Hi Bob -- don't let the bullies get you down. I understand your question, and my answer is:

I have a day job which pays my bills. And I play music - you might say semi-professionally - which balances my chi and salvages my sanity. I play music because I love to play music; I have a band which I've been able to keep going for almost 12 years (I'm slightly proud of that). We play locally for clubs, pubs, festivals and parties, averaging about 2 gigs per month these days. We have 2 CDs which I paid for (and have yet to recover the cost of) and are working up to a third.

I thought about going professional years ago and decided against it, mainly because I feared that if I made music my main job it would become just that: a J.O.B, and the joy and fun would go out of it. That's not a chance I want to take.

In a way, maybe that makes me a MORE True Musician than someone who plays what he's hired to play?

Some food for thought here.

Cheers,
Michael