{"id":771,"date":"2015-02-22T20:31:00","date_gmt":"2015-02-22T20:31:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/katrina.effexhost.com\/index.php\/2015\/02\/22\/the-trouble-with-being-a-nerd\/"},"modified":"2015-02-22T20:31:00","modified_gmt":"2015-02-22T20:31:00","slug":"the-trouble-with-being-a-nerd","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lifewithkatie.com\/index.php\/2015\/02\/22\/the-trouble-with-being-a-nerd\/","title":{"rendered":"The Trouble With Being a Nerd"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n\n
<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Image via Tumblr<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n
\nThe other day, I was approached about writing for a site that
\nconsiders themselves to be a nerd blog. Now, I  confess that I’ve read all of one post on
\ntheir site, but my immediate reaction was that I don’t think I’d have anything
\nto possibly contribute. I know that one of the two contributors writes about comics\/games
\nand I have no idea what the owner writes about. It bothered me though that I
\nwas so quick to reply with, “I have nothing to offer.”  It bothered me more than the fact that the
\nowner immediately responded with something along the lines of me not being a
\nfit, after all. <\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\nWhy was I so quick to jump to that answer?  Is it because I really believe that I have
\nnothing to offer to a nerd blog? Is it because I run a geek site of my own and
\nI rarely write for it so it’d almost feel traitorous for me to start writing
\nsomeplace else? Or is it because it’s really hard to be a nerd within the nerd
\nkingdom sometimes? <\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\nThe term nerd these days encompasses just as much as the
\nterm geek.  It used to be that these were
\nvery separate terms with different definitions. To some, they still are. For
\nthe most part though, I hear them interchanged without anyone blinking.  The problem is that they encompass so much.
\nIt’s become overwhelming. The idea of picking just one subject to write about
\nis like asking a person to reach down into a pile of gemstones and pull out the
\none tiny chip of a diamond that’s in there, but you can’t look as you reach.
\nIt’s a blind pull. <\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\nSo, when I was asked, my brain panicked and tried
\nfrantically to sift through any and all of my interests to find the one thing
\nthat would make my writing worth writing.  A panicky brain is not a good brain. I
\nblanked. If asked the same question right now, I would have the same answer. I
\ndon’t know. There are too many options and so many that I don’t feel like any
\nsort of expert in.<\/div>\n
\nThis leads me to the other problem when being asked to write
\nfor a site like this, nerd panic. This is a very really thing, folks. It’s that
\nfeeling you get deep inside when someone asks about your fandom. It’s that
\nseries of thoughts that go buzzing through your head:  “What if they don’t like my fandom? What
\nif I don’t do a good job of representing it? Will all the nerds\/geeks hate
\nme?” <\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\nI would love to say that even a geek\/nerd as secure as
\nmyself and who stands up every single day for the individual and that your
\nfandom is not my fandom and my fandom is not your fandom, but no fandom is
\nbetter than another, is immune to this, but I’m just not.  It can be hard to be a nerd in today’s
\nkingdom of nerdom. There are so many things to be a fan of and each and every
\none of these has a handful of ultra-nerds that know every single detail about
\nwhatever it is. Those are the ones who scare us; the ones who not only know
\neverything, but will be the first in line to tell you that you’re wrong.  The last thing any of us want to hear is that
\nwe’re not really a geek or a nerd or a part of the community. <\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\nAfter all, humans are meant to be a part of things. We’re
\nmeant to seek out those like us and to join with them. To be told that we can’t
\nbe a part of that is not only humiliating, but on some levels, it’s also
\npainful. It’s as if a piece of your identity is being ripped away and depending
\nwho you are, that can be a tiny piece or it can be a huge part of who you feel
\nthat you are. There are some of us who live very solitary lives and when we
\nconnect with a group of people and we feel as if we’re a part of something, it
\nis a very big deal.  We’ve finally found
\na place where we fit in. Knowing that there are those who could rip that away
\nfrom us is very scary. It’s why people won’t speak up about their fandoms or
\nthey keep them secret. Yes, there are closet bronies, browncoats and whovians.
\nThey exist and they exist because these shows represent a piece of their own
\npersonality and there is a fear that if they speak up about them, someone may
\njudge that piece of them. Sometimes, it’s more than a show, a comic, a movie; it’s
\na piece of us on paper or screen. <\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\nSo, why didn’t I jump at the chance to do something that I
\nlove (writing)? It’s probably a blend of all of the reasons, but the biggest
\none? A fear that my fandom, my geek girlness would come under attack and it’s
\neasier to accept that someone doesn’t see you as one at all than to have them
\nsee a piece of your very self and have them rip that apart. Remember folks,
\nthat just because someone may not know what color the blade of grass was on
\nsome far off planet on some far off date doesn’t mean that they don’t heavily
\nrelate to some character who is standing on that same blade of grass and
\nbecause they relate, it’s like watching themselves. Each of us is entitled to not
\nonly our own fandoms, but our own level of fandom.  Next time someone asks me to write, I’m hoping
\nthat I remember this and I step out, even if I’m afraid, and I write some kick
\nass piece for a site that celebrates that very premise. <\/div>\n

\n\"Photobucket\"<\/a><\/p>\n

If you like what you’ve read here, please share it with others using these buttons:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Image via Tumblr The other day, I was approached about writing for a site that considers themselves to be a nerd blog. Now, I  confess that I’ve read all of…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-771","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-writing"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifewithkatie.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/771","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifewithkatie.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifewithkatie.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifewithkatie.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifewithkatie.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=771"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lifewithkatie.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/771\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifewithkatie.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=771"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifewithkatie.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=771"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifewithkatie.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=771"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}