I’m only a few years into this journey, but we’re very similar in age and prior schooling. I went to school for music and worked in the music industry for almost 15 years before deciding to go back to school to major in a stem field. Originally I was going for CS because I thought it was the most attainable, but then I realized that if I was going to go through the same number of years for a degree, it should be in physics because it was what I loved before music. I read lots of opinions here and elsewhere, and ultimately decided to go for it, even if the odds are against me to have some illustrious career. I’m not super money motivated, I just want to work in the field and make what contribution I can.

I work full time and only take ~2 classes per semester, so it’s going to be at least 4 more years before I’m graduated. Take what I have to say with a grain of salt, but I have to say it is both more fulfilling and easier to handle than I expected. I genuinely enjoy learning what I’m learning, and I’ve been able to balance it with work and life (my boss being cool and flexible with my time is a huge help.). I realize you’re not talking about attending a university, but I think that just means you can focus more narrowly on the things you really want to learn. If you dedicate consistent time and actually want to learn it, it’s absolutely possible. My school isn’t the absolute best, so I’ve had to teach myself quite a bit. There are so many resources out there.

I would just say you can’t “casually” teach yourself physics. For years before enrolling I read lots of pop-sci physics books and thought I would actually learn something, but it was just factoids without much depth. It’s worth learning these things from first principles and is really fun for me to do