Imagination Game: Create Your 7 Cups Visual Representation!
Our community is a living dynamic concept, made up of the people who participate in it, and we are a world full of people with diverse backgrounds and perspectives. It’s through our diversity that we seek to broaden our horizons and expand our imaginations. I am a visual person - I like to put images, analogies, and metaphors to concepts to more clearly relate them. The internal 7 Cups team has enjoyed doing visualization exercises to get a glimpse into what we all envision when we’re thinking about what 7 Cups looks like.
When you imagine 7 Cups, what visuals come to mind?
As Glen shared in this month’s community update:
“I sometimes look at 7 Cups like a village or city and the different parts of the site are represented by buildings or neighborhoods with cobblestone streets and paths that connect them. The group support rooms are over there. If you hop across the stepping stones then you can find the forums. Take a left there to walk past the library that holds the Academy. You get the idea. You can think of all of the people walking in and out of the buildings with listeners and members. Activities highlighted take place in the town park under the trees or in different rooms and cafes across the village.”
My map of the community looks very similar. Sometimes it’s an expanding town that’s slowly evolving into a city as we become stronger and make advancements. Sometimes it’s a communal garden because it promotes a sense of shared responsibility, cooperation, and community engagement and we can see the outcome of our efforts (fostering a therapeutic environment).
What visual representations surface when you think of 7 Cups? And here's the fun part - @audienta came up with 3 fantastic ways for us to do this!
1. Use one of these sites to create cities like these:
\3. If yours isn't a map or you'd prefer to draw your idea, here's an example audienta did!
Note: there's no right or wrong vision! Please have fun with this and we'll be eagerly looking forward to seeing your creations!
And of course, you are not required to create any visuals at all! You may simply tell us about it in text!
You are not required to create any visuals at all! You can tell us about your vision in text, in Images you found online, pictures you took - anything goes, however you wish to express your vision!
Thanks to @audienta for the brilliant additions!
My pleasure. I'm looking forward to all the other ideas of the community!
Keep up the good work 7cups ☕💕😊
I actually struggle a bit with having one vision as there are different aspects plus a lot of changes over time.
Consistent aspect - although expanded are the residences as a quadrant system. For those of you not familiar with this a city can be divided into NE, NW, SE and SW. the smaller the number streets the closer you are to the center of the city. In each quadrant you have a different type of account - adult member, adult listener, teen listener, teen member. Some areas, like the most forums are smack dab in the middle, where everyone can easily access. Some things like member chatrooms are on one half - on the member side of the city, some in the teen quadrant, some in the adult. quadrant. Listeners have special transit abilities (access to +15s maybe - this might be terms that are regional, the walkways above streets between buildings, there can be an entire system of them) to move around a lot more, ATLs have ever more movement abilities.
Later, a therapist area emerged, it's not in the city but it's an area right outside the city. Some of the therapists come into the city often, some members take a toll road to see the therapists.
Admins and dev team can move all over, quickly. It reminds me of universities, I went to; we all knew there. were underground tunnels but rarely had access to them and never the entire thing. How nice are these tunnels? We're not sure but we know those who do have access can move around fairly quickly most of the time.
Then there's the aspects of the site in general, where I am more blurred.
When I first came here, forums were one area, Q&As were another area, chatrooms were another. Feed was added later as a separate area.
Then a huge restructuring took place, things were moved around to a hub for a subcommunity. Some forums, most chatrooms, the feed, the Q&As all became organized as subcommunities. More and more forums left the forum area to integrate with these hubs. The Community mentors who oversaw chatrooms initially then became a leader for a hub. The feed faded out.
Later, there was a change with how hubs ran, forums were the main part of a subcommunity. The community mentors and community mentor leaders were now more forum based and less chatroom based.
Then more updates. Subcommunities became communities, more were created Q and As were separated and mostly moved off to a library. Many of these hubs are smaller, without a chatroom.
