February 2025 Community Update!
Dear Community,
I hope all is well! It has finally started to warm up here and I’m delighted.
Things have been hopping over here. One recent focus has been on how we can do more to bridge online and offline care via 7cups.com/local. It is still in process and will likely take a while to figure out, but look for more on this front in the future. We’ve also been working on a number of grant applications to provide additional support to folks around the world. Last, we did a big overhaul of 7cups.com/qa. Thank you all for asking and answering important questions!
I’ll write more on this in an upcoming post, but I wanted to share an idea I’ve been meditating on. The brief version, beautiful things often take a long time to develop. We are collectively building something beautiful here. It has already been 11 years. I can tell you, what we are doing becomes more interesting, detailed, layered, textured and beautiful each and every year. More to come on this…
I appreciate you all. Thank you for helping us build 7 Cups brick by brick. We are making good progress!
H
I’m sure most of you have heard about the Transformation Wheel initiative I’ve been asking folks to try out. I’d like to congratulate those who have completed testing! I have announced the first group here in this post. And since then, three more folks have finished and earned the exclusive Wellness Warrior badge: @Hi66666 @LovesSprintCars @daydreammemories
We have closed sign-ups for testers to take TTW to the broad community! The Transformation Wheel is as of this week a community challenge, with structured weekly steps and forum threads for buddying up and giving mutual support! Trying something new can be tough, especially when it involves self-work but we’ve got you every step of the way. Check out the official release post and sign up! 💪
The Welcome Committee is now an official project under the Community domain! This means the program is here to stay, listed as one of our Leadership Opportunities (listeners-only link). Listeners are encouraged to apply and help us cover more timezones so we can make sure as many newbies get greeted as possible!
We’re also actively looking to bring on Project Agents to build out our leadership and scale the Welcome Committee. If you’re a listener and you’re interested in supporting a team, see the details here in this post. Any questions at all please PM me!!
Lastly, the first survey of the year is open for submissions. Follow the link here! <3
Hope
January has been a truly eventful month! In Academy sub-communities, we introduced Tiny Steps, a series of small, themed tasks designed to support personal growth through manageable actions. We’ve already completed two rounds. You can view all steps here. The Academy polls initiative also has a new lead, @Melss27, who has done a fantastic job maintaining and running the polls, with four rounds already posted, you can view the latest here.
On the leadership front, @Quietlistener2023 has stepped into a new role as an Academy Mentor Leader in QLP. Join us in congratulating them
There’s a new workshop series in town! Conquering Worry is now live, and those who complete it will be eligible for a certificate. It is based on the book ‘How to Stop Worrying and Start Living’ by Dale Carnegie. So far, we have covered Carpe Diem (Seize the day), a practical approach to managing worry and Keeping busy. All of which can be found here. We also launched a teens-exclusive series! Building our virtual cafe, teens can join here!
Last but not least, 7 Cups Academy turned 5! We marked this milestone with a reflection on our collective achievements and a special chatroom event. This is a significant moment for the Academy, and I’m deeply grateful for the passionate and dedicated admins, ambassadors, mentor leaders, mentors, trainees, and graduates who have all played a vital role in shaping our journey. You can still join the celebrations here.
Obs
2025 is off to a fantastic start, and I am grateful for your quality and meaningful participation throughout January. Your support is what makes this community so special.
I am glad to share that our Reflection Week Event went well. We received an average feedback rating of 9.14/10, which is truly wonderful. Thank you to everyone who shared their reflections and offered encouragement. They were truly insightful sessions, and we are looking forward to having more high-quality events throughout 2025.
I am also grateful for the collective effort that went into the second version of our Mission Listener Support Chat Revival. Thanks to the support and hard work of our listeners and leaders, the LSR/TL chat has been relatively more active compared to previous months. Kudos to everyone for their resilient and thoughtful presence – supporting, guiding, and encouraging each other is what makes this community so strong.
Also, we announced the improved version of the Member Compassion course, based on your helpful feedback. The course has been very well received so far, with participants giving it an average feedback rating of 8.2/10. If you haven't had a chance to explore it yet, we encourage you to check out here.
Thank you everyone for being such an integral part of our community. I am excited to see what we achieve together in February and beyond.
SoulfullyAButterfly
January marks the annual community Word Cloud activity results. Our Word “Cups” feature word reflections from the community for both the year that has ended and the New Year. Our 2024 word is “Resilient” while “Healing” is the dominant one for 2025. You can check out the complete reflections and resulting word cups here. I look forward to hearing everyone's thoughts on the results!
