cups is the best thing that exists! Help people in their personal growth, to achieve personal goals, gain self-esteem, healing and better live with their condition, break isolation by connecting with people who lived similar experiences or are further down on their journey.
And it helps people to become more understanding and compassionnate persons. Build their listening skills and better support their friends and strangers. Being more open mind on other cultures, on other challenges people can experience, to lose this reflex to judge, and instead have the reflex to offer our listening ears and our support when we see people in pain.
All those years we passed together to make this community a big friendly, inclusive and supportive place where we know there will always being someone available for us. A thing that would never have been possible without you creating it with a wonderful team, and with our volunteers that continue to make live this place, everyone who bring their energy.
Thank you Glen and everyone here for being part of this community and continue to make it the best place on earth even after 9 years of existence !
@vivelespatates
Hi.
"to lose this reflex to judge" - ha.ha. what a nice way to put it!
