To me, the idea of a way of life implies a set of beliefs and actions that imbue every day life, with specific moral and ethical aspects Ha, it's funny that you should say that because actually? That is kind of true for me. Maybe it's because I can get sucked into metafandom and such discussions but I find fandom can keep me honest or teach me things about how I see the world/act in it. Don't get me wrong, fandom can be full of a lot of bullshit, but so can life, and it's all about wading through and picking what you choose to believe. I know that a while ago I was sort of having a fight/strong discussion with my mom, because religion is very important to her and it's a huge phobia of mine so we don't really see eye to eye on the subject. At one point she said something like, "Going to church helps to remind you or what's right and what's wrong" and all I could think was "If that's the only reason to go, than I'm good, because fandom can do that for me."
So fandom can't be a way of life to me - because I take breaks from fandom, or periodically lose interest in aspects of fandom, and so on. Hmm, and again, I firmly put myself in the "fandom as a way of life" category but for me, even when I step away from fandom, or am offline for months, I still have... personality traits? No, not really, more like habits that I firmly consider fannish. Even if those habits aren't being done toward a specific fandom, or I'm not applying them in a normal fandom way, I still can't help but associate those actions with fandom. Granted, fandom isn't something I discovered on my own; a friend showed it to me. Looking back though, I realize that what I did before I discovered fandom is a lot like what I do now in fandom, I just did it on my own or else with RL friends on a smaller scale rather than online as part of a "fandom". Those fannish behaviours and tendencies are a part of who I *am*. So even if I can turn the computer off, I can't turn the fan off inside of me.
This is why I wouldn't consider a way of life for me. Thanks for explaining. I really liked your answer. I think I'm going to make another post about this later when I have a chance so I'm really glad you took the time to explain why. Because I think how people choose to interpret the term "Fandom as a way of life" is really a huge part of how they answer the question.
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Ha, it's funny that you should say that because actually? That is kind of true for me. Maybe it's because I can get sucked into
So fandom can't be a way of life to me - because I take breaks from fandom, or periodically lose interest in aspects of fandom, and so on.
Hmm, and again, I firmly put myself in the "fandom as a way of life" category but for me, even when I step away from fandom, or am offline for months, I still have... personality traits? No, not really, more like habits that I firmly consider fannish. Even if those habits aren't being done toward a specific fandom, or I'm not applying them in a normal fandom way, I still can't help but associate those actions with fandom.
Granted, fandom isn't something I discovered on my own; a friend showed it to me. Looking back though, I realize that what I did before I discovered fandom is a lot like what I do now in fandom, I just did it on my own or else with RL friends on a smaller scale rather than online as part of a "fandom".
Those fannish behaviours and tendencies are a part of who I *am*. So even if I can turn the computer off, I can't turn the fan off inside of me.
This is why I wouldn't consider a way of life for me.
Thanks for explaining. I really liked your answer. I think I'm going to make another post about this later when I have a chance so I'm really glad you took the time to explain why. Because I think how people choose to interpret the term "Fandom as a way of life" is really a huge part of how they answer the question.