You've probably had times people tell you to give up your fannish hobbies, your meekness, etc. Grow up, they'll say. Get a life,you'll be told. This is immature, you'll be informed in a snooty manner.
Forget that.
The problem for many people is NOT that their fannish hobbies and geeky interests are immature, or time-wasting, or whatever. The problem is people do NOT take them far enough.
If someone's bugging you about your hobbies and interests and obsessions, your first reaction should not be to give up. Your first reaction should be that you're thinking too small.
Your interest in video games? Fine. Expand it. People want you to get out more, hunt up gaming groups and spend hours pummeling each other in Blaz Blue and assorted Tekkens. Or maybe you'll start researching game careers or something.
Your interest in anime? Expand it. Start working with local Japanese cultural groups, maybe help out with the local Japanese gardens (as a friend of mine did), start a viewing group and start networking.
Your sports collection seems a tad overdone? Take it further. Make an online museum to show it off (and maybe make some trades), and blog about game history. Have meetups at your house and socialize.
The problem with our raging fandoms, our geeky hobbies, is NOT that we have them. It's that we actually don't take them far enough, go outrageous, and change our lives with them.
Your challenge this week? Figure out one way to take your hobby farther.
– Steven Savage