fan pride

Pro-Fan/Pro-Geek Pride: We Learn, Indeed We Do

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I love technology, video games, and social media.

I love animation, anime, the kinetic visual creativity that it allows us.

I learn a lot from my obsessions.  I learn of new technologies as I follow gaming news – even if they don't relate to my job.  I learn about the complexities of international businesses as I follow anime news.  I learn what actors are doing in what games and what anime, I see trends and future possibilities.

You, the pro-fan, the pro-geek, the hopeful working otaku, ought to be incredibly, insanely proud of that fact that your obsessions are teaching you so much.

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Self-Esteem and Fandom

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I'm a proud geek, a professional geek – Geek Upgraded, Geek 2.0 if you would.  I make money with being a nerd, a fan, it's my life.  A lot of us are, or are partially, but sometimes we miss something when talking to our fellow geeks and fans.

We miss that people are often made to feel BAD about their fannishness, what they geek over, etc.  You, the reader, may be a person who'd like to make a living at what you love, but you're used to feeling that your hobbies are a bit silly, or immature, or irrelevant.  Despite shows with geek heroes, it's a bit hard to stand up and say, for instance, that you really want to be a novelist of fantasy fiction (even with the success of say, JK Rowling or Terry Pratchett).

These self-esteem issues are difficult on the potential professional geek (if not the current professional geek).  Most anyone knows that self-esteem issues can shoow down the greatest of minds and the deepest of imaginations.

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