When Passion Becomes Poison

Why turning every love into a livelihood might be the fastest way to kill it.

Some of the worst advice I’ve ever been given?

“Turn your passion into a business.”

As if the only way to make “real” money is to monetize every tender thing you love.
As if joy is only legitimate once it’s on a spreadsheet.
As if your passion needs to pay rent to be worth your time.

Years before the story I shared in the article below, I learned to hate what I once loved.

Let me tell you another story.

After gifting a batch of truffles to a client—an incredible court reporter—she asked if I’d make some for her lawyer clients. And just like that, Just Desserts was born.

For three years, I crafted exquisite holiday boxes: dark chocolate laced with Chambord, silky ganache spiked with Grand Marnier, confections so sensual they made grown men groan. I fed luxury with intention—and I made good money doing it. Private jet clients. Valentine’s Day orders. A six-figure Christmas season.

I loved making truffles. I always did. Until I didn’t.

I shut it all down.

Not because it wasn’t working.

I quit because every time I smelled chocolate, my nervous system recoiled.
Because my joy had been replaced with pressure.
Because something that once felt sacred had become… a task.

It took me five years before I could smell chocolate without my chest tightening. Five years to reclaim something that was never meant to be sacrificed at the altar of profitability.

Here’s the thing: Some things are more important than money - chocolate is one of them for me.

Not every passion should become a business.
Not every talent needs to be monetized.
Not every beautiful thing you make is meant to be sold.

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Now—don’t mistake me.

I do have a passion for what I do.
There are passions that can grow with your business. That deepen and evolve as you do.

This isn’t an either/or scenario.
Those rarely exist in Shaneh’s World.

This is a both/and.

When a passion is rooted in purpose and resourced with boundaries, it can grow into something sustainable. But even then, it must be tended, not just extracted.

I still feed people. But I feed them through gifts: hand-rolled truffles, homemade hot chocolate, lasagnas that take three days to perfect. Fancy coffees and smoked prime rib. Honey bourbon and the best damn oolong you’ve ever tasted.

I feed all five senses—because it fills me. Because it’s a prayer and a pleasure, not a product.

My work—the spreadsheets and sessions and strategy—that only feels like passion maybe 30% of the time.
But when it hits? When it lands in someone’s body and transforms how they relate to money and themselves?
It’s alchemy.

And that alchemy is what makes the 70% worth it.

So here’s my invitation:

What are you forcing to pay rent in order to justify its existence?
What part of you is aching to be sacred again?
What joy needs to be protected—without being packaged?

Let it just be joy.
Let it only be pleasure.
Let that be enough.

And while we’re at it?

Let’s retire “If you love your work, you’ll never work a day in your life.”

Because that’s not wisdom. That’s erasure.
And that’s a whole other post…

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🔥 Daily Affirmation:
My joy is a full-body yes, flavored with pleasure and steeped in delight.
I savor what stirs my senses—without needing it to earn its keep.
Some passions are prayers, meant to be tasted, touched, and treasured.
I create for the love of the scent, the sigh, the sacred pause.
This devotion belongs to me—and that is more than enough.

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PS:
Profit is Protest—but not at the expense of every passion.
Some loves are simply because they exist.
And in a world that demands every gift be monetized, choosing pleasure without a price tag is its own kind of rebellion.

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🎧 Song of the Day:“Wake” by Xkaii