I like the definition of amateur here. Someone that does something for the love of it and not for remuneration. Also, the reverence for organists. Much of what I do is worth doing except for this huge chunk of my life that I call my day job.
Lots of assumptions there. What's the opportunity cost of it? That answer will vary person to person. There's also more than monetary value to consider.
Well, yeah, I mean if we want to get philosophical about it you're absolutely right. I think that's part of the reason why people tell others at a young age to find jobs that involve something they love, it makes work a lot more bearable. On the other end of the spectrum though, I could see myself doing a job I hate for maybe ten years if it paid well enough that I could build up quite a bit of reserve cash. Come ten years and a day though? Bye guys. I'm off to find myself an adventure. I do agree though. I just recently left a job that paid very well, especially for a person with no college degree, because the stress was just too much. It was wearing me down, starting to affect my marriage, and all the time I was too exhausted from work to really enjoy life on my time off. It was painful and stupid and just not worth it. I wouldn't wish that on anyone.
I always found the " find something you love" advice overwhelming when being told it as a teenager. I liked a new thing evey other week and was just figuring out what I wanted to do. I went into school for something I liked at first until I sat there one day realizing the idea of me sitting at a desk all day is laughable. I think any advice is overwhelming at that age though. Now I'll tell people to figure out the life they want then find a career that works with that since so many people pick career then work a life around that instead but that would have been equally overwhelming at that age. Picking a career in high school is just dreadful.