What a wonderful article, Carmellita! I hadn't given any of this much thought until now (if any!). As for your question - I see my life as a combination of less travelled and well-trodden. Not sure there's been much room for paved (yet) - need to think about that. Less travelled, in that I left home at 16 and set out on an insane life path of six divorces, a lot of abusive or dysfunctional marriages or relationships, all sorts of insanity with my children, adopting one of my grandchildren (who last year was convicted of first degree murder after a lifetime of being troubled and increasingly voilent despite all attempts at help and interventions).

And much more... I don't need to list everything; you already know a bunch of this from my writing! Just sharing some of the "less travelled" stuff.

And well-trodden, because many others have shared the same general kinds of experiences as I have - the generality of a painful marriage, of being divorced, of surviving abuse, of overcoming trauma and obstacles, and of many good things, too, like when we explore our inner worlds and discover our creativity, being on a journey of self-discovery, learning from mistakes.

Perhaps the best paved road in my story (so far) is that just that we are all born, and once we're here, we are all on a journey, one that ultimately has the same ending.