LIFE / SOCIAL MEDIA

Wear Sunscreen — And Better Advice For Social Media

Or… Why a 1997 speech given by Mary Schmich is even more relevant today especially with Social Media

Photo by National Cancer Institute on Unsplash

‘Everybody’s Free (To Wear Sunscreen)’ is a spoken lyrical poem:

• Spoken by Lee Perry with background music in 1998, from a
• Graduation speech by Baz Luhrman in 1997, from a
• Column by Mary Schmich for the Chicago Tribune in 1997

And the lessons that it contains are more valuable today than ever.

Wearing of Sunscreen

The opening sentences to the 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.

I grew up in Australia —wearing sunscreen was drummed into us from the first time we saw the sun.