I am a knitter, and have knit for at least an hour almost every day for the past 27 years. With nearly every project, I try to learn a new technique or skill. I recently designed a pattern, for the first time! (It was a reversible scarf with hearts on it for my little niece.)
People often tell me that I should sell my creations on Etsy or open up my own online shop, but I would never do that because, first, no one would be willing to pay for what high-quality yarns cost, and second, I would no longer be able to knit for my own enjoyment, which is what matters most to me.
There are many reasons that knitting is meaningful to me:
1. As mentioned above, it gives me the chance to stretch myself and learn something new.
2. It is a skill that is passed along from person to person. I learned to knit from a dear friend, and I have taught others to knit too. I’m in a craft group, and we share tips and help each other learn new stitches and techniques.
3. Knitting produces objects that we can wear with pride or give to other people. Knitted gifts connect us with each other!
4. Knitting allows us to support small businesses and craftspeople. I always buy yarn in small shops, and I often buy hand-dyed yarns made by local artisans.
5. Knitting is a creative outlet that is enjoyable for its own sake. I love the feel and colors of the yarns and the textures of the patterns.
Thank you for this opportunity to talk about amateurism! I’m looking forward to the other responses!
My mom and husband are both crocheters and they would co-sign every word of this, right down to others’ misguided “Etsy”-suggestions and why that would ruin it. They love to make gifts for people, and make a lot of things for donations to medical facilities (neo natal and cancer wards) and shelters, including pet beds for animal shelters, but also traditional lots of warm cozy human things. :) But in the end, the both do it just because they love doing it. :)
I'm a crocheter and making your own clothes (or clothes for friends) is satisfying. Honestly, it helps me stay off my phone. If I'm bored, instead of picking up my phone, I try to pick up my crochet. It's satisfying when people compliment my clothes and I can say "I made it myself." It makes me care about my clothes too - I'm not going to crochet a sweater with petroleum based yarn. I will splurge on the good stuff. I think most knitters/crocheters are like that.
When my partner died she’d become a full time knitter. By this I mean she’d stopped gardening and housework. She’d knit in the car while I shopped, medical, etc. visited. Sit at the back of the lecture hall when I went to physics meetings. Knitted while we watched TV. When she died I found many bags of wool. Our friend gave them to a nonprofit--estimated $2500--much from Peru. I found thanking letters from her friends. Examples: cleyet.org/Nancy!/misc.pics/ So Nancy was a Mari. It’s been over two years and I still cry everyday. Physics keeps me going. My current project is collecting the dust on the air cleaner’s pre-filter and measuring its radioactivity. I use a crystal detector and a multichannel analyzer, as a means of identifying the gamma-ray sources. I attend ~four physics meetings/year where I give demonstrations during the “show and tells”. Not to lose this, I post. While I return to the request.
How long--I think since third grade when my mother gave me a science book. I remember very clearly its discussion on plate tectonics. By the fifth grade I’d moved to experiments. I built a carbon microphone. In the sixth I made an electrophorus, a high current rectifier to charge a lead acid battery I’d made, etc. I found a discarded neon sign transformer, which I used with a window glass capacitor to make a spark transmitter. Enough, readers “get the picture”. My home has become a cluttered mess, because I spend several hours a day. --Plus reading and TV.
My main amateur activity is Israeli dancing. I started in 1977, because graduate school was too sedentary and I wanted to meet women. I met my wife dancing, and we still dance. Often three live sessions a week, at 2-3 hours a week, and one Zoom session per week that goes 2-1/2 hours. A few times a year we go to dance camps, where over four days we will dance 20-25 hours.
Dancing is physical and musical. Since the 1980s, there has been a lot of "cultural appropriation," incorporating pop songs, hip-hop, Salsa, and other varieties of music and movements. Regardless of whatever else is going on in my life, dancing grabs my attention and I can enjoy it. You feel bonded with other dancers, even if you rarely speak to them. Going to another city and finding a session is a thrill. Strangers will hug you if they have seen you before, even if it was only on Zoom! Many dances were choreographed recently, but session leaders also put on dances from the 1980s and 1990s, and even before that. It is very difficult to keep up with the repertoire. I have pride in what I can remember (probably more than 200 dances) and frustration at what I cannot remember (dozens of other popular dances). The large repertoire makes it an activity suitable for a few addicts rather than for a casual dancer. It was much easier to learn and much more of a social scene back when I started.
