Graturday - Thankful for Such a Large and Diverse Community

Last I attended the Watch City Steampunk Festival in Waltham, Massachusetts: an impressive downtown steampunk festival which can draw as many as 10,000 people when the weather is good.

Last week, the weather was not good, with intermittent rain throughout the day, but that did not dampen the spirits of the great people at the event.

Due to my very busy schedule, there are only so many events I can get out to, but with a number of the events that previously filled my schedule no longer running, I now find myself more aware of just how many great events there are in the Steampunk community around New England.

Waltham takes its steampunk seriously.

Steampunk is a fantastically positive culture. One of the underlying principles of it is a do-it-yourself attitude. I am reminded of a quote from President Kennedy in which he says "Our problems are man-made, therefore they may be solved by man. And man can be as big as he wants. No problem of human destiny is beyond human beings."

That describes the Steampunk ethos. That which we have made, we can fix and improve. I believe that accounts for the success and growth of Steampunk in our modern culture of conflict, negativity, and post-factual thinking.

I am deeply grateful to have had the chance to meet so many good people across the world of Steampunk, and I am even more grateful that I count so many of them among my friends.