Life as a classroom, where every experience is yet another (blessed or damned) opportunity for growth, is nurtured by curiosity—beginner’s mind, the ability to play at living—to dance like a five-year-old, to sing like a toddler, to write like an idiot savant and to giggle at whatever appears. BE YOURSELF: Everybody else is already taken. Taking risks is the key to full-out living, as well. However, very few of us are not inhibited by the specter of perceived humiliation or judgment. I believe there was a study at Harvard that showed death to be the number-two fear AFTER public speaking. A majority of us would rather die than feel embarrassed or humiliated by a sub-par performance. This is crazy. Who is rating us?