3. In an average week, how many hours do you devote to it?
2-4.
4. What do you love about this activity?
Many things, actually. I love trying new colors, inks, nibs and paper, how they work together. I enjoy learning new scripts and then creating my own variations of letters which are unique and only mine. I find peace in the process of writing, when the pen and my hand go up and down, very slowly (otherwise you can mess up the letters) and meditative. It's sometimes hard to find the time to start, but once I got my big box out and started writing, I don't notice the time, I'm fully engaged. And lastly, if I manage to write something that I don't critique a lot, I present these small gifts to people (with their names or favourite quotes) and they usually are very happy - they don't notice my mistakes at all :)
Most of what I spend my time and energy on is unpaid. The biggest ones are playing violin in the Longwood chamber orchestra and writing a blog about Virginia events, news, and culture. I also volunteer as a crew member at a community theater, doing lighting, props, set construction, and stage management. I raise chickens and donate the extra eggs to the local public housing manager to distribute. And I'm in the communication committee of the local Democratic party. 😳 It's a lot.
I draw. Goofy cartoons, realistic sketches, anything. I’ve been doing it all my life. I do it every day for at least half an hour but usually longer, whenever my hands are free and I have something to draw with. It brings me peace, and if I don’t or can’t do it, I can get unhappy. I’m happy to show anyone my drawings, but really it’s just for me.
I write, record, and produce my own music at home. I aspired to do this professionally in my late teens and twenties. I got pretty far but not far enough to pay the bills. In fact, I lost a ton of money doing it. I'm now 51, and I still spend at least 10 hours per week creating music. There's an element of discovery -- not knowing what's going to happen in any given session. There's an element of engagement or mastery -- I am always learning something. There's the challenge of trying to take what I hear in my head and make it something I can actually hear. And then there's this flow state experience that arises from just listening and hearing interesting sounds. Hours go by in a flash. I publish what I create, but I rarely go back to listen to what is finalized. The joy comes from the process of creation.
Aussie rules football during the winter. Cricket during the summer. I spend 10 - 20 hours a week depending on the fluctuations of the season. I’ve counted the social part of the two sports, like beers at the club, because that’s part of the hobby.
I’ve thought about why I love these things for the past two years. I had taken a long break (5 years from footy, 10 years from cricket) from organised sport and decided to get back into it after some deep reflection a couple of years ago. I was not in a happy space and I was trying to think upon times when I was my most happiest, sport filled a few of those top ten moments. I remember the first game of cricket back, leather on willow, the chatter in the field, the gentle ebb and flow of the game. It just felt right. I knew I was in the right place.
I think I’ve narrowed it down to just being part of a community where everybody knows your name and is happy to see you. The solidarity of having a shared goal and working together to attain it. The equalisation of a sporting field where you’re not judged on anything except the effort you give for the common good. Being there for each other when times are good, but especially when times are not good.
The sport part is the fun part (at times!!). The community part is why I love it.
I have been collecting board games for about ten years, and a little over a year ago I began designing my own. My first game, in particular, drew my attention in a big way. I have easily put thousands of hours into it in the past year, with some weeks rivaling my full time job as I pump every spare moment into it. I learned many, many skills along the way and plan to continue doing it well into the future.
There is a great satisfaction to solving novel problems, but as I've progressed further in my career (Data Science) even the advanced aspects of the science rarely challenge me anymore. This activity lets my brain spin up on interesting problems that are only for fun, and regularly solve those problems in satisfying ways. It also allows me to create games that do all of the things I love most in games, and to bring into the world a physical creation borne entirely from my mind - a kind of creative satisfaction my job rarely affords me. The latter of course only happens if I can find publishers for my games, but my first just got picked up and will be produced early next year so I'm well on my way.
