I wash going to continue to write my Zombie dream but Dean left me a quote in one of my blogs and forced me to read and listen to to a speech. Its very powerful and moving and completely honest and true. Who ever presented this speech is and always will be an OG. Check out the "song" in Deans profile or mine since I recently added it. You can read the speech here.
Ladies and gentlemen of the class of '97: 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 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 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.
I read the speech as I listened to the song and in the middle of it I got a huge knot in my throat and I started to cry in the middle of the fucking computer lab. I hope no one saw me haha. But even if they did, I shouldn't care right? Isn't that a lesson from the speech?
So many beautiful things said in the speech. A lot of them are lessons I've been taught or taught myself. A lot of them are lessons I knew about, but for some reason don't practice, maybe I'm a prick or I'm to lazy. Some of the lessons are lessons I know about but don't fully understand cause I can only understand them with experience. The speech made me feel so sad, and so happy and was so reassuring that I am doing things and going about things the right way. I would love to meet the person who wrote the speech. I don't know who wrote it, but it is hard for me to believe that someone young could have wrote something like this. Even though I write about things and have my opinions on things, I know at my age and my experience level, I don't know shit about life. It seems like some people are so eager to grow up. I'm not. I want to take it as it goes. I have a couple of friends who act like they know everything about everything and have something say about everything and talk for other people and talk even when not being talked to, and I feel bad for them. I also have a couple of friends, who kind of don't speak their minds enough. They aren't as bad as the others though.
"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"
-It is so well put. Member in an older blog where I talked about how people are obsessed with numbers and facts? This is my point exactly. Sun-screen has been proven by scientists, but advice and experience is so much more valuable. I think people have a hard time grasping this. I think the people who are able to grasp this concept know the people who can't. The people who can't think they can, but will forever live their lives a lie. And I feel bad for those people, because I probably know some.
"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."
-Very true. My parents always tell me about this lesson. That we will never understand how things work until we have actually experienced it. Even though I can't understand it fully, I believe them. I look back at how I used to be, and I can start to feel this concept. It must be so much bigger for our parents.
"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."
-Makes me scared. I hope I am not wasting my time.
"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."
-Can't help it
"Do one thing every day that scares you. Sing."
-A lesson I learned recently in my career exploration class.
"Don't waste your time on jealousy. Sometimes you're ahead, sometimes you're behind."
-I've already been living this way. When you're ahead, be sure to share your wealth. When you're behind, it should motivate you.
"The race is long and, in the end, it's only with yourself."
"Don't feel guilty if you don't know what you want to do with your life."
-Can't help but worry.
"Get plenty of calcium. Be kind to your knees. You'll miss them when they're gone."
-You only know what you've lost when you've lost it. A very important moral and one I live by. But sometimes its hard to know what to appreciate and value.
"Maybe you'll marry, maybe you won't. Maybe you'll have children, maybe you won't."
-Oh I'll marry...someone probably like Jessica Alba haha! And we will have lots of children. haha.
"Whatever you do, don't congratulate yourself too much, or berate yourself either."
-I written about being humble a bunch of times already. I know a lot of cocky people and it really does bother me to be around those people. Sometimes I don't think they are cocky, but more ignorant. They just don't know they are bad. Sometimes I think I should take it easier, but its just my make up to give 1000%.
"Your choices are half chance."
-It really does feel like that. I said in a recent blog I always want to have control over my actions and how things effect me. Sometimes you just can't help it. No one is that powerful.
"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."
-Agreed. I am afraid of growing old. I haven't treated my body in the best way...but lately I have monitored what I put into it. I love to exercise but don't do it enough.
"Dance, even if you have nowhere to do it but your living room."
-Just live
"Read the directions, even if you don't follow them."
-Understand even if you don't agree. Be respectful of other views. I know a lot of stubborn people.
"Get to know your parents. You never know when they'll be gone for good."
-Value everything they have given me
"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."
-I know mine will always be there. But they are young and sometimes hard to deal with.
"Understand that friends come and go, but with a precious few you should hold on."
-I try.
"Don't mess too much with your hair or by the time you're 40 it will look 85"
-oops
"Be careful whose advice you buy, but be patient with those who supply it."
-I think I wrote about this in a recent blog too
"But trust me on the sunscreen."
-Will do
This one will stick with me for a while.
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