We also now have a central hub again - the home page, plus the forum/community page. The community hubs were grouped together a bit. The forum page which has always existed but used to mostly just be a room with arrows pointing in different directions is now a central hub. I do have trouble picturing how the smaller hubs, central hub, chatrooms all look on a map together. Maybe instead of going out there's a lot of going up too, so the map would need to be 3D.
@AffyAvo I really like the quadrant idea and the way that you differentiated b/n implicit - things that don't change as much - and explict - things that tend to change more often. And I like the idea of not just outward, but also up. Can you share more on what the up looks like?
And, last, curious if there is anything in the center of the quadrants? or the center of the city?
@GlenM The home/dashboard is definitely in the center. Some forums too, positive and gratitude comes to mind where participants are more equal and member vs listener roles tend to not affect how someone interacts there.
The building up, I'm don't have a concrete picture in my head with what is where, but there's multiple ways things are connected. I can imagine similar site areas on my map being on the same storey level even if they are different buildings. I wish my map was a little more defined, most of it is fairly conceptual. Maybe my ideas can inspire someone else to turn it into an image.
@AffyAvo you summed up the changes and growth of 7 cups very nice. I could immerse myself into this picture.
We had telephone boots where you could call a listener. Those telephone boots are gone now, it's the past now from old days.
@Heather225
Ever since I read the community update for this month, my mind has been trying to form a vision of 7cups site as a map (or something like that).
Here's the result of putting the paintbrush (and Canva) in the hand of my mind lol
@AuRewolf
Here's an explanation of my 7cups representation above:
I see 7cups as a huge park with various amenities for anyone entering.
On entering the park (from the bottom right corner), the visitor sees the following two areas:
1. PMs - this is for 1-1 member chats, and since 1-1 chats are confidential, I view them as individual rooms in houses, where no outsider can peek in on conversations within those rooms.
2. Support Rooms: I see them as a common grassy area, where members, listeners, and mods can come together and support one another, or for members to share their feelings, in case they are not able to get a listener. It can also be considered for pop-ups too.
Further ahead are:
1. Forum-maze - This is the nickname I use to refer to forums lol. Because it's easy to get lost in the forums, and can be intimidating for newcomers. That's why we have forum guides (in form of forum supporters, community mentors etc.) to thank for making forums easier to navigate.
2. Growth Paths - This is filled with many paths, some crisscrossing, meaning that you can change your growth path any time by choosing a new path. The stepping stones on the paths indicate the step number
3. Academy - this is a huge building, which houses 7Cups Academy, where members and listeners can
There are a couple of areas which are kind of restricted:
1. Listener Rooms - it compasses Listener chatrooms, like LSR, LDR, LCR, and LSC, which are listeners-only.
2. Teenie-Town - refers to the teen side of 7Cups site. It has its own houses for support rooms and listener rooms
Each of the above areas are connected to others by footpaths. Notice the color of these paths. The grey footpaths are restricted, and other paths are open to all.
@AuRewolf
That's really cool! I like your map and the descriptions!
@AuRewolf love the park idea! Do you think the forum maze would be better if it was simplified - like less easy to get lost? Or do you think it is good that there are guides there to help you? or maybe some other option? Also, very cool that the support rooms are a nice grassy area. When I was imagining myself walking down the path I wanted to go to that section. It felt very inviting to me.
It wouldn’t let me post a picture here so I created a link
I did some research on why the website was named 7 Cups. As a spiritualist, I assumed it was based on Tarot (Seven of Cups). The Seven of Cups card, if read as an advice card, offers us wisdom about our internet world. It helps to show us our true colors and encourages us to be mindful and present at all times.
But it turns out I was wrong, and the website is named after a poem by Lu Tong. You can find the poem online 🥰
I figured that I would create an adaptation combining the two.
Thanks for lookin’ 🥰
@Heather225
I tried 🙈
@BenittaJ
That's nice! Thank you for sharing your map!
@BenittaJ thank you for sharing! What is the big building in the middle?
