"In time I understood that going after professional photography would probably ruin how I feel about it." - I quote what you wrote. When photography remains a big passion, you can be free; you can express yourself, your vision of life. Starting to do it like a pro can change totally your approach. You start to have deadlines, you start to do shots just because you must do it. You start to take shots for people and not for you. It is totally different. For these reasons, I totally agree with you :)