Professionalism is what causes your bio for the school musical, rather than the usual "I was in Candide my Freshman year, and The Secret Garden my Sophmore year...", to say "Her stage credits include ..."
Professionalism as a religion is the death of the soul. If your life gets to the point where you mainly care about semicolons, you are dead. Living a life while holding down a job as a copy editor lies in striking a balance between clichés such as "striking a balance" and getting out and taking on that world--it's no cliché, it's the truth, as it is said.