For the 14 year old poet

To the 14 year old 'Maya' who performed at the coffeehouse on Friday night

If I thought I could not fail?
What would I do?

First of all, how is this question even in your repertoire? I'm impressed. You, my dear, will go far in life if you keep asking those kinds of questions.

Now, for my answers:
1- I would take the rest of the dance lessons that my mother chided me for taking when I was 25. And after the ballet series was finished, I would take ballroom, african, hip-hop and jazz classes, and whatever other classes they offered until I was ready for competition...and then, because I could not fail (and would not care about winning per se) I would compete and dance with complete abandon! (This is me letting go my pew, but you have to read my previous blog entry for that to make sense.)
2- I would throw my bikini, two tee shirts and two pairs of shorts (and a few other items...like a toothbrush!) in a bag and spend another week in Arizona. But this time, I would rent the pink jeep and drive through the Grand Canyon and I would sing at that karaoke bar in that beautiful steak house where I had one of the best meals of my entire stay in Scottsdale.
3- I would write several best sellers. Not necessarily the "great American novel" but definitely something that captures the hilariousness that is my parents and this life that I have been given.
4- I would retake Kiswahili at Rutgers and become fluent in it. Then, I would do the same with French, Spanish and Greek and Hebrew. That way, I could not only use them in everyday life, but also for the exams to get into graduate school to pursue that PhD in a subject yet to be determined.
5- I would take cooking classes and do extra homework and eat the mistakes and maybe even finish writing my business plan for the personal chef business that grew out of a simple request.
6- I would take my daughter out of school for a year and take her on an educational trip around the world, but it would have to begin in Africa...you understand why, don't you? Yes, of course you do.
7- You might think this one is odd, but I would go shopping. I hate shopping because nothing ever fits and if it does, it's not appropriate or it's just downright ugly. If I could not fail, I would go shopping and have a personal shopper and tailor on hand to help me find that which emphasize my assets. (That wasn't a weak attempt at some not-so-clever wordplay. I haven't been able to emphasize my assets in years because nothing fits but I do have really nice legs to be so short and I have a waistline, so all of these clothes that hang on the hips just don't do me any justice. You're young and perfect, so you have no idea what I am referring to! (smile)) Oh, and there would be shoes! Perfect shoes! Not excessive numbers of shoes, just perfect shoes for the journey.
8- You can't repeat this one to anyone but I might see if God wants me to pastor. What the heck? I can't fail, right? So...(*hand hovers over delete button*)
9- *whispering* I might even get married again...but that would mean dating so, let's start small, and just get the wardrobe and assets in place...refer back to #7, okay?
10- Baby, I would live my life in such a way that you would be proud to know me! I would journal my thoughts and my adventures so that you would smile at my joys, laugh at my jokes, and learn from my mistakes!

That's just for starters! Thanks for asking!