What is it to be a fan?

It is knee-deep in the thick of NHL playoff hockey season. As my favourite hockey team is about to step on the ice in mere minutes, I ponder what it means to be a ‘fan’? What kind of ‘fan’ am I? How do I benefit from my ‘fan-dom’?

Cheering on several different local and international professional sports teams, this query ripples through me from time to time – usually around playoff time when the tension mounts and I am drawn to watching with a heightened passion. Somehow my life is enriched by a connection to the energy of the team, the game and the hype. As a typically non-competitive person, it makes me shake my head in awe at myself! Yet, after 4 decades of being a ‘fan,’ I am still asking: what purpose does it serve?

Maybe the question can be grounded in tangible terms: What meaning does it have for me to wear my jersey on game day?

I feel a part of something – a feeling, a movement, a collective, and a hope. I share my enthusiasm as a walking billboard living in hope of an elusive triumph. Indeed, my ‘fav’ teams tend to be in the lower to middle of the pack usually. When one breaks forward toward success, I hold my breath in amazement: maybe this year!

Yet, winning is not the draw. Being a ‘fan’ of something for me is not based on being at the top of the ranks – if it was my ‘fan-dom’ would have shrunk years ago. Instead it grows!

To talk in Sacred Gifts language, cheering on a team based on their Gifts, their love of the game, their passion and their dedication is what sparks my ‘fan’ vibe. To witness and support people living their Sacred Gifts in action brings me hope for their success. I do not necessarily mean ‘success’ in financial or trophy terms, but in their boundless joy. To see and empathically feel the explosion of joy inside a person as s/he scores a goal, blocks a shot, makes a great play, and ultimately reaches their goal, literally brings tears to my eyes. To hope for players to hold a trophy high – both over their heads and in their hearts – is what it means to be a ‘fan.’

As a ‘fan’, when I put my jersey on I think of each player on my team ignited by being a ‘fan’ of the game themselves. They live their Sacred Gifts, and they inspire ‘fans’ to love watching. In doing so, ‘fans’ feel the energy of each big and small triumph. We hold our hopes for each victory, because they are the hopes of each gifted player – to live our dreams.

My ‘fan’ affirmation for the coming hours, days and weeks: Go Canucks Go!