It's 4AM and I can't sleep, so here are a couple Mister Rogers quotes...seems like a natural sequence of events. ;)
"I hope you're proud of yourself for the times you've said "yes," when all it meant was extra work for you and was seemingly helpful only to someone else." --Mister Rogers
"You rarely have time for everything you want in this life, so you need to make choices. And hopefully your choices can come from a deep sense of who you are. " --Mister Rogers
Mister Rogers is an American children television series that was created and hosted by Fred Rogers. Episodes didn't really have a plot and consisted of Rogers speaking directly to the viewer about various issues in an inviting conversational manner, taking the viewer on tours of factories, demonstrating experiments, crafts, and music, and interacting with his friends. The half-hour episodes were punctuated by a puppet segment chronicling occurrences in the neighborhood of make believe filled with creepy looking puppets. Premiering on PBS, it would become the longest-running show on public television network. Every episode began the same way with him putting on his iconic sneakers and ended with him taking off his sneakers while singing the theme song, 'Won't you be my neighbor?'.
I wasn't a fan of his show, though. I in particular liked Mr Dressup, a Canadian children's television series that also integrated creepy puppets. I know, I'm a traitor. Mister Rogers was a little too "good or perfect" for me, not that Mr. Dressup was some revolutionary outlaw in children's television ;).
But, later I kind of liked more offbeat kids programs like, 'You Can't Do That on Television' and the like. I digress.
Mr. Dressup was pretty much the same formula with a different delivery. Mister Rogers seemed more stoic and controlled, and Mr. Dressup was a little more casual and quirky. Plus, he seemed to focus on making crafty artsy things. He would lead children through a series of songs, stories, arts, crafts and imagination games, with the help of his "friends". Yes, "friends". I don't know about you, but anyone who speaks to puppets voluntarily has to have a screw loose and I mean this in a good way.
But, Mister Rogers won tons of awards including lifetime achievement award. He was very soft spoken, an American educator and actually a Presbyterian minister. He was an advocate, on government level, for public broadcasting funding and education. He also fought the manufacturing of VCRs when Sony and the television industry objected. Fearful of home recordings they felt it should be regulated and taxed. As if the entertainment industry needs more money, RIGHT?
The Supreme court listened to his testimony and decided that recording did not infringe copyright. He was all about community. As ONE you CANNOT do it, but TOGETHER, you CAN. Scratch that, I shouldn't say ONE can't do it, but it does make it a whole lot easier if everyone is pitching in.
Random post, but I liked his quotes and what he tried to do. What have we learned? Creepy puppets are cool. Indeed.
Work for others, community, passion and promoting imagination...one of the most important things I think we should have. There are some things from a childhood that are never forgotten, and underlyingly influences us. I tend to have more memories of what was good rather than what was bad, and tend to remember the feelings, or the weather/environment conditions that accompanied a moment, more than the actual event.
Not that my childhood was bad. Sure, there was much struggle in the first part of my life, especially the first 4-6 years of my life as an orphan and adoptee, but overall I am pretty satisfied. Not everything is perfect and that includes people. I think you just work with what you have, try to build upon that and hope that in time they will follow. You can't tell people how to be, you can only patiently wait, hope, and while doing so lead by example--however difficult or unfulfilling it may feel. Work with what you have and and keep moving.
Well, I only planned to post that quote, but it ended up turning into some long random post. Thanks for sticking with me...if you did. If not, I don't blame you.
With that, I am looking at my blog page and I seriously need to design it. Add it to the list. I also want to get my own domain name, which is something I'll try and do soon. I've also been wanting to make use of my 'Inspiration' tab and post things I come across whether they are related to disability or not. I should get on that, too. Thanks for following/reading me.