Thank you for Listening 🙏

Today is Volunteer Recognition Day! Thank you @Tazzie and @Gracey for organizing our volunteer recognition activities!

One thing that I love about our community is that we are overflowing with recognition. We have shout outs, appreciation threads, and more. I think we are this way because we know that recognition matters. Recognition is a witnessing - a reflecting back to another person - that they are seen and valued in a public manner. I love that someone came up with this day and we get to celebrate it on 7 Cups. There might not be a more fitting day for the work we do!

Volunteering itself is a remarkable activity. We are often uncomfortable with the word love, but I see volunteering as an expression of love. A person, simply, is anonymously giving to another with no strings attached - with no expectation of a return. That is a rare and beautiful thing.

One of my favorite books is the Art of Loving. I think it could also be called the Art of Volunteering. The core theme is that love is a skill or practice. Much like learning how to dribble a basketball or master another skill, you can learn to go the extra mile and love others.

One of my daughters - Maddy - went through a time when she was not awesome at sharing. We talked about learning to be generous as a muscle that needs to develop. Gradually she began to be more and more giving to others. Now, whenever she does it we say - generosity muscle!

Listening is an especially powerful type of volunteering. You go there. You care. You become a friend. You walk down the path with someone who is in distress or experiencing some level of suffering. You do it freely, generously, and compassionately. If that isnt love, and if becoming a better listener is not the practice of love, then I do not know what is. It is rare and beautiful.

And, somehow, against the odds, we have managed to come together and create this city on the Internet. This land - or Rivendell - where people come when they are in pain to get reliably nourished and cared for. It is remarkable! I was chatting with @obs, @hope and @heather225 about this the other night. Im still amazed that we are all working together as well as we are; yes, there are still lots of challenges, but youve got to also admit that we are doing a lot of good work - a remarkable amount of good work. Im thankful and proud of us!

So, I want to take a minute on this special day and express my gratitude and recognition to all of you.

Dear 7 Cups Listener,

Where to begin? What can I say on behalf of the person or people that you have gone out of your way to listen to.

I can say thank you, but that doesnt really capture it does it?

As I write this, Im tearing up, because I know what it feels like to be on the other side of that pain and to have someone show up, have someone be there, have someone listen to you, see you, care for you, and believe in you even when others do not.

All of us listeners have experienced pain in life. Some of us quite a bit and we count ourselves as wounded healers. Some of us less so, but we still know what it feels like to feel alone or scared.

Thank you for listening.

It is because of you that people have walked through the darkness and come to the other side.

Thank you for listening.

It is because of you people have found the courage to take that next step even when they felt like they could not.

Thank you for listening.

It is because of you that people that were going in the wrong direction turned around and started walking in the other direction.

Thank you for listening.

It is because of you that people put down that last drink, or chose not to self-harm, or learned a new skill like calling a friend or taking a walk.

Thank you for listening.

I speak on behalf of all of our members and I say:

Thank you for listening.

Your volunteering, your kindness, your love has reached many of us and helped us in ways that you will not truly ever understand. Some in part because you cannot know and some in part because it is difficult to put into words.

Thank you for listening.

It is not an exaggeration to say that thousands of people have reviewed 7 Cups. Thousands have messaged me in PMs and said how much a listener has helped them. How life was tough and a caring listener was there with a lantern to help show the way; that a listener carried the backpack for a little while, shared the burden, so life wouldnt be so hard for a little while.

A very small sampling of reviews:

7cups is a great community. [...] It has helped me during some very rough times in my life. I am glad to now be a listener in this community to be able to support others in the way I was supported.
--

This app actually has been helping me get through my depression & anxiety. The listeners even helped me fix my relationship with my fiance. It's a great app. 5 stars is not enough.
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Ive been using this app for a few years now, and when I joined I was in a very dark place. [...] it saved me from myself more times than I can say. What I love most is that it allows you to understand that youre not alone, and youre not the only one who is going through stuff.
--

This app has changed my life, I received so much love and care on here its beautiful!! I felt so supported and never felt alone. I am now a listener myself and am embracing being able to help other people as much as those who helped me. 🧡.

