As a college student in the city, my mind is pretty much set on what I want to spend my money and my free time on. So when I found myself in the heart of the National Museum of American History for a school assigned project that was fully sponsored by myself and attached with a three page paper, it was safe to say that my attitude was edging towards the funkier side of things.
Dorthy’s red ruby shoes lit up one exhibit like a car in a show room, while the display of First Lady dresses and the details and designs that went into every stitch behind them filled up the next. There was a recreation of a log cabin during that time and even a small section carved out for the African-American music greats, such as Ray Charles and the late Prince.
By the end of my self guided tour through the museum I was a bit more lax, and the thought of the next uber charge was far from my mind when I came across a childhood friend that I hadn’t thought about in years.
Good ole’ Mr. Rogers from Mister Roger’s Neighborhood.
As an hyper active kid that hung from anything physically possible, my mother would pop in a VHS and sit me right in front of the TV and immediately I was enthralled. Soft voice, hunched over on a his knee with the softest sweaters I had ever seen.
Better than ADHD medication, Mr. Rodgers and his metaphoric neighborhood on VHS taps was something I took in everything like medication. I was hooked and when I came across the great American treasure that was his television show, I couldn’t help but dig up some of my favorite quotes from an old friend that left us with some of the best life advice that we need to take heed too.
1. "There's no 'should' or 'should not' when it comes to having feelings. They're part of who we are and their origins are beyond our control. When we can believe that, we may find it easier to make constructive choices about what to do with those feelings.”
2. ”Part of the problem with the word disabilities is that it immediately suggests an inability to see or hear or walk or do other things that many of us take for granted. But what of people who can't feel? Or talk about their feelings? Or manage their feelings in constructive ways? What of people who aren't able to form close and strong relationships? And people who cannot find fulfillment in their lives, or those who have lost hope, who live in disappointment and bitterness and find in life no joy, no love? These, it seems to me, are the real disabilities.”
3. "Love isn’t a state of perfect caring. It is an active noun like struggle. To love someone is to strive to accept that person exactly the way he or she is, right here and now.”
4. "As human beings, our job in life is to help people realize how rare and valuable each one of us really is, that each of us has something that no one else has--or ever will have--something inside that is unique to all time. It's our job to encourage each other to discover that uniqueness and to provide ways of developing its expression.”
5. "Forgiveness is a strange thing. It can sometimes be easier to forgive our enemies than our friends. It can be hardest of all to forgive people we love. Like all of life's important coping skills, the ability to forgive and the capacity to let go of resentments most likely take root very early in our lives."
After digging up enough quotes to fill up a book and sell it twice over, I found my self writing these quotes on sticky notes and plastering them around my room.
Fred Rogers was on to something.
Soft voice like velvet it, delivering life advice on a platter like fortune cookie that we crack open after a satisfying meal.
I say he was on to something because as I read his simple answers and comments, years past his time, they still fit and apply to the things in which I am dealing with in my life today. Was he ahead of his time or simply a gentle soul that would touch our TV screens weekly with a small snippet of advice that we seemed to overlook?
What I am hoping to accomplish with this article is to bring more attention to his words of wisdom and hopefully reach out to someone who needs it the most right now.
