Fandom

Everyone has something that they are passionate about. You can tell the moment they start speaking about it that it means a lot to them. The light in their eyes brightens, they talk really fast, and it just comes naturally to them. They are in their element.

For me I’m passionate about reading and because of that I found my place in a fandom, but not just one…several. A lot of people don’t even know what a fandom is or that it's literally a life style. A fandom is a community of people who love the same thing. 

For me I’m part of several book fandoms. You see when I read I become attached to the characters and to the world that the author creates and so do others. To have a place to go and talk with other people who relate it brings the world into reality in a new way. We have gone so far as to have our own language, create online art, fanficton, websites, the list goes on. 

I know it sounds crazy to think that printed books can form such a strong community, but I think we all know it's easy to do when you love to talk about it. By creating websites we can get the latest news on the newest books, discuss the content, the characters, and the author. For a lot of readers it's hard to find a community in the real world or amongst your own friends. They laugh because they don’t get it, but if there's one thing I have learned it's that others do. 

The idea of online and real life communities that form because of books and the common love of those books is truly astonishing. That’s what I take away from all of this, so I wrote this post about a fandom, because finding a home in one is truly amazing and a lot of people don’t even realize they exist.