I definitely resonate with this take on what it is to be a “true musician.”
To my way of thinking, it’s something independent of whether you’re “successful” or not; whether you make lots of money doing it or not; even whether you’re a professional or not!
The way it looked in my life is that I started playing music at age 8 and I mostly just kept doing it. Piano, flute, bari sax, alto sax, back to flute. School band, jazz bands, beginning orchestra, “serious” music major.
When I reached college age I didn’t have any clear goals — in fact, I didn’t even apply to any colleges, despite being on Honor Roll with a 3.9 GPA — so I just kept doing music. To be honest, I was a junior at SFSU and getting my Bachelor of Music in Flute Performance before I fully understood that it was possible make a real living as a musician!
But it was hard. And challenged me in lots and lots of ways. So, on numerous occasions I tried to quit. I even made it three years at one point. But my life never made sense without it and eventually I ended up freelancing throughout the SF Bay Area as a successful classical flutist.
During the years when I was teaching flute, I would occasionally have students who were more talented and accomplished than the average. Some of them would ask me whether they should major in music when they went to college. And I had to tell them: don’t do it unless you absolutely can’t NOT do it.
The way I would put it now is, don’t try to make music your life unless music already owns you, possessing you to the point that you don’t really have a choice — you’re going to have to do it anyway.
And even then, I would advise the questioner to keep in mind that lots of people have other jobs (their vocation) while remaining committed to music as their avocation. And they’re quite happy and fulfilled. If music will let you, it’s probably a healthier way to go.
Of course, I wouldn’t dream of giving up the joy, meaning, experiences, and life purpose that music has brought me in this lifetime. It “owns” me more now than ever, and I’m quite content to have it so.