Being a fan of certain celebrities is a fun and fulfilling pursuit. Well, the experience and the fruits actually depend on how you live your fangirl or fanboy life, but that’s how it usually is and how it must be. Being a fan shouldn’t make you feel bad and shouldn’t make you bad because if that happens, then that’s not healthy. Just like in everything, there must be discipline and balance in fangirling or fanboying.
For some people who are not really avid fans of any celebrities or media personalities, fangirling or fanboying is nothing important or worse, worthless. However, they have an unpleasant and poor mindset as they believe that. Why? Because these fans are fans for various reasons, which are often personal. Many fans love and support their favorite artists because they can relate to their lives or because they met them at the lowest and hardest point in their lives. That’s nothing petty. You will understand only if you are a fan yourself.
If you yourself are a fan of specific celebrities, you know that it makes you happy and valuable to be one of their numerous supporters out there! They become your happy pill. They become very important people in your life, sometimes considering them friends or family.
Now, just as mentioned earlier, discipline is necessary as your fangirl or fanboy. Being mindful of everything you say and do is still of utmost importance, no matter how much you love and cheer for your dearest celebs. With that, this list is written for fans like you. Here are 7 keys to a happy and responsible fangirling or fanboying life.
1 – Follow celebrities with good and respectable traits.
Everyone must be careful and mindful of who he/she commends and holds in high esteem. Why? Your admiration for them can greatly display and reflect a huge portion of who you are as a person. How they are as people, not only as celebrities, will naturally tell something about the people that support and look up to them.
Follow celebrities with respectable traits. Be a fan of those that are genuinely good and kind-hearted people, and not of celebs who are only nice and polite when the cameras are rolling. Be a supporter of those that generally have respect towards everybody, not considering themselves superior over anyone, especially over those who are not celebrities like them.
The great thing about being a fan of such stars is that they encourage you to live a good life too. They become your role models when it comes to being a good person whatever time of day it is. It makes you happy and proud to call yourself an avid fan of somebody with praise-worthy characteristics on and off cam.
2 – Research about your favorite celebrity.
In connection to the previous number, researching about your favorite celebrity or about that personality you are newly interested in is vital to help you know who they are, including their background, their career and their personalities too. It’s not so hard to find information about them and not so difficult to understand them because celebrities have their names and personal details that the public can know and want to know posted on social media and on search engines.
This allows you to discover or at least get an idea of the kind of person that your favorite star is. Doing so enlightens you about previous accounts regarding them, wherein you can also find out whether or not they have past controversies attached to their names.
Understanding and knowing them more makes you happy and responsible at the same time because you know who you are following and why they are worth your time and efforts as a fan. Again, learning about the icons you support tells something about who you are as a person, so it means being careful and smart about who to follow. You don’t want to be associated with a celebrity who has values and standpoints opposing yours, do you?
3 – Consider them as an inspiration in life.
Particularly for children, teenagers or young adults who are avid fans of celebrities, many parents are not so supportive of them because of the possibility of them being distracted from their studies. We cannot blame the parents because in some cases, this really happens.
That’s why it must always be a responsible fangirling/fanboying life. So that your favorite personalities will not be the cause of your unhealthy diversions now and possible regrets tomorrow, consider them as an inspiration in life. Look at their hard work, and aim to do the same to reach your goals. Take their successes as a motivation to succeed yourself too.
4 – Always prioritize the things and the people more important than fangirling/fanboying.
Seriously being a fangirl/fanboy takes some time and effort. Oftentimes, you go out of your way to see and support your dear celebs. You leave vacant hours in your daily schedule to spend time watching their shows or listening to their music. They indeed hold a very special place in your heart, not only as a fangirl/fanboy but also as a person.
Nonetheless, you must always prioritize the things and the people more important than fangirling/fanboying. Precious time for family should not be sacrificed or given away in exchange for fangirling/fanboying. Your friends’ celebrations and requests for help are more urgent. Health is more valuable. Your faith and values are always over and above your fangirling/fanboying life. These and more should be your prime concern.
5 – If you’ll spend money, do it with discipline.
If you are an enthusiastic fan of a certain celebrity, it’s almost impossible that you never, even at least once, spend money on them. Some of the many things that many fans spend money for, with regards to their fangirling/fanboying pursuits, include buying concert and fan meeting tickets, purchasing official merchandise, and traveling to places they hold shows and other events.
It’s fine as long as you spend money with discipline. Do not spend beyond your capability. Only lay out money for fangirling/fanboying if you have extra money, savings and/or a stable job. Avoid overspending. Even when the celebrity management company of the artists releases so much merch and paid content, have self-control.
As much as possible, buy the most useful things or the most worth-buying items, and go for the one-of-a-kind experience. Do not borrow money just to buy things you need to fangirl/fanboy. Save if you want to because if you don’t have your own money, that’s what you need to do.
6 – Don’t fight with other fans.
One of the stresses that active fans encounter is getting into fan wars. It’s going to be an unending dispute because different fans of two different artists because they have their personal biases. To avoid those strains, choose not to fight with other fans. Understand that people have their own preferences when it comes to the celebrities they follow. Realize that you cannot please everyone. You have to be humble, even when you are defending your celeb. Sometimes, you need to be silent too.
7 – Accept the fact that some things might change as you and your favorite celebs grow old.
More often than not, you get so emotionally attached to the celebrities you love and admire. They truly become part of your life on a deep level. You feel that there is a personal connection between them and you, even when you don’t personally know each other.
That attachment sometimes makes it hard for some fans to accept big changes in the lives of their favorite celebrities, like there are fans who get heartbroken by the news of their celeb’s sudden marriage or by the artists’ decision to go on a hiatus for some time. This leads to them getting sad and disappointed at something so natural because celebrities are only humans as well.
To avoid being that kind of fan, be open-minded and realistic. You are a fan, but at the end of the day, you are just a fan. Accept the fact that some things might change as you and your favorite celebs grow old and as time goes by. Like you, they have lives too – beyond cameras and TV screens. Don’t be delusional. The way to be a happy fangirl/fanboy is to just be happy for your favorite celebrities too, whatever choice they make in their lives, as long as it’s something good and also for the best. In the first place, it’s their lives, not yours.
_____________
FAN LIFE
This piece was written to remind every fan out there that it’s totally fine to be a fan of someone you thank and look up to for whatever reason, but still and all, you must be careful and wise in everything you do while you’re at it. You respect and cherish those celebrities, but always remember limits and responsibilities. Like those celebs, you have a more significant life outside of fangirling or fanboying. Live that life on top of all. If you do, you can and will enjoy fangirling or fanboying even more later on.
_____________
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Nicole Ann Pore is a writer, an events host and a voice over artist. Quality and well-researched writing is her worthwhile avenue to enlighten and delight others about things that matter. She is a daytime writer for The Fordham Company, one of Australia’s leading celebrity talent management agencies located in Sydney. Nicole graduated Cum Laude from De La Salle University Manila, Philippines with a Bachelor’s Degree in Communication Arts.
