My youngest daughter and I were having a conversation about Mr. Rogers earlier this week. For those of you who are my age or older, you’d remember Mister Rogers Neighborhood as a childhood staple. It’s where many of us gained a broader understanding of complex feelings like love and sadness or learned basic skills such as tying our shoes or the correct way to wash our hands.
In the mornings when I wake up my daughter, I start her day with a puppet show. We have a series of main characters that have been featured over the years, with several others that have either fallen off or been brought into the mix over time. It wasn’t until last week that it dawned on me I had Mr. Rogers to thank for this special gift my daughter and I share. His “Land of Make Believe” was the catalyst for an over-active imagination that I still use to this day.
Perhaps it’s a bit sad to think of a TV character having so much influence on me; however, it’s not any different from what kids experience today. The number of twenty something men with mustaches and mullets is far greater than I would’ve thought a few short years ago. Since I’m not in that demographic, I really have no idea where the trend began but I assume there’s an influencer somewhere who could shed light on the subject.
The soft spoken, moral and ethical Mr. Rogers has been replaced with a cavalcade of influencers on TikTok, You Tube and the like. The ability to get in front of an audience has never been easier. Anyone can decide they want to be an influencer and build up their brand. Throw AI into the mix and there’s a potential for influencers that aren’t even real people. It’s exciting and scary all at the same time.
The reality is, the people who are most influential in our life should be those closest to us. Although that was true in my case, a childhood filled with pro wrestling, a rise in popularity of the NBA and major league baseball also helped to shape who I am today. Larger than life heroes like Michael Jordan and Hulk Hogan weren’t considered human. They were marketed as untouchable figures to be revered and celebrated for their achievements.
If the Last Dance and Hulk Hogan documentaries have taught us anything, both Jordan and Hogan were very flawed and human. Rather than being upset by this realization later in life, I found it to be comforting. Instead of being hard on ourselves for continuing to make mistakes, being kind in the face of challenges allows us the grace we need to continue pushing ahead and trying our best. If those on a pedestal can fall from the highest mountain and get back up, why can’t we fall off a smaller peak and do the same?
Whether it’s Mister Rogers, Michael Jordan, Hulk Hogan or our parents, people influence our lives in ways we don’t even comprehend at the time. Instead of focusing on any negative about who they are or were, taking any positives from their influence and applying it to our lives is what’s most important.
Regardless of who has influenced your life, Mr. Rogers probably summed it up best when he said, “I like you just the way you are.”
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