On this day in 1997, the words that were immortalised by Baz Luhrmann “Everybody’s Free (To Wear Sunscreen)” are 14 years old.
The original article appeared in the Chicago Tribune entitled, “Advice, like youth, probably just wasted on the young”.The author, Mary Schmich set out to write a fictitious graduation speech. “Most of us, will never be invited to sow our words of wisdom among an audience of caps and gowns”.
She invited her readership to do the same, 14-years later we take up that mantle and the #sunscreenchallenge was born.
Each blogger spent 1-hour creating a graduation speech. Essentially, it’s the advice that they’d pass onto school leavers today based on their own life experience.
If you’ve enjoyed the blog – please RT the post, include the #sunscreenchallenge tag and find other blog posts using this hashtag
Now I tend to find giving advice very difficult as I am a hypocrit for not taking my own but here goes!
Friends, Don’t take them for granted, friends are your non blood family and they can sometimes be closer to you than your real family, some will will come and go throughout the years and some will stay, some will crop up and become friends from strange situations and you will share some of life’s epic journey’s together. You will laugh you will cry you will fight you will ignore but if we didn’t do all these things then they wouldn’t be friends.
Beauty is really skin deep, it’s a phrase thrown about but holds so much truth.
Don’t judge a book my it’s cover, we all judge it’s human nature but look past what you see and you may be suprised at what you find. The facade on the outside is sometimes not what’s the truth.
Stand up for yourself, have an opinion and fight your side, there are people that will make you feel small and who will shout louder than you but you have a voice and should make yourself heard along with everyone else.
Bake and eat cake, eat lots of it! it’s very cool stuff and makes you feel warm and fuzzy inside ,and you never know you may be good at it!
Be emotional, there’s nothing wrong with it, some find it hard and some find it easy but crying is not a weakness just an outlet for the sadness and happiness of life.
Sing, sing if you’re good, sing if you’re bad, belt it out and enjoy the rush! sing songs in the car or in the bath, embrace the music and the lyrics of a song.
Be affectionate, no one died from giving someone a hug and that moment of embrace can bring a warmth of happiness to practically anyone be it a partner, friend, family or a stranger.
Don’t Feel stupid, some people may be brighter than others and may have gone to university and may be more academic, some teaming with qualification but life is one giant qualification and no one can grade common sense and life experinece.
Don’t grow up, be stupid, act a fool we all grow up so quickly why not be a child for as long as possible.
Have Morals & Standards, have self respect and don’t conform, if you feel it’s not right then be true to yourself don’t be a sheep and follow the crowd.
Love, if you could bottle the feeling it would be the most precious thing on earth and yet the most destructive weapon, use it with caution and don’t let it cloud your judgement. Love with trust & honesty
My advice to the Class of 2011:
Friends, Sex and relationships
Friends - don't panic you will meet the best friends you could ever imagine as you get older and they will stick by you through all the good and the bad. So all those people that you think "you're a total dickhead" - don't put up with it - they may not like you but you won't even remember their names in years to come!
Also a handy little hint the best friends you have is your family - they will always support you - through everything and when your brother lists your faults head to toe he is doing you a massive favour because no-one yet has managed to come up with a new one - and knowing your faults helps you keep head high! So the advice here is open up to them as they can really help! P.s they know your gay... Come on you had 50+ My Little Pony! (or was that just me)
Sex - I'm not going to preach at you from on high but sometimes you need to realise you're worth more - you don't have to give it to everyone just because it makes you feel attractive, more confident, or alive. There is something to be said in being chased. Also for the love of god do it with some guys your own age - they aren't all terrible! (again just me)
Relationships - they can be hard and scary but try having a few! Being single is great, it should be enjoyed but don't avoid having relationships because they are scary! Also you give more credible advice when you've had one! And even more importantly you learn a lot about yourself!
Otherwise ignore all of this and just enjoy - cos it's pretty fun getting older!
P.s. Spend longer on your blogs - they might be a lot better and have less spelling and grammar mistakes
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