Amateur

In these degenerate days, “amateur” means doing something without concern for money. Because, of course, everything else is supposed to be about money, or at least tangible gain. The obvious goal for all amateurs is to become “professional” and get paid for what they do. 

But originally, amateur had more the connotation of what “passion” (as in “follow your passion”) does now. Just doing something because you enjoy it or feel an internal reward. For a short while, even in a completely capitalistic society, being an “amateur” was kind of noble, even as the term inevitably took on connotations of not being particularly excellent. 

My own take on this is that I generally observe that the transition from amateur to professional is also a warp which not only removes some of the joy, but also transforms a pure approach into something constrained by what an audience demands. For a “professional” truly requires an audience more than the original passion. 

Nothing new. In the olden golden days, and even now, the true amateurs and those “following passion” are those with the resources and time to do so regardless of what anyone else thinks. As always, an endeavor usually rewarding but frequently misunderstood by others, to the point of generating loneliness.

I’ve been a proud amateur in some areas of my life for a long time _ still am, as this essay proves. People kept telling me to grow up and _ get serious _ and I’m glad I often ignored them. As almost any other true amateur would.