When was the last time you felt like an amateur?

Hopefully, you remember the once upon a time feeling of being a beginner, fumbling and stumbling through a project or new hobby.

How long has it been since you felt that way?

If you can’t remember, then it’s been too long.

Unfortunately, the word amateur has taken on a negative context, as someone that’s not good at a particular activity. But one of the word’s original meanings refers to one who does something for the love of it.

So, let me rephrase my question.

When was the last time you did something for the love of it?

Not to earn an income, not impress anyone, but simply because you felt drawn to it.

Giving yourself the freedom to be or feel like an amateur requires both a childish and mature mindset. Childish because if you watch a child drawing or playing, you’ll soon notice that they don’t care what you think. They’re all out and involved in whatever they’re doing. And mature, because there comes a time in a person’s life when they too realize that what people think of them is no longer as important as they once thought it was.

It’s usually the messy middle between adolescence and mid-life adulthood where the idea of looking good and competent quashes the idea of being or looking like an amateur. But the desire to look good or professional also prevents you from trying something new or different. It stops you from doing something for the love of it.

So, the next time you feel yourself being drawn towards something for the love of it, see if you can refrain from falling into the trap of trying to look good and adopt a childlike or mature adult approach. Leave the looking good to the professional adults and enjoy the freedom of being an amateur.

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