Recently I listened to the Sunscreen Song again released under Baz Lurhman, which was based on a graduation speech that had been around the internet for a while in the 90′s. It got me thinking, and then well, writing my own bit of advice to the public. And while I always liked the song before, now upon rehearing it, I recognize some problematic and privileged statements being made.
So I put on my Angry Hippie hat and wrote this piece modeled after the song and my Not Quite Deep Thoughts works. Then I put on my DJ Mydnyt hat, and set this music. Below is the link to the song, and below that are the words.
Listen to the song
People of the all classes, here in 2012,
If I could offer you only one tip for the future, ‘question everything’ would be it. The longterm benefits of questioning everything have been proven by anti-establishment and free-thinking individuals who’ve changed the very courses of history itself. Whereas the rest of my advice, has no basis more reliable than my own meandering experience…I will dispense these life lessons now.
Enjoy any time of innocence and trust that you have; Oh nevermind; you will not understand or appreciate the time of innocence and trust that you have until it shatters. And believe me, it will shatter. There will come a day when a truth that you have clung to all your life, for it was imparted by those whom you trusted the most that they would never lie to you, will be revealed as the falsehood it really is…None of this, is your fault!
Everyone has an agenda. even if that agenda is pure and built of good intentions, it’s there. This agenda may in fact skew the advice that they dispense to you. Take me for example…huge fucking agenda! To make the world a better place. Biases that will indisputably be reflected in this exposition.
Be cynical…to a point. Don’t let that point cross the line where you no longer enjoy the simple pleasures that life does have to offer…like xbox.
Your life may become an internet meme. (sigh)
Read.
Laugh….when you can. And when appropriate. That’s generally never at someone else’s expense.
Don’t give up on the future; together, we can all act to shape and steer exactly where our collective tomorrow goes. But it won’t be easy. It will be like trying to solve a logic problem by skimming some random verse from the Christian Bible for any clues. Instead, just know that it will take each of us when able to be living as we believe the world should be. And possibly fighting to make it so.
Everybody poops.
Never be dismissive of someone who is telling you that you have privilege. Instead use it as a learning experience and attempt to grow from a new place of understanding. Privilege exists. And if you feel unfairly berated because of yours, then imagine how those who’ve been victimized for years by that privilege feel…and in the end, just get over yourself.
Don’t let your environment control you and be allowed to determine who you become. Instead, try to control your environment and make it fit who you are. If you succeed on doing this, please tell me how.
Peaches come from a can, they were put there by a man, in a factory downtown. If I had my little way, I’d eat peaches everyday. Sun soakin bulges in the shade.
Keep everything you’ve ever written…oh wait….
Write.
Keep everything you’ve ever written, words are not as disposable as you might think.
Don’t let others make you feel like your voice is invalid. The most inspirational people I know had many outside forces trying to silence them. The most inspirational people who’ve shaped the world still do.
The food supply is not safely regulated.
Be kind to the bees, we’ll miss them when they’re gone.
Maybe you’ll marry, maybe you won’t be allowed because of some biblical and irrational bigotry that has gripped a segment of the populace preventing politicians from doing their jobs and honoring the traditions of equality and full freedom for all people by claiming to be protecting some outdated idea of the sanctity of marriage from gay people. But hey, maybe you’ll get to dance the funky chicken at some straight couple’s wedding reception one day only to watch them divorce a few years later.
Get outside…everyday, even if you have nowhere to go and no way to do it but in your mind or through a window. A bit of peace can often be found in the fresh air.
Ask for directions, it’s not going to hurt you.
Give someone a hug at least once a week, even if it is only yourself.
Get to know someone so truly, you are comfortable enough to share yourself fully…even if it doesn’t last…in the long run, you’ll be glad you did.
Be nice to your siblings…but feel free to cut them out if they deserve it. Like with any relationship, they can become as toxic as your friends or lovers…. p.s. have friends and lovers.
Understand that politicians come and go, but it’s the system in which they operate that needs the focus. If we can fix the system, then those who would be willing to participate in said system will have to either change with it or exit stage left. The longer the system stays broken, the worse the participants in it will become.
Live wherever you must and are able. But always try to find a way to make or uncover a comfortable, safe space for yourself. No matter where you are.
Listen.
Accept certain inalienable truths…I do not know what inalienable truly means…okay I just looked it up. huh….corporations will lie, well most people will. The most important thing you can do is to be honest with yourself.
Respect until disrespected even if they’re your elders…then try to breath and proceed as necessary.
Expectations set at any height can fail to be met. But if you are trying, and sometimes that’s all you can do, that’s what matters. After all, failure is merely a chance to begin anew. Unless that failure is something finite like failing to hold on to a ledge or rail keeping you from falling to your death…but how often is that the case?
Don’t mess with Texas…I don’t know I read that somewhere once. Seemed sensible at the time. I mean, there’s a lot of ignorance and armed people there, so, maybe avoid when able?
Be careful whose drugs you buy, but be open to those who supply them freely. Okay, that kind of feels like bad advice, but it has a real resonance with some of the experiences in my own journey. Perhaps it will have some meaning in yours…
But trust me, on the question everything!
(1/10/12)
