I turned a hobby into a career. I wouldn't recommend it. You lose the love for the hobby and the career doesn't match the hobby since you're mostly doing what other people need to do, not what you want.
I’ll just throw in a counter example. I turn 50 in two weeks. I programmed for the love of it and eventually turned it into my career. Maybe it hampered my love, a little, maybe. But the job and the passion are still different. I still write software on nights and weekends. But, maybe I’m a weirdo.
Hopefully this career will still be here until I retire. If not, I’ll try to adapt, maybe to something more hands on.
This is very insightful and also aligns/overlaps with the rather unpopular don't follow your passion mindset. one can still find some work that's reasonably enjoyable even when it's not your hobby or passion; just that such work takes a while to find and might not last forever so you'll be back to square one.
Hopefully this career will still be here until I retire. If not, I’ll try to adapt, maybe to something more hands on.