First, a girl would like to say that, when asked what she could contribute to this publication she panicked. Besides witty repartee and charming vignettes, which of late have abandoned her, she have very little to offer up for it. This girl does not like to dole out advice and she certainly doesn’t think that she is the one to go to for it. She also don’t like to preach and ironically, has a tendency to do just that.

A girl has very recently failed. She has fallen and this one has made terrible mistakes WHICH HAVE left her rather barren. And so she then thought that perhaps she could offer that...a piece of her failure, her path, the one thing she does have, and hopeS that for someone, it may prove in some way helpful.

Everyone will tell you not to take the hard road, not to learn things the hard way which is sound advice. This one continually finds herself on that path, not willingly or knowingly, but there none the less. A girl would never promote anyone to take that route, for it is not fun, it is not pleasant and it is called the hard road for a very good reason.

She would like to say that it *is* a valid way to go and it *is* a valid way to learn. And though it may not be as heady an experience as that of its lofty counterpart, taking the hard road can lead you to the same destination.

How does one get on the hard road exactly? Some of us seem to have an unerring sense which enables us to never miss the turn off onto it! This one does not honestly believe that anyone consciously *chooses* it. And for some unknown reason, there never seems to be fellow travellers as you trudge along its rutted path. It's that emptiness which is the most wretched of the many obstacles - the chilling isolation of that lonely road.

It's always a shock to find yourself there, standing alone and broken. One moment, you were on the high road, moving swiftly and steadily along with your companions. There was laugher and sharing upon that brightly lit, well traveled and well manicured path. It was so easy to move forward that it almost felt you weren’t moving at all. May be you weren’t.

Perhaps it was in that easiness that the fall took place. Because of all the intoxicating joy you stopped looking at where you placed your feet, taking advantage of the lightness and took its easiness for granted .. becoming lax in your step. And with the single beat of a misplaced foot, you stumbled off, not only falling down but backwards onto the hard road.

It's a barren and rocky terrain. You will be alone there, though you can still see the happy, swift-moving companions you hold so dear, as they move along their well-lit path. Keep going. No matter that even YOU doubt you, no matter that those who love and are trying to help you might doubt you... just keep moving.

Keep moving, for even on that hard road, even picking your way through that precarious and painful road, you can and will be moving forward. No matter how far back you landed when you fell, YOU can move yourself forward. And trust this one, walking on that low bumpy road, alone, afraid, looking up and seeing others you know and don’t know, moving quickly and easily along the well paved high and easy road...it will hurt and in *so* many ways.

Perhaps it is just and good that you stop and watch them, and remember that you too once walked there, laughing with them. Learn from your new and frightening path. Feel every shot of searing pain as your ankles twist in the ruts and as you cut your palms when you stumble upon that rough road. Remember that they are all going to the same destination as you. And remember too, that it is only by trudging upon your own wobbly legs that you will meet them there.

"and the end of all our exploring shall be to return to this place and know it for the first time"
T.S. Elliot