The Joy of Being an Amateur
Meg Chaney
This past week I started reading That Sounds Fun by Annie F. Downs. Have you read it yet? I’ve loved reading her blog and listening to her Podcast through the years! I wasn’t disappointed with her latest book! One chapter in particular really stuck out to me. She talks about the joy of being an amateur. In this world that surrounds us, we often think that we need to instantly be a professional at something. We go zero to sixty, learning all we can about web design, or baking, or carpentry, so that we can quickly turn that skill into a career. If you do a search, I’m sure you’ll come up with plenty of results, for “How to Make Money on Your Blog Over Night” or “How to Turn Your Hobby into a Sucessful Career.” And there’s nothing wrong with doing something we enjoy do. Me? I do want to perfect my craft and eventually sell books that will make money! But Annie’s reminders came at such a great moment for me. I have recently started learning several new skills as a writer. I’ve been coming back to my blog, trying to change up the design, and also starting to share my blog posts over on Pinterest. They’re exciting new skills, but I have to admit, the pressure of feeling like I instantly needed to be great at it was getting to me. I was feeling more stress than enjoyment.
Which brought up a second point. It’s nice to have hobbies in our lives that we enjoy, just for enjoying them! In her book, Annie talks about taking up cooking again. For me, my newest passion is calligraphy. Do I plan to make money on it in any way? No. Do I struggle at times with the imperfections in my calligraphy skills, yes. But at the same time, it’s a skill that I can embrace. I can lean into the process. I want to save some of my work from this stage, so that I can see the progress over time. I’m learning it, simply because I find joy in doing it. Sometimes, it’s fun to just learn something new. God created us with such creative minds. Creativity shows up in different ways for all of us. Some, might have great imaginations, others can bake, or weld, or plant and grow beautiful flowers. Still others amaze me with their painting or sewing, or comic designing skills.
I was talking to my pastor just this week about the joy of being an amateur. In our conversation it came up that sometimes, those amateur skills, can be one of the purest forms of worship. Worship, you ask? That may seem a little strange. No, it’s not necessarily outwardly singing, or praising the Lord. But when we take our wonderfully creative minds and find joy in the simple things, we’re honoring the creative skills the Lord gave us. Sometimes, it really is nice when those skills have nothing to do with making money. There can be such joy in doing something, just to celebrate the craft. Just to enjoy doing it.
But how is it worship?
Is worship not in the very way we live our lives? Can we not worship, when we’re washing dishes, providing for our families, singing music just because we can? In an everyday liturgical act, we’re worshiping Him when we used the individual skills He put within us. Instead of denying our individual makeup, we’re embracing who we are as individuals. We worship, as we use our hands. We worship, as the world, with its social media distractions and online shopping instant gratification, fades into the background. We worship Him when we do things the longer way. We write out the words in beautiful calligraphy, instead of just printing them off the computer with a calligraphy font. We worship when we take the time to fold and knead bread and patiently let it rise. We worship, when we make a mallet by hand, so that we can then use it to finish creating a beautiful arbor. We worship, when we slow down. And perhaps, these slower moments, when we use our hands and embrace the process of becoming, we’re more Intune, more able to hear His voice in our lives.
We worship, just by living our lives to the fullest and believing this truth:
“For it was You who created my inward parts; You knit me together in my mother’s womb. I will praise You because I have been remarkably and wonderfully made. Your works are wonderful, and I know this very well.”
We are fearfully and wonderfully made by Him! God knit each of us so intrinsicly different from the last. He gave us skills to find joy in. He gave us minds that love to learn something new. I know I, will never be done learning new things. The world is such a fascinating place! Sometimes learning some new skills can be just plain stressful. Even with those moments, I want to lean in, celebrating the learning process. Taking off some of the pressure of instantly being perfect, and instead, celebrate the fact that He gave me a mind that can learn and grow. He gave me fingers than can type and contemplate. He gave me a home, in which I can take care of my family day in an day out. Even the menial tasks of the day, I want to celebrate, because He gave me the ability to do such things. And I want to find joy in doing things, just for the fun of doing them. To celebrate those moments when I feel, in the purest sense, just like me. No one else. Just God’s creation, in a moment in time, learning something like calligraphy, just because it’s beautiful to learn and blesses my heart in a deeper sense!
He made us. I hope you celebrate that fact today! What are you already doing in your life, that you simply enjoy doing? What ways has God uniquely crafted you? How might you praise Him, in those everyday tasks? I’d love to hear your thoughts below.
I’ll leave you with some final words of praise:
“Shout triumphantly to the Lord, all the earth. Serve the Lord with gladness; come before Him with joyful songs. Acknowledge that Yahweh is God. He made us, and we are His — His people, the sheep of His pasture. Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise. Give thanks to Him and praise His name. For Yahweh is good, and His love is eternal; His faithfulness endures through all generations.”