Please note: this piece was also published in The Huffington Post.
It seems rather fitting that the birthday of the late Fred McFeely Rogers (1928-2003) – the renowned, award-winning creator and host of the creative children’s television series Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood – falls on the first day of Spring each year, March 20.
I can hardly think of a better way to welcome our long lost “neighbor” – the much anticipated, desperately needed Spring season – than to recall the catchy tune Mister Rogers routinely sang with a warm and friendly demeanor during the beginning of each show:
“It’s a beautiful day in the neighborhood,
a beautiful day for a neighbor.
Would you be mine?
Could you be mine?…
…Won’t you be my neighbor?” Read more
Happy Spring! Add a little “spring” to your step with ATG’s top 10 inspirational quotes from the book, Life’s Journey According to Mister Rogers:
1. “’Someone else’s action should not determine your response.’ It sounds so simple, doesn’t it? And yet what if someone else’s action should be shouting angry words at us or hitting us with a rotten tomato? That doesn’t affect what we do in response? Not if our compassion is genuine. Not if our love is the kind the Dalai Lama advocates.”
2. “’The outside is never as much as the inside…’ As you may know by now, that’s one of the major themes of our work: The invisible essential. Oh, the outsides of life are important, but the insides are what enhance so much of the rest.” Read more