Baz Lurhmann
Everybody's Free to Wear Sunscreen
Ladies and Gentlemen of the class of '05, wear sunscreen.
If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be it. The 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.
Nevermind, you will not understand the power and beauty of your youth until they have faded.
But trust me, in twenty 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 that blindside you at 4 p.m. on some idle Tuesday.
Do one thing everyday 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 lifes.
Some of the most interesting 40-year olds I know still don't.
Get plenty of counseling.
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 the best link to your past, and the most likely to stick with you in the future.
Understand that friends come and go, but for a precious few should hold on.
Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography and lifestyles, because 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 flushing 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. | 
