I used to obsess over this. I might as well share it with you guys.
Sunscreen
(Baz Luhrmann)
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 nevermind; you will not
understand the power and beauty of your youth until they have 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’re 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
bubblegum. The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that
never crossed your worried mind; the kind that blindside you at 4pm
on some idle Tuesday.
Do one thing everyday 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 the 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…what ever 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 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 in your own living room.
Read the directions, even if you don’t follow them.
Do NOT read beauty magazines, they will only make you feel ugly.
(Brother and sister together we'll make it through
Someday your spirit will take you and guide you there
I know you've been hurting, and I know I've been waiting to be there
for you. And I'll be there, just tell me now, whenever I can.
Everybody's free.)
Get to know your parents, you never know when they’ll be gone for
good.
Be nice to your siblings; they are the best link to your past and the
people most likely to stick with you in the future.
Understand that friends come and go,but for the 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 you
knew 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 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…
(Brother and sister together we'll make it through
Someday your spirit will take you and guide you there
I know you've been hurting, and I know I've been waiting to be there
for you. And I'll be there, just tell me now, whenever I can.
Everybody's free.)
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Sunday, January 17, 2010
On Dreaming and Believing
"Some men [and women] see things as they are and ask why. Others dream things that never were and ask why not."
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Rainy Days
A good friend of mine hates it when it rains. She is fond of wearing flip-flops, and getting her feet dirtied is one of her pet peeves. As for me, I love it when it rains. It gives me the excuse to be lazy, to just stay at home and space out. (Yes, spacing out is one of my hobbies.)
I know this is a cliche, but I'm gonna say it anyway: There is something sentimental about the rain. It makes me get in touch with my sleeping feelings. Also, everything seems to be highlighted when it rains: the green become greener, the sentimentalists become more sentimental.
Many years ago, when I was still an idealist, before I have seen so many disappointments, I used to keep a diary. Every time I browse through it, I am reminded of this one moment when I wrote about what I want to do in my adult life. You would not catch me dead showing the entry even to my high school teacher, but I consider it as one of my best literary products. It was sentimental, badly written, but it was so honest. And I wrote it on a rainy day.
(I promise myself I'm gonna write more. I have three new journals and two blogsites, and they should not be enough to record my "way of seeing" at a particular point of my life.
I know this is a cliche, but I'm gonna say it anyway: There is something sentimental about the rain. It makes me get in touch with my sleeping feelings. Also, everything seems to be highlighted when it rains: the green become greener, the sentimentalists become more sentimental.
Many years ago, when I was still an idealist, before I have seen so many disappointments, I used to keep a diary. Every time I browse through it, I am reminded of this one moment when I wrote about what I want to do in my adult life. You would not catch me dead showing the entry even to my high school teacher, but I consider it as one of my best literary products. It was sentimental, badly written, but it was so honest. And I wrote it on a rainy day.
(I promise myself I'm gonna write more. I have three new journals and two blogsites, and they should not be enough to record my "way of seeing" at a particular point of my life.
Friday, November 20, 2009
Perfect Pair
Your Malaysian adventure would not be complete without you having a taste of this perfect pair:
Thanks to my good friend Intan for being such a great, uhrm, tour guide! haha peace! I owe you a lot!
Thanks to my good friend Intan for being such a great, uhrm, tour guide! haha peace! I owe you a lot!
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Some Lessons Learned
Airplane Rides
Some friends told me that it took a lot of guts to go to another country all by myself. I mean, I traveled alone (think of three airplane rides and the tormenting hours of waiting), and I do not have any friends or relatives in my country of destination. This may be an overstatement, but they were "amazed" at how I was able to manage all the traveling alone and living independently in another country stuff.
But there is nothing amazing about it. It is not like you are going to walk and rely on clues and maps (although that would be much more interesting). You take the right plane, then another right plane, and another right plane, and lo and behold, you are in your country of destination.
Life's Lesson on "Readiness"
Now, I don't believe in not trying something out because of that "I'm not yet ready" cliche. I've learned that you cannot be ready for anything. What you can do is decide to go for it or not, and deal with the regrets that go with the decision later. It's like when you badly want to blog about something, but you just don't know where to start. You say, "No, I'm not ready to blog about this." But, you cannot be ready until you start typing out the first word or first sentence or first paragraph of your entry.
Choosing to live very far away from home is like writing that blog entry you think you are not ready to write. Was I ready for it? All I knew was that I was not obsessing over thinking whether I was ready or not. What I knew was I wanted some change to happen in my life before the year ended. When an opportunity came, I grabbed it without expectations of sorts. I did not know whether I was ready or not. And it paid off.
Some friends told me that it took a lot of guts to go to another country all by myself. I mean, I traveled alone (think of three airplane rides and the tormenting hours of waiting), and I do not have any friends or relatives in my country of destination. This may be an overstatement, but they were "amazed" at how I was able to manage all the traveling alone and living independently in another country stuff.
But there is nothing amazing about it. It is not like you are going to walk and rely on clues and maps (although that would be much more interesting). You take the right plane, then another right plane, and another right plane, and lo and behold, you are in your country of destination.
Life's Lesson on "Readiness"
Now, I don't believe in not trying something out because of that "I'm not yet ready" cliche. I've learned that you cannot be ready for anything. What you can do is decide to go for it or not, and deal with the regrets that go with the decision later. It's like when you badly want to blog about something, but you just don't know where to start. You say, "No, I'm not ready to blog about this." But, you cannot be ready until you start typing out the first word or first sentence or first paragraph of your entry.
Choosing to live very far away from home is like writing that blog entry you think you are not ready to write. Was I ready for it? All I knew was that I was not obsessing over thinking whether I was ready or not. What I knew was I wanted some change to happen in my life before the year ended. When an opportunity came, I grabbed it without expectations of sorts. I did not know whether I was ready or not. And it paid off.
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Saturday, November 7, 2009
How about this for a first blog entry?
Why I Write
One of the questions that I dreaded answering when I was still in college was, "Why do you write?" Or, "Why Creative Writing?" I should say that this question needs a lot of thinking, but your teacher needs an answer right then and there. So you come up with an answer like "to keep a record of memories". (It's a cheesy answer, I know.)
There's no money in writing. Everybody can write. So you plan to write novels?
These are just some of the comments that creative writing students may have to deal with. And, more often than not, people do not have time to listen to your explanations. So you learn to shut up.
Going back, why do I write? Now, I should say that I write because I hate being apathetic. I write when I need to feel pain, happiness, excitement, etc. It is only when I write that I feel so human, so vulnerable to the drama of this so-called "life".
It is when I write that I live the happiest, most painful, and most exciting moments in my life.
One of the questions that I dreaded answering when I was still in college was, "Why do you write?" Or, "Why Creative Writing?" I should say that this question needs a lot of thinking, but your teacher needs an answer right then and there. So you come up with an answer like "to keep a record of memories". (It's a cheesy answer, I know.)
There's no money in writing. Everybody can write. So you plan to write novels?
These are just some of the comments that creative writing students may have to deal with. And, more often than not, people do not have time to listen to your explanations. So you learn to shut up.
Going back, why do I write? Now, I should say that I write because I hate being apathetic. I write when I need to feel pain, happiness, excitement, etc. It is only when I write that I feel so human, so vulnerable to the drama of this so-called "life".
It is when I write that I live the happiest, most painful, and most exciting moments in my life.
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