My friend is an engineer and a serious game player. He and his gamer friends made a game for fun during the pandemic. They created a game that dealt with the supply chain problem, I think with ventilators. I think I'm remembering the topic slightly wrong, but this next part I remember correctly. He said that their game predicted the supply-chain issues way before they presented themselves, and the game also predicted the solutions. It was spooky and incredible.
My amateur hobby is yoga. I dabbled in it since grad school in 2001, but fell in love with it around 2015 as a way to cope with life stress. It helped me discover the depths of my developmental trauma and step by step, helped me to heal. I spend about 8 hours a week practicing yoga, some of those hours are teaching, taking studio classes, or at home practice both short and long. I also practice yoga all throughout the day by engaging in mindfulness and breath work. I believe yoga has made me a more complete and healed human, which has also enhanced every other aspect of my life from
Parenting to professional work, to my relationship. Finally, one of my favorite parts of doing yoga is the playful side. I often teach Ivy students to “listen to your body” and explore or play with what might feel good. I love that there is no right or wrong way to do it as long as you are breathing and moving mindfully, while respecting the limitations or signals from your body. At the same time it is also fun to work on specific asanas and see yourself grow in your practice.
After a lifetime teaching (class and music specialism) in schools and other institutions, I now do it completely under my own steam. I'm not beholden to anyone and I can do it just how I like. I run online courses for teachers, amateur (ha!) and professional musicians and I love it. If people don't like what I do, or don't want what I do, that's fine - they can go and find something which 'fits' them better. I make very little money from it - maybe it could be seen as a bit of a 'retirement project' (although I hate the 'R' word and never use it). I often do Zoom chats with people that are unpaid but I get huge satisfaction from just helping people. A student of mine has just started his own online music school in Nigeria (he lives in UAE) and I'm going to teach some sessions for him - completely unpaid. But I'm doing it because a) it's something I love doing, b) he's a lovely person and I want to support him in his ventures and c) it's something new and exciting. They don't have money and their currency is very low so he didn't ask me - but I offered and he was blown away. Just soooo lovely to do.
I'm also passionate about the human condition - about how sad our current society is - about the appallingness of the school system - and wanting to do something about it if I can.
I love finding out about people and what makes them tick (so true crime programmes are a bit of a guilty pleasure).
And for something completely different - I'm currently very hooked on codewords and colouring books!
Hi Helen - I'm a Kodály specialist, so I teach musicianship rather than an instrument. You'll see from my comment on Peter's next article that I struggle to describe myself as a 'musician' or a 'professional'. What I AM good at is the 'art of teaching' and I have a very holistic view of the whole process, with my underlying goal always to be the development of the student's self-esteem, self-confidence and self-view (in relation to music). So this is why I'm very much an 'amateur'!! Always happy to chat :)
I play football (soccer in the language of freedom). For roughly 15 years. In season 2h match and 3h training - plus commutes, pubs etc. Off season nothing.
Team sports in general are great for building friends and keeping you active and healthy. But lately I have been preferring just playing with a couple of friends instead of playing for a club. It's less roughness and try-hard. More fun and safety.
Hi...I also play football with a club....Last summer, I played football in a summer league and it was the most fun I had playing football for a long time. It was 7vs 7 so on a smaller pitch then 11 vs 11. I was playing with some newly-found friends . What I would say that I liked most about it was the more contact you had on the ball as it was a smaller pitch and also just being able to go and play, like I did on the streets near my house when I was a young kid. No 15 min useless warm-ups (My opinion), no linear rote drills, no passing patterns, nothing. Just be there on time and play football. I'm sorry that it seems like i'm telling you my life or something, but your comment sparked something in me to write all this. I've been thinking of setting up a five a-side team to take part in a local futsal league with my friends, bit haven't figured out exactly how yet. Playing on it!
I am studying unique perspectives on education, reading books and documenting my thoughts about them in a podcast.
2. How long have you been engaged in it?
I got started a few years ago once i realized that by recording my thoughts as I read my "distracted" brain could actively process what I was taking in. This then doubled as a formula for content creation.
