Its always been my first love. I wanted to be a full timer but wiser older musicains put me on the education route. "Do it part time" Best advise I ever got. Thank God I did that as its near impossible to make a living at music today. Put in 35 years as a teacher, first in music and then technology. Every night after dinner I would go to my basement studio and play. Playing with some new gear, learning new songs or just playing. Still do it occasionally in my new place. Built a small studio in my garage for my music toys. As with most of us, I did a ton of gigs in different situations over the years, made and spent all that extra cash, and had a ball. I miss the days of playing live but I'm glad I had the chance to do it when live entertainment was the thing. I feel bad for the kids coming up today with the limited outlets for real music.
Still love to play and wish there were more opprotunities around. I've cut back but will never stop.