Interesting thread, so many comments (and frustrations) that I relate to. I am currently choosing to stay with my day job because... I have a wife and young children that are first priority. And a house payment... I think there are different paths for different people and we should be very slow to judge--there are so many variables in different situations. And it's okay to take some risks, but they should be calculated--especially if you have dependents.
All that said, I really wish that when I was young and single I had had more encouragement to outright pursue a musical (or visual arts) career. Being the cautious type, and surrounded by cautious/practical people, it was never seen as a remotely attainable goal. So now here I am, middle-aged, with a wife and young children, in a full-time job that is not good fit for me because it is stable. I just do what I can creatively, when I (rarely) have time. And it's okay. Really. I sometimes do get a little music written, and have the thrill of loading up some VIs and adding a Valhalla reverb now and then. It's a season of life, and I wouldn't trade my family for any music career. I can sketch in short score while I have my lunch break.
The advice I received in the past from (usually) well-meaning non-creatives seemed more like this: no one makes a living doing anything with music or painting, don't bother trying! Let it be a hobby, but don't take it too seriously! Rather than a clear-eyed acknowledgement of the risks--along with the importance of the arts and value of creativity--it seemed more like pressure to abandon the calling completely... to scare me about all the risks and hard work, and devaluing it, rather than giving helpful advice about what to expect and plausible solutions. It was very negative and creatively damaging. Because that was my personal experience, and because I let that fear keep me from going at it as a younger, single man, I try to be very encouraging to the creatives I meet. There are already plenty people out there that will try to make them give up, and I'm not going to be one of them.
My best advice to folks that are serious about doing anything creative, is go for it. Be committed to the work/art, but be flexible in how you make it happen. Don't let anyone convince you that your dream or work doesn't matter. But don't expect it to be easy or to pay off quickly. And if you have a spouse and/or children depending on you, you owe it to them to have a good strategy/plan in place, and to be willing (if it's needed) to pursue your musical vocation in addition to some regular employment. Whether or not you have another source of income does not change the value of your creative work. This is the sort of advice I've gotten from those people that actually do music (or the arts) as a career... We can acknowledge the difficulties without telling people that it's impossible