3. In an average week, how many hours do you devote to it?
No more than 2. I have 4 kids which keeps me busy and also informs my own "lived experience" as they call it.
4. What do you love about this activity?
It gives me a chance to really reflect on my own thoughts and try to be a better parent myself.
Right. I elevate this behavior to Napoleonic by thinking that Will Blake recommended it when he was telling drawers to 'copy, copy copy'. But it is more simple visceral than that. To copy quick passages while listening to books outloud engages you with fingers and your 17 year old motors and pulleys and bated breath and etc.
Peter, in case you aren’t already familiar with filmmaker Stan Brakhage’s writings on this topic, I recommend his short essay “In Defense of Amateur” (found a pdf here: https://hambrecine.files.wordpress.com/2014/05/in-defense-of-amateur-brakhage.pdf). As for my own amateur work, it is writing fiction. I have previously written and taught fiction in formal-professional contexts, which sapped the joy from the work and left me paralyzed under the weight of unhelpful comparisons and false drives. A more forceful or perhaps dedicated artist may overcome this paradox; would be able to inhabit the amateur’s pure motive while also submitting their works into public life in some professional capacity that leads to distribution. Many have. But I think a long look at the bookstore shelves today gives one a sense that professionalism and careerism has overwhelmed American letters.
1. What is the activity? Practical philosophy. That is, philosophy that applies to my life and the lives of the people around me.
2. How long have you been engaged in it? Probably about 24 years, but much more intensely since becoming a husband and father.
3. In an average week, how many hours do you devote to it? It depends on my other demands, but at least a few hours per day. Lately, about 6-7 hours a day on weekdays.
4. What do you love about this activity? I get to learn, grow as a person and help my family, especially my kids.
I am a knitter, and have knit for at least an hour almost every day for the past 27 years. With nearly every project, I try to learn a new technique or skill. I recently designed a pattern, for the first time! (It was a reversible scarf with hearts on it for my little niece.)
People often tell me that I should sell my creations on Etsy or open up my own online shop, but I would never do that because, first, no one would be willing to pay for what high-quality yarns cost, and second, I would no longer be able to knit for my own enjoyment, which is what matters most to me.
There are many reasons that knitting is meaningful to me:
1. As mentioned above, it gives me the chance to stretch myself and learn something new.
2. It is a skill that is passed along from person to person. I learned to knit from a dear friend, and I have taught others to knit too. I’m in a craft group, and we share tips and help each other learn new stitches and techniques.
3. Knitting produces objects that we can wear with pride or give to other people. Knitted gifts connect us with each other!
4. Knitting allows us to support small businesses and craftspeople. I always buy yarn in small shops, and I often buy hand-dyed yarns made by local artisans.
5. Knitting is a creative outlet that is enjoyable for its own sake. I love the feel and colors of the yarns and the textures of the patterns.
Thank you for this opportunity to talk about amateurism! I’m looking forward to the other responses!
My mom and husband are both crocheters and they would co-sign every word of this, right down to others’ misguided “Etsy”-suggestions and why that would ruin it. They love to make gifts for people, and make a lot of things for donations to medical facilities (neo natal and cancer wards) and shelters, including pet beds for animal shelters, but also traditional lots of warm cozy human things. :) But in the end, the both do it just because they love doing it. :)
I'm a crocheter and making your own clothes (or clothes for friends) is satisfying. Honestly, it helps me stay off my phone. If I'm bored, instead of picking up my phone, I try to pick up my crochet. It's satisfying when people compliment my clothes and I can say "I made it myself." It makes me care about my clothes too - I'm not going to crochet a sweater with petroleum based yarn. I will splurge on the good stuff. I think most knitters/crocheters are like that.
When my partner died she’d become a full time knitter. By this I mean she’d stopped gardening and housework. She’d knit in the car while I shopped, medical, etc. visited. Sit at the back of the lecture hall when I went to physics meetings. Knitted while we watched TV. When she died I found many bags of wool. Our friend gave them to a nonprofit--estimated $2500--much from Peru. I found thanking letters from her friends. Examples: cleyet.org/Nancy!/misc.pics/ So Nancy was a Mari. It’s been over two years and I still cry everyday. Physics keeps me going. My current project is collecting the dust on the air cleaner’s pre-filter and measuring its radioactivity. I use a crystal detector and a multichannel analyzer, as a means of identifying the gamma-ray sources. I attend ~four physics meetings/year where I give demonstrations during the “show and tells”. Not to lose this, I post. While I return to the request.
How long--I think since third grade when my mother gave me a science book. I remember very clearly its discussion on plate tectonics. By the fifth grade I’d moved to experiments. I built a carbon microphone. In the sixth I made an electrophorus, a high current rectifier to charge a lead acid battery I’d made, etc. I found a discarded neon sign transformer, which I used with a window glass capacitor to make a spark transmitter. Enough, readers “get the picture”. My home has become a cluttered mess, because I spend several hours a day. --Plus reading and TV.
My main amateur activity is Israeli dancing. I started in 1977, because graduate school was too sedentary and I wanted to meet women. I met my wife dancing, and we still dance. Often three live sessions a week, at 2-3 hours a week, and one Zoom session per week that goes 2-1/2 hours. A few times a year we go to dance camps, where over four days we will dance 20-25 hours.
Dancing is physical and musical. Since the 1980s, there has been a lot of "cultural appropriation," incorporating pop songs, hip-hop, Salsa, and other varieties of music and movements. Regardless of whatever else is going on in my life, dancing grabs my attention and I can enjoy it. You feel bonded with other dancers, even if you rarely speak to them. Going to another city and finding a session is a thrill. Strangers will hug you if they have seen you before, even if it was only on Zoom! Many dances were choreographed recently, but session leaders also put on dances from the 1980s and 1990s, and even before that. It is very difficult to keep up with the repertoire. I have pride in what I can remember (probably more than 200 dances) and frustration at what I cannot remember (dozens of other popular dances). The large repertoire makes it an activity suitable for a few addicts rather than for a casual dancer. It was much easier to learn and much more of a social scene back when I started.
1. What is the activity?
Calligraphy.
2. How long have you been engaged in it?
Since 2019.
3. In an average week, how many hours do you devote to it?
2-4.
4. What do you love about this activity?
Many things, actually. I love trying new colors, inks, nibs and paper, how they work together. I enjoy learning new scripts and then creating my own variations of letters which are unique and only mine. I find peace in the process of writing, when the pen and my hand go up and down, very slowly (otherwise you can mess up the letters) and meditative. It's sometimes hard to find the time to start, but once I got my big box out and started writing, I don't notice the time, I'm fully engaged. And lastly, if I manage to write something that I don't critique a lot, I present these small gifts to people (with their names or favourite quotes) and they usually are very happy - they don't notice my mistakes at all :)
Most of what I spend my time and energy on is unpaid. The biggest ones are playing violin in the Longwood chamber orchestra and writing a blog about Virginia events, news, and culture. I also volunteer as a crew member at a community theater, doing lighting, props, set construction, and stage management. I raise chickens and donate the extra eggs to the local public housing manager to distribute. And I'm in the communication committee of the local Democratic party. 😳 It's a lot.
I draw. Goofy cartoons, realistic sketches, anything. I’ve been doing it all my life. I do it every day for at least half an hour but usually longer, whenever my hands are free and I have something to draw with. It brings me peace, and if I don’t or can’t do it, I can get unhappy. I’m happy to show anyone my drawings, but really it’s just for me.
I write, record, and produce my own music at home. I aspired to do this professionally in my late teens and twenties. I got pretty far but not far enough to pay the bills. In fact, I lost a ton of money doing it. I'm now 51, and I still spend at least 10 hours per week creating music. There's an element of discovery -- not knowing what's going to happen in any given session. There's an element of engagement or mastery -- I am always learning something. There's the challenge of trying to take what I hear in my head and make it something I can actually hear. And then there's this flow state experience that arises from just listening and hearing interesting sounds. Hours go by in a flash. I publish what I create, but I rarely go back to listen to what is finalized. The joy comes from the process of creation.
