Our 8th Birthday Reflection: Service to the Community

As a child grows up and becomes a teen and then a young adult, you can begin to see more of their unique personality emerge. Their strengths become more defined, you get a better sense of how they see and interact with the world. And, as a parent or mentor, you get better at supporting them on their life journey. This happens because you have a better understanding of what things help and what things do not help; and because the person is more mature, is better at modifying and integrating help, and knows how to step forward in stronger ways.

A similar process has happened with 7 Cups over the last several years. We, collectively, are the mentors or parents of the community. We can see that our community has become stronger, more defined, and clear. We know who we are now.

There are many ways that you can see this happening. One is the ecosystem video that highlights how 7 Cups work together. Another is the new app. A third is how our various training programs have matured and become aligned in the Academy. A fourth is the Center for Open Research and Impact (CORI). A 5th is our growth path builder, a 6th is sharing circles, a 7th is the strength of our sub-communities, and an 8th is our remarkable leadership teams. There are dozens of examples that I could point you towards. They all show how our lines and boundaries have become sharper.

In the more distant past, 7 Cups sometimes felt like a leaky bucket. We would constantly pour water in, but we had leaks in our bucket and some of the water would spill out. We’d try to walk the bucket over to the garden, but a lot of the water would leak out along the way. Fortunately, now, most of those holes have now been patched. The water we pour in can now be carried over and used to water the garden that is our community in more deliberate ways.

We have endless compassion and care as a community. Following our visual journey, the cup (or bucket) is always full and we are now able to grow new plants and vegetables in our garden. We even have a few picnic tables under a big Shady Tree. There are baskets of fresh tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots and watermelons to share, and everyone is welcome to partake! Not a single person is left out.

It feels really good to be here. I knew that we would get here, but there have also been plenty of challenges along the way. We have overcome each and every one of those challenges. I'm super proud of us!

I think the simplest way to capture how we have evolved is with one word: service. 7 Cups works because we serve one another through our community. The community is the heart, and the stronger our heart, the more people we can help, the more initiatives we can launch, and the more effective we can become.

To start this 8th year, I’d like us all to think about how we can better serve our community. These can be little things that might not seem like they will make much of a difference, but we should still name them and try them, because they might indeed make a big difference. Let's capture all of our ideas, big and small, and prioritize them. Please share your thoughts through this survey.

Happy Birthday to you all! Thank you for working alongside me and one another to help 7 Cups mature and grow into this amazing community. We are flourishing and it is because we have all chosen – in small and in big ways - to serve one another. What a remarkable community! I appreciate you all!

Let's keep watering our garden!