What I learned from Christopher Plummer

Back in 2004, my old university gave Christopher Plummer an honorary degree. I covered it for the student newspaper, guessing it would be like most of these ceremonies: coma-inducingly dull. Not this one. Plummer stole the show.

He leaped to the podium and bombastically cried out to all the newly minted graduates that, "You have finally escaped! Let's hear it for the inmates!"

Then, he took a more somber tone, and admitted he always regretted not attending university. He wished he got to experience the fellowship and camaraderie that comes with a few good years of university. Then he signed off with a rousing call to grab life by the neck and hold it close, or something far more eloquent like that.

Afterwards, there was a short press scrum with some local press. One reporter asked about his regret over not getting a degree.

Plummer corrected him. No, he said, I don't miss the degree. What I regret is missing out on the university experience. The rich friendships that come from that experience. The camaraderie.

 

Whether he was playing to the crowd or not, his regret of not getting the university experience – like most regrets when someone admits them – was also advice: We should wring as much experience from this surreal time as possible. 

That advice didn’t turn my worldview upside down. It did confirm my existing bias for mixing academics with debauchery. I worked hard on my class assignments and wrote for the student newspaper. I also partied hard, destroyed my hearing at loud concerts in small dive bars, travelled when I could, crashed on countless couches, and even tossed a dwarf. Along the way, I made life-long friends who shared in those experiences.

Now I'm older, and slightly wiser, so I know that Plummer’s advice isn't just good university advice. It’s damn good life advice. You don’t even need to go to university. Life well lived is an informal education made up of new experiences, strong friendships, and, to use Plummers’ term, camaraderie. 

Whether I was predisposed to this point-of-view or Plummer influenced me, I'm not sure. I usually opted for grabbing the richer experience than the "smart" move. Stay home or go out and meet friends. Stick around in Toronto or move to Budapest. Big or small, grabbing those crazy choices that life threw at me unlocked incredible experiences, sparked new relationships, and strengthened existing friendships – or camaraderie. 

If you read Plummer's obituaries, you see a man who’s seeking different roles and stories. Acting on Broadway, or in Hollywood. The Sound of Music then Hamlet. A historical drama here, a crime thriller there. How about Star Trek IV? Lead roles, bit roles, and everything in between. That sounds like a man building a life, grabbing one experience after another. That's a good life, and education, to emulate.