Millions more do not write reviews, but they are helped by you listeners. Their lives are turned around and they begin to feel hopeful again. They can see the sun shining through.

Thank you for listening.

As I was writing this post, I was also thinking of the ways that volunteering helps the listener. It gives back to us too doesnt it? Many of you know my grandmother passed away in February. She would knit blankets for kids with less financial resources. Her last words were Love always comes back. We volunteer. We care. And it comes back to us.

I was chatting with some of our ambassadors about this. @Mel shared how she started listening as a teen and grew stronger and developed new skills. Listening increased her confidence. @PolarCat spoke of how listening helped her learn deep empathy, taught her that love is love, and impacted her parenting. @ASilentObserver talked about the joy of hearing from a member later on when life was going good for them and celebrating with them about a new job.

What a gift! What a gift all of you listeners give to our members. And what a gift we get back for caring.

I also want to take time to recognize our community leaders as well. 7 Cups has reached more than 50 million people now and we have collectively sent more than 1.4 billion messages. Those numbers are so big they almost seem unimaginable. You have to think of all of those people as someone with real pain - like a neighbor, friend, or someone you pass by when taking a walk. 7 Cups is a BIG operation. We are a super small team of people on staff, but we have a leadership team of over 1000 volunteer leaders that play different roles on the site and make 7 Cups possible.

Let me take a minute now to recognize these roles and what they do so you better see all that it takes to keep 7 Cups humming.

Ambassadors - ambassadors are like compassionate navy seals. They are like the blackbelts of volunteers. They are often behind the scenes doing work that they cant really talk about or share. They have huge hearts and they are incredibly generous and insightful. If 7 Cups were a river, then ambassadors help us open and close channels that help the river flow where it needs to go. To all of our ambassadors, past and present, and the words fail again here, let me say:

Thank you for leading.

I am honored and thankful that you have decided to walk with us, to dig in, and to go those extra miles to help our community. Many will never know the sacrifices you have made.

Thank you for leading.

Mentor Leaders - thank you for taking the work on your shoulders. I know the burden is heavy. Thank you for continuing to show up and for being reliable and for helping us build this space so that others can have a sense of shelter. Thank you for seeing the bigger picture and for helping us to carry the beams. We are building a big house here. A big home and we could not do it without your strength and commitment.

Thank you for leading.

Mentors - I often hear about what a tremendous job you all are doing. Ive had some great mentors in life that helped get me on track. You are those mentors for our community. You help our members and you help our listeners. Thank you for helping us to visualize, build, and serve people through programs on 7 Cups.

Thank you for leading.

Moderators - I know you take a lot of heat in your role, and yet youre so level-headed and strong and patient. Your role is incredibly challenging, but its you who models such great behavior for our rooms, and its thanks to you that our rooms are healthy and supported. You keep our members safe!

Thank you for leading.

Peer Support - Youre the nurturers who fill our listeners tanks when theyre running on empty. You understand how important it is to have someone to turn to after a hard chat (because after all, listeners need to look out for their emotional well-being too). You give our listeners a safe space to decompress and someone to lean on. Your time and caring makes a huge impact on the success of our listeners which, in turn, helps our members too.

Thank you for leading.

Member Leaders - Youre the ones who stepped up to take certain responsibilities and lead to support the community. What a way to contribute!! You are room supporters in the group support rooms, forum supporter or forum member leader in the subcommunities. Thank you for making a difference. We appreciate you.

Thank you for leading.

Special Projects - Thank you to you all that play unique roles on 7 Cups that complement your ways of giving to our community. You help out in differentiated ways that help to bring meaning to our community.

Thank you for leading.

Im realizing now that this post is 5 pages long! I have a lot to be thankful for with our community. Please join me in celebrating and appreciating our volunteer leaders and listeners. 7 Cups is alive, vibrant, and effective because of all of you. From the bottom of my heart.

Thank you for listening and leading!

With deep gratitude,
Glen