April 14, 2026

May we keep doing things badly, slowly, and with our whole hearts.

The word amateur comes from the Latin amator — lover. Someone who does something for the love of it, not for a paycheck or a blue checkmark.

But I’ve been thinking about the real amateur. The original meaning.

So here’s to the real amateurs. The Sunday painters. The garage bands. The sourdough burners. The sticky-fingered hinge-fixers.

Scroll through any feed, and you’ll see the highlight reel: the perfectly poured latte art, the immaculately edited hiking vlog, the “quick sketch” that looks like it belongs in a gallery. We’ve confused amateur with amateurish — as if the only work worth doing is professional-grade.

That’s amateur energy.