Wear Sunscreen Commencement Speech: A Timeless Primer For Real Life
The best commencement speech was one that was never delivered during a graduation ceremony. “Wear Sunscreen” by Mary Schmich is a timeless (and funny!) primer for real life. Enjoy!
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A commencement speech written (but not given) in the late 1990s, the “Wear Sunscreen Speech” by Mary Schmich has proven to be a timeless classic about how to live life well.
One of our favorite words of all time is the Wear Sunscreen Commencement Speech by Mary Schmich, which contains quite a lot of doable advice on navigating the murky waters of life.
It was set to music by Baz Luhrmann, the film director and available for viewing on YouTube.
For anyone who is feeling a bit lost, we highly recommend watching this video and allowing these words, which were written in the late 1990s, touch your heart.
The message is timeless and is as true now as it was then.
Enjoy!
Wear Sunscreen Commencement Speech
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. 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 blindsides you at 4 pm 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 of 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 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, because the older you get, the more you need the people who knew you 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.
Greetings – So wear sunscreen! What an interesting presentation bearing words of wisdom! I liked everything he said except, “one day you will get old.” I don’t like to be reminded of that!
Anyway, you folks look like you’re enjoying life and having fun. That’s great!
Thanks for the opportunity to view your websight.
Ciao!
Ha ha that’s true. Not everyone likes to be reminded that we’ll all get old although sometimes we could do with such a reminder. Glad you like the post. Thanks for commenting, Nathaniel.
Hi there. I just love the video. The message is still so powerful. What is sad is that people are forgetting those simple things like walking in nature, singing, dancing, playing like a child will make them happy.
The things outside of you don’t make you happy, what is inside you makes you happy.
Exactly! The things inside are what make you happy – you are so right!
Wow, these words are inspiring. I had to go back to read this post again because I couldn’t very well understand how sunscreens and all the beautiful words correlated but honestly, I must share this post. This words can touch anyone who has any problem. I am forever glued to your site. And this is a wonderful post.
We’re glad you like it! It always makes us smile. 🙂
Enjoy life as they say life is beautiful. Thank you for sharing this, I browsed the book after reading your article and I got curious and just bookmarked the book. I am sure I want to add this on my reading list. I do enjoy dancing, anywhere in the house! 🙂 especially with my daughter. We enjoy our time together doing kid’s stuff and making me feel young and stress-free while bonding with my daughter.
Life is indeed beautiful and dancing with your daughter sounds like great fun! I’m sure it’s a memory she’ll treasure always – as will you, of course. Thanks for commenting, Gillian.
Thank you for sharing this philosophical piece about living life. It’s true that no one really knows the best kind of advice when it comes to that. It’s not as easy to scientifically verify as “wear sunscreen” and actually even some kinds of sunscreen were proven harmful.
One of my friends talks about a book called the half-life of facts. It shows how at one point something was considered fact but then it turned out not to be. So “wear sunscreen” might not be a fact any more. Or as long as you specify to wear natural sunscreen and not with chemicals? But that “fact” could have a half-life too.
One of my favorite phrases is to be gentle with yourself. I feel like being gentle with yourself is a good way to live. I don’t like when people give advice like “get out of your comfort zone”. I never had a comfort zone and I always lived a very chaotic life since I was young. So for me I need to practice being comfortable with being comfortable.
Thanks for sharing about this writing and video. I had never heard of it before. Talk to you next time!
Hi Charles, yes. It’s really funny because of all the advice given, I think the sunscreen is the one that’s been debunked quite firmly – unless you’re using organic and DEET-free ones. Just goes to show how quickly times change.