I’ve never had an easy time with the question, “What do you do for work?” The short answer is that I’m a freelance writer and editor based in the East Bay Area town of Piedmont, California. I specialize in writing features on health and fitness, outdoor adventure, parenting, and community news. I also help nonfiction writers improve their book proposals and manuscripts, and I occasionally work as a researcher and production assistant for a documentary filmmaker.

The longer answer is I left my previous full-time positions in daily journalism and book publishing to be a stay-at-home mom. Consequently, my main job involves caring for two school-age kids, managing our household, and volunteering for nonprofits. I discovered an athletic streak somewhat late in life and have since devoted my free time to the sport of running, which helps fuel my productivity and creativity. I do this all with the support and love of the boyfriend I married nearly two decades ago. We met while students at The Thacher School, in my hometown of Ojai, and I return there regularly now to serve on the school’s Board of Trustees.

Like a lot of highly motivated 40ish moms who unwittingly pieced together what’s been termed a “kaleidoscope career,” my pursuit of an elusive work-life balance has felt a bit like chasing a rainbow. Somewhere along the way, however, I found my footing if not a perfect balance. The line between “work” and “life” is too blurry and unstable to fully work out the wobbles.

So when someone asks what I do, I shrug and say something along the lines of, “I write, read, run, and raise a family.” Sometimes I even brag, “I have the world’s best job.”