@BenittaJ
super cute! curious about which buildings are which parts of the platform!
@Heather225 @GlenM The other mini buildings are different rooms of 7cups 🙈 and the building in the middle is for community updates🙈🙈🙈🙈
Okay here is my image. I asked my son to help me with chatgpt. I had a pretty detailed prompt to include all the parts of the site, but the engine decided to put the Academy signs over many of the homes. All of the homes are supposed to represent different parts of the site (chatrooms, Lisa's office (therapy), growth paths, group support etc.). The big building in the middle is a meeting hall where we all get together and have celebrations. I also always imagine a beautiful fountain in the center of our town (would be nicer here; more roman/greek looking).
You get the feel tho - cozy, warm, nice, plenty of resources to go around, lots of farming/gardens, everyone has plenty to eat and drink. Lots of shade and changing seasons. Something like a blend of rivendell and the shire in the lord of the rings. A beautiful bustling town and a healing retreat in one.
and ideally we'd have a 7 Cups logo in that circle carving on the welcome / meeting hall in the center.
Here are 2 more it generated.
@GlenM
These are beautiful pictures, thank you for sharing them. I like the fountain in the middle. Theoretically, we should also have a tea house to drink our 7 cups of tea together.
keep up the great great work on 7cups ☕💜😍
I've been using the wonderfully cozy game Townscaper to visualize how I'd imagine a 7 cups village to look like.
It was a blast to become an architect for a moment to make 7 cups come to live!
- The 1-on-1 messages: For me, this is the heart of 7 cups. This area mostly consists of pairs of one green house and a blue house each. Just like the usual member-listener relationship, the way they interact with each other might be slightly different for each individual. Some chats are even supported by a Chat Support listener.
- The admin / ambassador tower: A cozy tower for all the wonderful people keeping a lookout over each area of 7 cups. They reside in the center to quickly help with restructuring an area that needs help.
- 7 cups university: Here's where listeners receive their training, where self-help guides can be found, and where educational forum posts for both members and listeners will be published.
- Listener Support Room: The cozy place where each listener can turn to in order to receive help. The different colors show how every listener role in that room contributes to its fundamental values.
-
Communities: Here's where our different communities from the forum reside. As you can see, they all have different sizes, shapes and colors - just how every community has a different dynamic to it.
Please note that this is how I've perceived 7 cups so far. For example, the member
rooms as well as the teen side are missing. That doesn't necessarily mean they're unimportant. I just have no experience with them.
Is 7 cups the island? And people find us by parachuting in?
@El2002snow
I also see 7 Cups as an island. Thank you for sharing your visualization of 7 Cups.
Can you share more how you see it as an island @audienta? How does it feel that way? Are there good and bad parts of that? If yes can you share more? Same with you too @el2002snow if you both are comfortable?
@GlenM
To me, it feels like a safe island, away from the "real world" with all its troubles. On this island, I can be myself. On this island, I've found myself. I got the time, the compassion, and the openness that gave me the opportunity to find out who I am and want to be. And every time, I travel back from this island to the real world, I take a little piece of what I've learned on the island with me.
7 Cups is an island for me, an island that works differently than the "real world". It's a utopia that comes to life. Of course, there is darkness and issues there as well, but for the most, I see a lot of people who shine bright and want to make this island and the real world as great, welcoming, and safe as possible.
What a beautiful image and experience! I’m so glad that 7 cups has helped you in those ways. It is our deep hope that it can help many more in those same ways as well. Thank you for helping us in our collective efforts! And, thank you for sharing more context. This is very helpful and I would not have necessarily understood that without you further elaborating for us.
7 cups is like an island because we can be who we are without anyone judging us, we can just do what we want, and as who we are and we know we won't be judged because 7cups is a supportive community for everyone.
@GlenM
I'm happy to share. I'm very grateful to have had 7 Cups at my side for all these years.
My first thought when I saw the remote island where people seek refuge... "A safe place"
I love it!
Lol very funny!
Cool