I practice Jiu Jitsu. Three times a week for an hour. I’m an amateur in both senses of the word: I love it and I’m not very good at it.
Aussie rules football during the winter. Cricket during the summer. I spend 10 - 20 hours a week depending on the fluctuations of the season. I’ve counted the social part of the two sports, like beers at the club, because that’s part of the hobby.
I’ve thought about why I love these things for the past two years. I had taken a long break (5 years from footy, 10 years from cricket) from organised sport and decided to get back into it after some deep reflection a couple of years ago. I was not in a happy space and I was trying to think upon times when I was my most happiest, sport filled a few of those top ten moments. I remember the first game of cricket back, leather on willow, the chatter in the field, the gentle ebb and flow of the game. It just felt right. I knew I was in the right place.
I think I’ve narrowed it down to just being part of a community where everybody knows your name and is happy to see you. The solidarity of having a shared goal and working together to attain it. The equalisation of a sporting field where you’re not judged on anything except the effort you give for the common good. Being there for each other when times are good, but especially when times are not good.
The sport part is the fun part (at times!!). The community part is why I love it.
I have been collecting board games for about ten years, and a little over a year ago I began designing my own. My first game, in particular, drew my attention in a big way. I have easily put thousands of hours into it in the past year, with some weeks rivaling my full time job as I pump every spare moment into it. I learned many, many skills along the way and plan to continue doing it well into the future.
There is a great satisfaction to solving novel problems, but as I've progressed further in my career (Data Science) even the advanced aspects of the science rarely challenge me anymore. This activity lets my brain spin up on interesting problems that are only for fun, and regularly solve those problems in satisfying ways. It also allows me to create games that do all of the things I love most in games, and to bring into the world a physical creation borne entirely from my mind - a kind of creative satisfaction my job rarely affords me. The latter of course only happens if I can find publishers for my games, but my first just got picked up and will be produced early next year so I'm well on my way.
My friend is an engineer and a serious game player. He and his gamer friends made a game for fun during the pandemic. They created a game that dealt with the supply chain problem, I think with ventilators. I think I'm remembering the topic slightly wrong, but this next part I remember correctly. He said that their game predicted the supply-chain issues way before they presented themselves, and the game also predicted the solutions. It was spooky and incredible.
My amateur hobby is yoga. I dabbled in it since grad school in 2001, but fell in love with it around 2015 as a way to cope with life stress. It helped me discover the depths of my developmental trauma and step by step, helped me to heal. I spend about 8 hours a week practicing yoga, some of those hours are teaching, taking studio classes, or at home practice both short and long. I also practice yoga all throughout the day by engaging in mindfulness and breath work. I believe yoga has made me a more complete and healed human, which has also enhanced every other aspect of my life from
Parenting to professional work, to my relationship. Finally, one of my favorite parts of doing yoga is the playful side. I often teach Ivy students to “listen to your body” and explore or play with what might feel good. I love that there is no right or wrong way to do it as long as you are breathing and moving mindfully, while respecting the limitations or signals from your body. At the same time it is also fun to work on specific asanas and see yourself grow in your practice.
I’m a poet, and I love reading and writing poetry.
I’d say I spend around 6-8 hours a week doing it. Don’t make much money from it but it is always time well spent!
After a lifetime teaching (class and music specialism) in schools and other institutions, I now do it completely under my own steam. I'm not beholden to anyone and I can do it just how I like. I run online courses for teachers, amateur (ha!) and professional musicians and I love it. If people don't like what I do, or don't want what I do, that's fine - they can go and find something which 'fits' them better. I make very little money from it - maybe it could be seen as a bit of a 'retirement project' (although I hate the 'R' word and never use it). I often do Zoom chats with people that are unpaid but I get huge satisfaction from just helping people. A student of mine has just started his own online music school in Nigeria (he lives in UAE) and I'm going to teach some sessions for him - completely unpaid. But I'm doing it because a) it's something I love doing, b) he's a lovely person and I want to support him in his ventures and c) it's something new and exciting. They don't have money and their currency is very low so he didn't ask me - but I offered and he was blown away. Just soooo lovely to do.
