My thoughts on amateurism

I've been thinking about amateurism, the concept of having a hobby where the endpoint is the hobby itself, and it's been making me really happy. 

I am a big soccer fan and a big soccer player, and I think especially in the Western world there's a tendency to look at something like a kid playing soccer and view the endpoint of that as necessarily being going pro. You know? Like for an athlete to be seen as valid in their pursuit of athletics, they have to go pro or be good enough to one day go pro. To be seen as a valid musician or painter, you need to be popular or sell paintings. And I reject that! I think it's just fun to do things and to be an amateur. 

You don't have to be famous or professional or sell things or even be "good" at whatever it is that you do! Just have fun and meet people. Life is about playing so go play!