What Makes A Professional

I have often repeated an assertion made by a friend of my father: Once you are paid to do something- no matter how little the payment- you become a professional in that discipline. I say that to people in jest, true though it is in a very narrow and limited way. In truth, it takes a lot more to make one a professional than receiving a check for one's labor. This very blog makes me think about that every day, and makes plain how unrelated professionalism can be to the earning of any money. It's partly about showing respect for what you're doing and who you're doing it with. That means fully committing, and doing it right. It means making the most of what others contribute and not wasting it or undermining it.

Perhaps most important is doing the thing no matter what. No matter how you feel or what else you might like to be doing, you must fulfill your obligation to the thing, or else you cannot call yourself a professional.  That's called being dependable. A busker on the street can make the decision each day to play or not play, as can a hobbyist who plays for his own enjoyment and takes no pride in his effort. A session musician must be in the studio every day to play, and he must perform to his utmost ability no matter whether he feels unwell or doesn't care for the music to be recorded on any occasion. You have to just do it.

It all makes me think of a creed popularly attributed to the valiant American postman and paraphrased from the poetic stylings of ancient Greek poet Herodotus:

“Neither snow, nor rain, nor heat, nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds”