Wise words: Five prominent Aussies reflect on the advice they would give to their childhood selves
BERT Newton returned to his childhood home this week, and looked back with one regret. In a letter to his five-year-old self, Newton said he relied on family, faith and friendship — but lamented never having a lifelong friend.
News
Don't miss out on the headlines from News . Followed categories will be added to My News.
BERT Newton returned to his childhood home this week, as he looked back to growing up and having one regret.
In a letter to his five-year-old self, Newton said he had relied of the three fs — family, faith and friendship, but lamented he never had a life long friend.
The Sunday Herald Sun has asked five prominent Australians — Newton, Molly Meldrum, Dannii Minogue, Ross Stevenson and Maggie Beer, to look back and reflect, to their five-year-old selves.
What would YOU tell your five-year-old self? Comment below
BERT NEWTON
“I’M writing you this letter, just having had my 79th birthday.
At age five, there are a few things you need to know that have been part of me for my entire life, and will serve you well, and that is the three Fs — family, faith and friendship.
You are lucky to grow up with a wonderful family of siblings, six children, including yourself.
You will always remember your three brothers and one sister, and although you didn’t know your younger sister who died when you were a baby, you will always think of her.
Family will continue to be a very important part of your life.
The second is faith.
Remember as you look outside your bedroom window on the top floor of the house you live in, in Holden St, Fitzroy, that faith is important.
Even as a five-year-old, I know you get that, as you stare through the bedroom window at the always well-lit statue in the local church.
Looking back I don’t know if that gave me overall faith at the time, but it was a friendly reminder of something.
It’s not a bad thing to stare at the statue, as it is very warming and very important.
The third is friendship.
I realised later on in my life, the one thing I missed out on was a lifetime friendship. Naturally most young kids make the most of their friends at school, and the school you go to is very close to our house in Holden St, and the kids come from the outer suburbs, far away.
That’s the one envy I have looking back, not having someone I could call a lifelong friend.
I’ve always had wonderful friends, but nobody who would fit into the category of a lifelong friend.
I would advise you to always dream, but also not to be afraid of failure. Also it’s always a good thing to have a mentor.
Pay close attention to one of the nuns at school, Sister Germaine. She will turn out to be quite extraordinary for you.
Always take care with your education and take it seriously, but it’s also very important to remember, not everyone can be the best in the class.
Enjoy life, and everything that it offers.
P.S. Always take good care of your hair, because at some stage, you may not necessarily have it.
MOLLY MELDRUM
AS I write you this letter, at the age of five, my advice to you is embrace your love of music, it will lead to an incredibly full life for you.
Cherish the amazing times going to the opera with mum and grandma, to see the orchestras at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl. They will become cherished, lifelong memories.
It’s OK to come home after the musical outings and take out the spoons in grandma’s kitchen in Orbost, climb up the ladder and pretend to be a conductor, all on your own, when no one is watching.
However, please be wary of ladders in the future, you never know what will happen!
Your grandma, whom I know you already adore, will have a profound impact on your life, especially with one motto that has stuck with you forever.
Listen to her when she tells you that no one is above you, but more importantly, no one is below you.
She will tell you time and time again, it doesn’t matter who it is, treat everybody the same.
Grandma’s advice will serve you well.
I know every night your grandma reads you parts of the Bible, but also stories about Egypt.
I know you also treasure the postcards your father sends you from that country.
You dream for hours as a kid about going to Egypt, and visiting the pyramids.
For a little boy growing up in Orbost, this might seem like an unlikely goal.
But don’t hold back from this — the country will become your passion, in fact you will visit 47 times and love every single visit.
Grandma also used to read you the poem Buckingham Palace by A.A. Milne, and you would tell her that one day you would love to go to Buckingham Palace, and she would say dream away.
But that dream is one that will come true.
You love being a people person, going out with grandma, socialising on the main street of Orbost, getting to know people from all walks of life.
But maybe avoid people
who will lead you astray, and don’t avoid people who might happen to be gay!
One day you may even enjoy visiting the local Coles supermarket just around the corner from your home in Richmond, chatting to everyone, and perhaps maybe annoying them with your rendition of “Down, down, prices are down!”
You love life as a five-year-old, and will do some amazing things.
