A few weeks back I read a wonderful post by Elizabeth Gilbert about how your soul is always guiding you towards joy (click here to read it).

The basic premise is that the further you move away from what makes you joyful, the louder your soul will protest.

Joy, not to be confused with pleasure, is an elusive beast.

That feeling of nerve endings becoming lit sparklers. The moment of your mind refracting sunlight, like crystal.

Pleasure is easy. For me, it’s in wine, food, massages, movies, books, art, walks, nature. It’s a long list.

But joy? Joy is in my little boy’s smile, my husbands arms, my friend’s laughter and my family’s health and happiness.

Recently I have had to make some fairly big decisions regarding work, namely what I want to do with my life, and how to make it work with a baby.

A baby who I am utterly besotted with, no less.

I’d always imagined that I would want to ship my children off to the nearest daycare centre ASAP.

Um, nope. I LOVE HIM.

I don’t want to sacrifice time with him to be at some conference, work trip, or sitting on a train to get to the office.

But I also want to write. Hell, I have more to write about than ever before.

This is the heartland of my soul’s joy. Now I need to figure out how to make it happen.

Have you managed to make this work/baby thing balance? Is it even possible? Do you have to give up enjoying one to have the other?