seth godin (of tribes fame) has a good post what would a professional do? . the only rider to what he says about amatuers is that whilst there is great opportunity, being amatuer on its own is not enough. i have winced sometimes when something is really amateur. the point is that you can use it with creativity and imagination to do something unique. it reminded me of a macluhan quote from the book of probes…
the amateur can afford to lose.
the expert is the man who stays put
the expert is the man who stays put
… but intrinsic motivation is far more powerful than extrinsic
Before being selected for ordination training, I had to endure a 3 day interview known as a Bishops’ Selection Conference. One of the components of the conference was the ’10 minute topic’, where we had to talk about and then lead a discussion on a topic literally picked out of a hat.
One of my co-participants was given the topic…
“In view of the fact that the Ark was built by amateurs and the Titanic by professionals, should all christian ministers be amateur?”
reminds me of a James Alison quote I came across recently – occupying a space/position in life where one can experience “the joy of being wrong”
Probably everyone knows this, but the Latin etymology of the word amateur is amator, or lover. Which dovetails nicely with something Marcus Borg said in a recent Gordon Atkinson interview – that the most correct translation of the word “believe” (Jn 3:16, etc etc..) is actually to “belove” something. So, to be as children, to love without pretense, to be “amators” seems to be our normative design. But we forget, and become experts.
Perhaps this is the nature of spiritual reformation – power becomes more balanced as it is redistributed from expert to lay, from centralized to distributed, from self to other, from word to deed, and so forth.
There is something dualistic about the word amateur. It can be a wonderfully freeing thing as you are not constrained by the ongoing nature of what it is that you are doing. However, it can also mean “it looked a bit rubbish because they didn’t know what they were doing”.
I think that people need to be freed up to be who they are rather than feel the need to become imitate the professionals.
As a teacher the best lessons seemed to be when someone came in as a guest to do something about their specific role/job/idiom/whatever. They weren’t necessarily good teachers but we facilitated them as they did something we were incapable of doing – being them! That is what is wonderfully freeing about being an amateur. When I pick up my camera or my guitar it is because I want to. I don’t have to go through the drudge of taking school photos on a daily basis. I don’t have to go to a recording studio and sell out on a backing on a Britney Spears track. I get the freedom to do what I want to do artistically.
I am amateur.