Do yourself a favour — and cherish every moment.
DANNII MINOGUE
BEING the five-year-old tomboy covered in mud, holding frogs, and getting pushed off the top of a hill on a BMX bike will work in your favour.
It will mean when you plant your feet on the ground later in life, nobody will knock you over.
It won’t be long before you’ll see Olivia Newton-John and you’ll think, “I want to do that”. Other kids will be driven and want to be famous. Entertaining will be something you’ll want to do just in your spare time.
Your parents will see the excitement in you and your sister when you see anything to do with the stage and you’ll try to mimic it.
You’ll end up as a Tiny Tot on a TV show called Young Talent Time, you’ll be mesmerised watching the kids rehearse and perfect things.
There’ll be a moment when you’re standing on stage, facing an audience, with the TV lights shining in your eyes. You won’t be terrified, you’ll think, “This is where I want to be.” You’ll leave school at age 16, you won’t go to university, but you’ll have done all your studying at Young Talent Time.
You’ll learn on the spot about music, wardrobe, choreography, cameras, production and live TV. You’ll end up on a show called the X Factor and watch the contestants learning the same thing each week.
You’ll go overseas and start afresh to not just be the girl from Young Talent Time. But YTT will give you longevity and you’ll keep working all the way through from when you’re eight and not stop. And you’ll show your son Young Talent Time clips on YouTube.
As told to Cameron Adams
MAGGIE BEER
I’M writing you this letter from my home in the Barossa Valley in South Australia, where I’ve built a wonderful life.
You will end up loving the Barossa Valley so much, it will become part of who you are.
It has to be something special to take you away from it.
The advice I give you, as you grow up in the sometimes tough suburbs of western Sydney, is always remember it’s important to just be a child.
Looking back, I urge you to play games, games with the other children, and read, and sing.
Growing up in the western suburbs of Sydney can be really tough because it’s a very different life.
But things will get better, and that is why right now, writing to you, I love being where I am right now, and being part of the community that I love so much.
You will do many things, and enjoy dipping into television, including big shows like MasterChef and The Great Australian Bakeoff.
Watching young people make their dreams come true is one of the reasons you enjoy doing TV so much, and you will see a lot of that.
ROSS STEVENSON
I’M writing to you as a five-year-old. So you can read already. That’s clever. Don’t let it go to your head because things are about to get a little more difficult for you,
because you’re about to spend six months of the year in the Mater hospital in Brisbane fighting rheumatic fever. But look on the bright side — they say that childhood adversity is character building. Adults say things like that a lot. You’ll be told quite a bit that things are character building. Generally speaking they never are.
Kids tend not to notice the weather so you probably won’t have noticed but it is pretty warm where you live at the moment. I only say that because you are in for a bit of a shock. You and your brother and sister will shortly move to a place called Melbourne and because air travel is so unbelievably expensive you won’t see Brisbane again for a while. People who live in Brisbane think Melbourne is a freezing place but it’s not really. You’ll get used to it. The biggest difference you will notice is that kids in Melbourne wear shoes to school. Yes, I know. Seriously.
You will end up being passionate about a football game you currently don’t know exists. It’s called Australian rules.
Because your first school is Glenferrie Primary you will barrack for a team called Hawthorn. Whatever you do, do not change that. Ever. Under any circumstances.
You will notice that your father is a great talker and a very charming man. But you should probably pay greater attention to how your mother puts all the hard work and love into keeping the family together and running.
When it comes to making a living, it’s easier to do something you’re passionate about, but there’s a bit to be said for first spending some time doing something that consumes a lot of hours that you don’t much like. Be a lawyer for a while, for example.
Get out into the street to play as much as you can because your kids won’t be able to.
One last thing. Never take up smoking. You’ll only have to give it up at some stage. Save time by not starting in the first place.
And try to look forward in life. Not backwards. Nostalgia isn’t what it used to be.
Brewery puts name on global sporting stage
It’s the little brewery that could. A South Gippsland craft brewer is putting its name on a motorsport event with a global audience of more than 100 million people.
West Gate Tunnel build set to close key Docklands route
Brace for more traffic pain linked to the West Gate Tunnel project with a key route in the Docklands set to close.