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Mister Rogers' Neighborhood

Friday, November 22, 2019 marked the feature film release of It's a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, starring Tom Hanks as Mister Rogers, the popular PBS show host and creator. This article is a celebration about the lessons Fred Rogers shared during his long television series career from 1968 to 2001.

Hi neighbor!

We cannot say those words, even many years since Fred Rogers last created his TV shows, without knowing that they are from Mister Rogers. That gentle voice with the slight drawl soothed even the most restless spirits.

Remember coming home from school and turning on the local PBS channel to enjoy the show?

It does not matter if you were a child in the decades that Mister Rogers was on television. Fred Rogers who passed away in in 2003, created nearly 900 episodes of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood and in the process, cultivated life lessons to last the rest of our lives. And so much of his wisdom applies to us in our many stages of adulthood.

Here are six of those gems:

1. Routine and responsibility are the bedrock of your day.

Every day, Mister Rogers entered the home on his show and did the same things -- sang a peppy song, put on his cardigan and changed out of his dress shoes, fed the fish and had a warm conversation to share.

Routines are comforting to children, but maintaining a daily routine and something that brings you care and comfort can get you through difficult times no matter your age.

A sense of responsibility for ourselves and others -- another side of our numerous daily routines -- can do the same.

Feed your pets, call or text lonely friends, offer a ride to a neighbor, hug your families. As Fred Rogers sang, "It's such a good feeling to know you're alive."

2. It feels good to make something, even if you are not very good at it.

In one episode, Fred Rogers used crayons to make a quick picture and illustrate a point, saying a little off-handedly, "I'm not very good at it, but it doesn't matter. It feels good to have made something."

That is so true -- from coloring to roasting a turkey to rewiring a lamp to knitting a scarf to assembling an IKEA dresser (OK, the last one might be a stretch, causing a rise in blood pressure from the frustration).

3. Put on your sneakers.

It always helps to change into your comfortable play clothes at the end of the day. Fred Rogers' children thought it was humorous when he came home from the office and told them he needed to change from his work clothes to his play clothes. Even if he wore jeans to work that day, he made a point of changing. It really does add a sense of separation between work and home. 

4. The "Land of Make-Believe" is still there for you.

We know a lot about the benefits of meditation and mindfulness, even if -- to paraphrase Mister Rogers -- you are not very good at it. But what about quietly using your imagination to drift and think about how you might make the world better and more magical?

Create your own land of make-believe. Whether you create characters and a story or just close your eyes and imagine the world in a different light, playing make-believe can be good for the soul. Or maybe you will summon an idea that goes from Make-Believe to Reality. You don't even have to take a trolley.

5. Look for the helpers.

In recent years, the Fred Rogers Company has published a nice array of parent resources, including a piece with him talking about how to help children through tragic events.

Here is one quote from the piece: "When I was a young boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, 'Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.' To this day, especially in times of 'disaster,' I remember my mother's words and I am always comforted by realizing that there are still so many helpers -- so many caring people in this world."

When something terrible happens in your life, do the same. So many people around you are willing to help if they know that you need help. And better yet, now that you are grown up, you can be one of the helpers for others in time of need.

6. Finally, just be a good neighbor.

From Lady Elaine to Henrietta Pussycat to King Friday, Mister Rogers' friends from the Land of Make-Believe often enacted lessons about how to treat each other through times of misunderstanding and hurt feelings.

We now live in a time where misunderstanding and hurt feelings abound in real life. Remember, everybody is going through something they probably are not talking about to anyone. Maybe they cannot even articulate it themselves.

Fred Rogers demonstrated on his shows and in real life that empathy and grace are the most important foundations to being a good neighbor. 

This is a great time to remind ourselves of this particular life lesson; to take a moment and contemplate how to go out and be a good neighbor!