I'm also passionate about the human condition - about how sad our current society is - about the appallingness of the school system - and wanting to do something about it if I can.
I love finding out about people and what makes them tick (so true crime programmes are a bit of a guilty pleasure).
And for something completely different - I'm currently very hooked on codewords and colouring books!
:)
I am a professional cello teacher aspiring to be as much of an amateur as possible! What are your classes? I’m curious
Hi Helen - I'm a Kodály specialist, so I teach musicianship rather than an instrument. You'll see from my comment on Peter's next article that I struggle to describe myself as a 'musician' or a 'professional'. What I AM good at is the 'art of teaching' and I have a very holistic view of the whole process, with my underlying goal always to be the development of the student's self-esteem, self-confidence and self-view (in relation to music). So this is why I'm very much an 'amateur'!! Always happy to chat :)
I play football (soccer in the language of freedom). For roughly 15 years. In season 2h match and 3h training - plus commutes, pubs etc. Off season nothing.
Team sports in general are great for building friends and keeping you active and healthy. But lately I have been preferring just playing with a couple of friends instead of playing for a club. It's less roughness and try-hard. More fun and safety.
Hi...I also play football with a club....Last summer, I played football in a summer league and it was the most fun I had playing football for a long time. It was 7vs 7 so on a smaller pitch then 11 vs 11. I was playing with some newly-found friends . What I would say that I liked most about it was the more contact you had on the ball as it was a smaller pitch and also just being able to go and play, like I did on the streets near my house when I was a young kid. No 15 min useless warm-ups (My opinion), no linear rote drills, no passing patterns, nothing. Just be there on time and play football. I'm sorry that it seems like i'm telling you my life or something, but your comment sparked something in me to write all this. I've been thinking of setting up a five a-side team to take part in a local futsal league with my friends, bit haven't figured out exactly how yet. Playing on it!
1. What is the activity?
I am studying unique perspectives on education, reading books and documenting my thoughts about them in a podcast.
2. How long have you been engaged in it?
I got started a few years ago once i realized that by recording my thoughts as I read my "distracted" brain could actively process what I was taking in. This then doubled as a formula for content creation.
3. In an average week, how many hours do you devote to it?
No more than 2. I have 4 kids which keeps me busy and also informs my own "lived experience" as they call it.
4. What do you love about this activity?
It gives me a chance to really reflect on my own thoughts and try to be a better parent myself.
Right. I elevate this behavior to Napoleonic by thinking that Will Blake recommended it when he was telling drawers to 'copy, copy copy'. But it is more simple visceral than that. To copy quick passages while listening to books outloud engages you with fingers and your 17 year old motors and pulleys and bated breath and etc.
Peter, in case you aren’t already familiar with filmmaker Stan Brakhage’s writings on this topic, I recommend his short essay “In Defense of Amateur” (found a pdf here: https://hambrecine.files.wordpress.com/2014/05/in-defense-of-amateur-brakhage.pdf). As for my own amateur work, it is writing fiction. I have previously written and taught fiction in formal-professional contexts, which sapped the joy from the work and left me paralyzed under the weight of unhelpful comparisons and false drives. A more forceful or perhaps dedicated artist may overcome this paradox; would be able to inhabit the amateur’s pure motive while also submitting their works into public life in some professional capacity that leads to distribution. Many have. But I think a long look at the bookstore shelves today gives one a sense that professionalism and careerism has overwhelmed American letters.
1. What is the activity? Practical philosophy. That is, philosophy that applies to my life and the lives of the people around me.
2. How long have you been engaged in it? Probably about 24 years, but much more intensely since becoming a husband and father.
3. In an average week, how many hours do you devote to it? It depends on my other demands, but at least a few hours per day. Lately, about 6-7 hours a day on weekdays.
4. What do you love about this activity? I get to learn, grow as a person and help my family, especially my kids.