So a couple of months ago, we traipsed off to IronFest2015
For those that have never been, IronFest commemorates the start of commercial Iron production in Australia, Over in the Sandstone country, where the Central West hits the Blue Mountains; LITHGOW. Home of the once mighty Lithgow Shamrocks Rugby League Team!
Link is HERE!
I will not put any photos into this piece as the pictures on the Ironfest page are of far better quality than the phone piccies that I took.
Well in truth, IronFest is an interesting piece of Nerd-ism. It is a funky mix of Historical re-enactors, History-buff-ness, Black-smithing, Old car & Bike restorations with a big mix of Cos-players, Steam-Punkers, Alternative therapy types AND Sci-fi fans... with a lot of food-stalls, merchandise & all sorts of cool stuff thrown in for good measure.
Far more fun than just some festival of steel production; or a Metallurgical lecture series...
So what is it that am I getting at? What has this got to do with the Resilience heading?
One word: nerds. The importance of not giving a flying tinkers toss about what tge "cool kids" think. Specifically, not caring about what others call you. Or think about you. Doing all this nerdy rubbish just because you are having fun.
So, the link to the heading: there is a lot of cyber-bullying about these days. When I was a kid (about a Million years ago), bullying required you to be eye-balled by someone; you may have been a nerd, but a well timed push could end a bullies career... NOT these days, a bully can sit in their masterbatorium & spew-forth reams of foul bile upon someone who they don't like, or, who is different in some way or another.
Back to Ironfest. Nerds rule; the "different" MADE this great event! They made this event GREAT. The Bullies who sit in front of the computer spewed forth the bile at these creative types in the beginning, did nothing but throw forth bile and we owe the IronFest team much for ignoring the bile
So why is it that we pay attention to the masturbators hiding behind the keyboards & the false facebook identities?
We need to be validated; we (that is humans). Unfortunately, the bullies prey upon this innate piece of the human psyche, even remotely, with the snide nasty remarks...
So, as usual, I am going to ask the rhetorical question; what do we do about it?
I am not too sure on this front, but as usual, I reckon that my couple of small steps may assist if only in a small way... But, I do guarantee the following:
- I will not let children Bully - granted this is only when I am in their presence
- I will encourage all nerd-ist activities. It is creative in a way that "tasteful" activities are not
I will go back to IronFest next year too!
I hope to see you there!
