Context | Perspectives | Information is the tagline for this Pragmatic Canadian channel and guides the writing.
Of these, perspective can be tricky to maintain when casting a critical eye at the world, as I am inclined to do. And landing the right balance between critique and criticism is a weekly writing challenge, with the former being the target and the latter sometimes rearing its head.
At best, I hope for posts to provide a few bits of unique context and information so readers might see a slightly different perspective though, as the saying goes, “You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink.”
Most articles lay out information and ideas in a form I hope to be useful simply through their disclosure. Some posts attempt to offer solutions or recommendations on the topic at hand. The hardest urge to resist is that of ranting - which can be therapeutic, but not my preferred writing goal.
Being pragmatic doesn’t mean seeing the world through only a steely-eyed emotionless lens, nor does it supplant optimism, gratitude or contentment.
So having my own perspective freshened is always welcome. And that happened this week as I stumbled on a nostalgic bit of writing while scrounging online for a quote source.
It reminds me that while the world around us continues to change, it has always been so. And many of our concerns change mainly on the margins, but often not in the main.
If Wikipedia is correct this sometimes quoted but often misattributed piece was first published in the Chicago Tribune, written by columnist Mary Schmidt in 1997. It was more broadly popularized by Australian auteur Baz Luhrmann in a spoken song Everybody’s Free (To Wear Sunscreen) on an album called Something for Everybody.
I first heard it during end credits of the 1999 movie The Big Kahuna – still one of my favorites.
Rereading it chiseled off a few edges that were driving me to write an otherwise chippy article this week, which will now wait for another post.
Below are audio and written versions of this quirky piece.
Hope you find it of value.
Ladies and gentlemen of the class of '99.
Wear sunscreen.
If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be it.
Long-term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by scientists, whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable than my own meandering experience.
I will dispense this advice now.
Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth.
Oh, never mind. You will not understand the power and beauty of your youth until they've faded.
But trust me, in 20 years you'll look back at photos of yourself and recall in a way you can't grasp now how much possibility lay before you and how fabulous you really looked.
You are not as fat as you imagine.
Don't worry about the future. Or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubble gum.
The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind, the kind that blindside you at 4 p.m. on some idle Tuesday.
Do one thing every day that scares you.
Sing
Don't be reckless with other people's hearts.
Don't put up with people who are reckless with yours.
Floss
Don't waste your time on jealousy.
Sometimes you're ahead, sometimes you're behind. The race is long, and in the end it's only with yourself.
Remember compliments you receive. Forget the insults. If you succeed in doing this, tell me how.
Keep your old love letters. Throw away your old bank statements.
Stretch
Don't feel guilty if you don't know what you want to do with your life.
The most interesting people I know didn't know at 22 what they wanted to do with their lives.
Some of the most interesting 40-year-olds I know still don't.
Get plenty of calcium.
Be kind to your knees, you'll miss them when they're gone.
Maybe you'll marry, maybe you won't.
Maybe you'll have children, maybe you won't.
Maybe you'll divorce at 40. Maybe you'll dance the Funky Chicken on your 75th wedding anniversary.
Whatever you do, don't congratulate yourself too much, or berate yourself either.
Your choices are half chance. So are everybody else's.
Enjoy your body. Use it every way you can.
Don't be afraid of it or what other people think of it. It's the greatest instrument you'll ever own.
Dance, even if you have nowhere to do it but your own living room.
Read the directions even if you don't follow them.
Do not read beauty magazines, they will only make you feel ugly.
Get to know your parents, you never know when they'll be gone for good.
Be nice to your siblings, they're your best link to your past, and the people most likely to stick with you in the future.
Understand that friends come and go.
But with a precious few, you should hold on.
Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography and lifestyle, for as the older you get the more you need the people you knew when you were young.
Live in New York City once, but leave before it makes you hard.
Live in northern California once, but leave before it makes you soft.
Travel
Accept certain inalienable truths.
Prices will rise. Politicians will philander. You too, will get old.
And when you do you'll fantasize that when you were young...prices were reasonable, politicians were noble, and children respected their elders.
Respect your elders.
Don't expect anyone else to support you.
Maybe you have a trust fund. Maybe you'll have a wealthy spouse. But you never know when either one might run out.
Don't mess too much with your hair, or by the time you're 40 it will look 85.
Be careful whose advice you buy, but be patient with those who supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia. Dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it's worth.
But trust me on the sunscreen.
Stay tuned and stay pragmatic.
Made my day. Thanks for the trip down memory lane.
And now I have the tune and those words planted in my ears and cranium for the entire day … thanks. 🤣