January also marked the Content Development and Marketing Program (CDM) Academy Program turning 4 years old!
We are excited to announce different initiatives to promote healing and community in the upcoming months.
Evelyne
We have been increasing our leadership for our teams as our focus this month.
@annasilverberg is our new Ambassador for Listener Coaching Team! She has been working hard on her new role Please direct any questions or ideas for the team to her.
@positivepumpkin22 is our new Ambassador for Active Listening Test Grading Team. She has been an ML for a while on the team, but is stepping into a main lead role.
I look forward to seeing what they both come up with!
Lastly, Safety Team is looking for project agents, so please reach out to @Rebekah if you have any interest.
tommy on behalf of CheeryMango
It has been a hectic start to the year for us, we’ve thoroughly enjoyed introducing new systems to help further develop the forum space.
First of all, our 2024 forum statistics were a big hit! This inspired us to make some tweaks to our monthly spotlight thread. These updates will help recognise the efforts of all contributors and will provide you with regular forum statistics.
We also rolled out our 2025 Events Calendar - if there’s anything you’d like to add or help with, please let us know about it here or PM tommy.
We have also started to build and expand on our newest community. Men’s Issues is now available for your use and you can sign up to the taglist here so you don’t miss out on any upcoming events or discussions relating to this topic.
Finally, we’re always on the look out for new forum leaders. If you’re interested in helping our communities and can spare time to make a minimum 10 forum posts within your chosen community, please check out our guide to applying for forum leadership here.
Thank you to everyone for your ongoing support with helping maintain a positive and safe space on the forums!
@GlenM
Well done and many thanks!
@GlenM
Hi everyone! 😊 ❤️
Thank you for the updates! Always nice to hear about what we have *cooking* around here.
Thank you also for all of the work done in the front of the house (highly visible), as well as for all of the work done in the back the house; things that might not be readily apparent and take longer (less visible).
For many of us here on 7 cups, our work is like the wind. You can't prove it, see it, smell it, taste it. You can't hold it in your hand or capture it in a bottle however, if you watch closely....you see it's after effects. This is how you know that the wind does, in fact, exist.
*high fives* 😊 and *hugs* ❤️
@SparkyGizmo great metaphor for the quiet and beautiful work being done here. It is hard to capture it with language. I think of each of us building 7 Cups brick by brick. Each person puts a little of their own substance into the work. And together we've created this wonderful community. And I think people "feel" that when they join 7 Cups. It feels like a different sort of place with different textures.
@GlenM
Thank you Glen! 😊 ❤️
I really enjoyed yours too and in fact, to the degree that it made my eyes *well up*. I love how you said that everyone puts their own substance into the work. That you see this! I see it, as you see it.
Brick by brick we are building and daily. It's a beautiful thing to sit back and quietly witness those "bricks". I am able to see the markings on many bricks that are put in place. The substance, who put their substance into each brick. I guess it's being aware, knowing what others are capable of, seeing their greatness and having gratitude moments for them.
I see so many great things and from great people. Those bricks represent their legacy in building 7 cups. Their work is like the wind, but you can see how their approach has effected other teammates, human beings. It's the true ripple effect and with enough time and effort, love and care, minds change, hearts change. ❤️
It really is as if I can see the transformation of others and know who that "brick" belongs to when I see a change in others. I can see the markings on many bricks and I know who is responsible for laying it down.
Laying the bricks is the hard work and dedication of the ones that are "being the example" to others around here. The consistent and the consistently good. The ones who are bringing the heat and bringing the noise, lol 😊 Given enough time, things really do kind of "catch on" and for the greater good of the community.
For the ones that destroy instead of build, well....."the dogs will bark as the wagons move forward".
Thank you for building for us a great foundation as well as for laying your bricks down and daily also! I "see" you too! ❤️
*high fives* 😊 and *hugs* ❤️
@SparkyGizmo very interesting point on the etchings. The Kula tribe would provide bracelets in a sort of gift economy. A family would give it to another family on a different island. The bracelet would be passed from person to person or family to family all around the ring of islands. Eventually it would return to the original creator. Each person that held it would instill their "hua" or spirit into it and etch their initials or a symbol representing them. In that way, the gift became more heavy and more valuable with each person that held it.
