Fortune Favors the Kind

Back in 2017 I started a New England-area design community with my good buddy @Erik Weikert called Bay State Design Shop. It was a dumb idea that, by some happenstance, found its footing.

2018 brought us official BSDS field trips, workshops, breaking 500 members, and an incredible sold-out live event in Boston with our friend Aaron “The Manticore of the Northwest” Draplin. Pretty cool. And very grateful. And indebted to folks for choosing spending their time with us.

Our first morning message for the year sums up how I’m feeling about it all:

“It’s 2019. Full stop. End of paragraph. Signed, sealed, delivered. We’re here. We’re present. We’re breathing air into our lungs. We made it through the year, and we made it together. Your prime directive—should you accept it—is to be the light. Be the whisper of kindness in the cacophony of darkness. Your BSDS middle management sends you a whopper-sized thanks for your participation in making the Bay State Design Shop grow by leaps and bounds in 2018. You’ve chosen to spend your valuable time here with us, and for that we’re grateful. Today, we’re a community of 510 registered BSDS users. A hearty welcome to all those new faces who’ve joined us recently. We couldn’t do it without you. Whattaya say we cook up an even more exciting 2019? Hell, we’re not entirely sure what that looks like, but as long as you’re all along for the ride it’ll be worthwhile. So 2019. A new year. A new time to get down to business. But the same message we’ll carry until our dying day: FORTUNE FAVORS THE KIND. But know that is not a simple fly-by-night sentiment, it’s something that requires active participation. It’s an uphill notion. Maybe it’s Sisyphean—but it’s our bedrock. Forget the sun, friends. Forget whatever supernova is about to blind the empty vacuum of space. You be the light you want to see. Carry yourself with dignity. You are good enough. You’re smart enough. And goddamnit we like you. You are kind. You are smart. You are important.”

AND, HEY:
If you’re a New England-area designer, we’d love to have you at our everlasting potluck supper of design. Head over to our BSDS site for all the details.