Wisdom and Sunscreen

Timeless homilies for health and happiness

You might have heard of a quirky song-ish-type recording called Everybody’s Free to Wear Sunscreen, by Baz Lurhmann, better known as the director of films like Moulin Rouge and The Great Gatsby. I hadn’t realised until today that it is based (heavily) on an essay by Mary Schmich, published in the Chicago Tribune (hopefully not an example of a great idea created by a woman and credited to a man, but possibly so). Lyrics in full at the end of this blog post.

It’s a series of homilies on how to navigate life with happiness and health, many of which I agree with — gems like “Do not read beauty magazines, they will only make you feel ugly” (although I would qualify the sunscreen advice with the caveat that not all sunscreens are created equal, and I’m very selective about what substances I want to absorb into my body).

The essay/song inspired me to come up with a few of my own sunscreen-type pieces of advice, which I offer to you here. And I’d love to hear yours, if you’d like to post them in the comments.

Things are rarely as good or as bad as you expect them to be.

When you think back to the events you anticipated most eagerly, did they always turn out to be the highlights of your life? Likewise, did the prospects you dreaded always turn out to be as bad as you…