Yes, the bricks, and the gifts, circulate through our gift economy here. The initial are not always sketched, but you can indeed see the impact.
When I was talking about the idea that beautiful things take a long time - this was exactly the sort of thing I was talking about. It takes a lot of people, a lot of gifts, a lot of nuance, texture, building etc. to make a community filled with a sense of welcome and compassion.
The goodness of it or beauty of it needed to compound over months, quarters, years. And now you can really feel/sense the strength of it - because it has compounded so much - whereas the early years it was harder to feel it. We were just not strong enough yet.
Curious about what you and others think about this idea - beauty in this context - and it taking layers and layers of work to have it be increasingly visible.
I ask because I'm still struggling with fully understanding it myself and language is so tough for these sorts of things.
@GlenM
As for me, I really love the analogy of the bracelet. Wearing something on the body makes it even more personal. My 7 cups bracelet is quite heavy and it's a good thing. Many times I have said around here that If I know something, am able to do something, seem to be a bit capable from time to time, that it had to come from somewhere.
Where did it come from? Well, it came from the great ones that came before me. Someone took the time out of their day to explain something, teach me something, tried to inspire me. They found me worthy and invested in me. It wasn't always passive though.
The bracelet also grows heavier by learning from others through taking the training guides, reading forum posts, experiential learning, trial and error, asking questions. I wanted to learn and try hard, but still it's *sitting at the knee* of another somewhere along the way. The brilliance came from another, I just listened.
It still is the passing of the bracelet and it grows heavier and heavier each time it's passed. You look at the bracelet, you feel it's weight and you know you are the product of a cumulative effort. Teamwork. Gratitude moments for that.
Your analogy of the bracelet reminds me of something you once said to me "learn, help, learn, help". As an aside, you've had many a great quote for me around here, so many I couldn't choose just one so instead, I chose to honor you by quoting your Grandmother on my profile page. She's part of my bracelet too! ❤️ You are quite humble and so I felt this way would be the best way and how you would want things.
Part of it all is coming here with your heart being in the right place. Having the right mindset, coming here in the spirit of intentionality. What will you do today? How will you be? Can you keep the commitments to others that you made yesterday? Can you promise to try to be the same way day in and day out? We can always question ourselves whether we are here for the right reasons or are we here for the wrong reasons. I'm guessing ones that are here for the wrong reasons don't question any of it, at all. I guess this is the part of accepting the bracelet, seeing it's value, seeing it as meaningful and important. Do you accept the bracelet or do you not?
Part of the above can come from how you are as a human being as well as learning about 7 cups, it's purpose, why it was created, how it was created, what it took to get "lift". You gotta' have some serious deep respect and admiration for it. Embracing the core values and internalizing it all is when the magic happens! ✨
I agree with you that during the early years we weren't strong enough yet. It wasn't for your lack of trying. You set the tone. You had the right mind set and so the expectations were for leaders to follow suit. Sometimes power corrupts....either they understood and lost their way or they never truly understood from the beginning. Fish rots from the head and it sure did!
Having the right leadership in place, as I see it, was the change that we needed for a positive direction. Before H, it was a fiasco. People were combative, abusive in the forums, in the rooms and in pm's. Everyone went unchecked and unchallenged. Absolute free for all. Personally, it became hard for me to even function around here to try and help others or to have service driven leadership as my focus.
H put a stop to the rif raf over time and brought us back to the original meaning, the purpose, didn't change the culture, but brought it back to the way that you intended it all along. I see so many great leaders here now and I know they wouldn't have lasted long with the old regime. Their hearts are in the right place, willing to accept the bracelet, add to it and pass it on. Their efforts would have been in vain and they would have been targeted, been removed from the site or would have left by their own volition.
We are much stronger now and I'm grateful for it! ❤️
*high fives* 😊 and *hugs* ❤️
@SparkyGizmo
This is so well said and encompasses to me what our unique community is all about: "Where did it come from? Well, it came from the great ones that came before me. Someone took the time out of their day to explain something, teach me something, tried to inspire me. They found me worthy and invested in me.."
Absolutely love the concept of the bracelet growing heavier as you develop your skills and evolve. "I just listened."
So much quotable wisdom you drop, Sparky. Thanks for dialing in, being so present and positive, and teaching others as others have taught you. ❤️
And thank you for believing and trusting in me. 🥰
@Heather225
❤️❤️❤️
@GlenM ❤❤❤ thanks everyone ❤❤
