It seems to me that here at the Mudcat we have too much discussing of music and not enough playing.

How would we all know? I enjoy a good and reasoned discussion (and a little fun from time to time) on Mudcat. I'm also an active participant on a watch forum - and a moderator on a watch repair forum - but it doesn't stop me from practising every day and doing a fair amount of recording and playing two or three evenings a week, often for cash). That might apply to several 'Catters - or not, as the case may be.

I've always been a little sceptical of the terms "amateur" and professional" in some respects. For many years it used to be applied to people such as musicians who either played purely for fun (amateur) or for money (professional), but these days I prefer to think of it as an attitude rather than a question of income. It's possible, for example, to make no money from music - and not want to make any - but still be professional in one's attitude towards performing, i.e. practising hard, perfecting technique as much as possible, trying to be as competent as possible, etc.

So I would consider working hard, and doing one's best to be as good as one can, to be one measure of professionalism, even as an "amateur". As PFR says above, pursuit of excellence is a great satisfaction - and I would call such a pursuit very professional.

And, of course, we can all "fail", however you define that term, and still have a good time.