Fan Clubs for Everyone!

When I was little, I really wanted to be a part of a fan club.  Most of my childhood happened pre-Internet so joining a fan club meant mailing in a form along with a few dollars and waiting anxiously to receive your official fan club button, stickers, pencils, or posters as a reward for pledging undying affection to someone famous.  For all my youthful desire to join a fan club, I never actually did it. I filled out the forms and placed them in envelopes, but when the time came to insert money I always decided there was a better way to spend it.  After all, I had dolls to clothe, dollhouses to furnish, and tea sets to collect.  Perhaps that early pragmatism was a contributing factor to why I grew into an adult utterly un-obsessed with celebrities. 

While I think the hubbub surrounding Hollywood personalities, professional athletes, and most mainstream musicians is primarily meaningless noise, I do believe there are many people who deserve a few more loyal fans.  There’s the man I know who is nearing the opening of his own business.  Taking a risk like that is scary for even the most well-prepared visionary and he needs fans who remind him that he is smart, hard-working, and talented enough to make his business successful.  There’s the recent college graduate working at a job he is not fond of while tentatively reaching out into the world of his desired field in hopes of finding a better job.  His fear that no one will hire him needs to be combated by fans who encourage him to be courageous and to believe in himself.  There’s the girl still in high school, constantly bombarded with messages that she must change her hair, clothes, size, beliefs, or interests in order to be accepted by society.  She needs fans that spend time with her, love her just the ways she is, and help her find her own unique and valuable place in the world.

Every day, we are surrounded by people who need to know we are their fans.  And, if we are honest with ourselves and the world at large, we all probably feel we could use a few more fans.  Living the non-celebrity life is pretty thankless business sometimes.  We don’t have often have strangers coming up to us telling us they really love the way we refrained from drinking a whole bottle of wine straight from the bottle. by ourselves. in the dark. after a particularly hard day of ordinary life.  Regular people have to strip vomity sheets from their daughter’s bed in the middle of the night, cancel much-needed date nights when the babysitter backs out, and scrape together enough money from their already overstretched budget to pay for the damage their son did to the neighbor’s car.  Regular people’s marriages fall apart silently, without scads of anxious people watching each development with crossed fingers, and taking sides or making T-shirts that read “Team _____.”  Regular people live regular lives trying to do the best they can and they need to know that they matter.  

Regular people rock and they need to be reminded of that as often as possible.  Be someone’s biggest fan this week.  And, if you find yourself in need of one more fan, let me know because I’d be honored to join your fan club.

Interested in traveling with me on my writing journey?  Want to show solidarity with me as a fellow writer?  Just want to eavesdrop on my life?  Visit my Facebook page!  Please leave a link to your own page there so I know where to go to “Like” you, too.