Calling yourself an amateur sounds like a weird form of self-loathing, but it's actually the opposite.

Authors like Austin Kleon, Dr. Sarah Lewis, and David Epstein have all highlighted the advantages of being an "amateur."

They also point out the interesting story behind the term.

It started as a Latin word "amator," meaning "lover." It described someone doing an activity purely out of passion.

I choose to be an amateur. I will forever be a student, and that's what keeps learning exciting.

Language is a perfect depiction of what it truly means to be an amateur; I love language for this exact reason.

English was my first language. I started learning Spanish next. Then came Mandarin.

To this day, I'm still an amateur with all of them.

Mandarin is much less overwhelming when you realize it's ok to not know EVERYTHING.

Even after nearly 30 years of speaking English, I still learn new words.

You could see that as embarrassing, or you could choose to see that as exciting.

I choose the latter.

The same goes for other passions in my life: cooking, music, drawing, travel, writing, and more.

Don't let your ego convince you that you need to be an expert of everything.

It's actually much more fun when you're not.