Amateurs do it for love

The word amateur is misunderstood nowadays to mean someone not very good. Amateur! It’s a term of contempt.

But the word derives from the Latin verb Amo – love. (Amo, amas, amat, amamis, amatis, amant is just about the only thing I remember from Latin class long ago). Whether they are amateur book reviewers like me, amateur writers (almost like me, I don’t earn much) or amateur footballers who turn out on the Downs every Sunday morning to play, they are doing it because they love it. In this age of declining mental health that can’t be a bad thing. Hurrah for the amateurs!

As to mental health, the government is spending more money on it but I think it’s a symptom and the cause is how our society works. Fix the society and the mental health might get better.