Welcome To The Neighborhood Election Day Special: What Do You Do With The Mad That You Feel?

Welcome to the Neighborhood, a Mr. Rogers tribute podcast. I'm your host, Rick Lee James of rickleejames.com, and I run the Mr. Rogers Quotes Twitter account and now the Instagram account found @MrRogersSay. As we again walk into this podcast neighborhood, I want you to know that no matter where you are from, you are welcome here. I am glad to be your neighbor. Every daughter, every son, every tribe, every tongue. In the spirit of Fred Rogers and the life of welcome that he lived, welcome to the neighborhood. Well, when I am recording this, It is the morning of November 3rd, and in the United States, of course, it is Election Day for us. But we have so many listeners from all around the world, and I am so grateful for each one of you. And because I live in the United States, and because it is Election Day, I have been thinking a lot about the ways that we treat our fellow countrymen and women. The ways that so often we lose sight of the beauty of each person for things like politics. We can sometimes lose the beauty of our fellow humans because of things that we believe in differently than the way they believe. And honestly, the account @MrRogersSay on Twitter was started out of a lot of my discouragement from 2016 and the election and the vitriol and, and much of the hurt and the pain and the anger and frustration that I was not only seeing in the world but that I was feeling. And it became a great way for me to be able to enter back into my humanity a bit. Fred Rogers was wonderful about helping us discover how unique and special that each of us are. And that if we could just learn to listen to each other's stories, that we would be able to learn to love them in some way. Even people that we really have difficult, have difficult times loving in those relationships. I'm inspired this morning as I record this podcast And as we here in the United States head into an election day and what could be a few days or even weeks, they are telling us, before we know results. I think it matters much more right now how we are treating each other. I am very concerned that there will be violence in some form or another on this day or in days to come. And I'm very concerned that we aren't going to love each other well. And I hope that today, through the lyrics of Fred Rogers, which I'm going to be sharing, that we can maybe again enter into that human place to remind ourselves that our neighbors are not our enemies, that our neighbors our brothers and sisters that maybe we've forgotten how to love. Now we get lots of different emotions. We have happiness, we have sadness, we have great joy, we have anger. But it's such a good thing when we can learn to control those emotions and not allow them to control us. To acknowledge them, yes, to admit what we're feeling. But to find a way, as Fred Rogers would want us to, and said many times, to help children— and I think adults too need to hear this— find ways to hang on to that good feeling of self-control. So I'm inspired this morning looking at a book of illustrated lyrics and poems of Fred Rogers. And the books are illustrated by my friend Luke Flowers, and Luke has been on the show in the past, and I hope he'll be on again in the future. But there's two books in particular that he has illustrated and done some really beautiful, very creative artwork. There's the book called A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood: The Poetry of Mister Rogers, which is the words of Mister Rogers and then art filled with my friend— the book is filled with art from my friend Luke Flowers. And then there's another book, It's You I Like, also lyrics by Fred Rogers and art and illustrations by Luke Flowers. So I wanted to take some time and share some lyrics today because we do have strong feelings. And I know these songs were written for children, and I'm not trying to be Pollyanna-ish in any way. What I'm trying to do is help us realize that things that we learned as children are things that maybe we need to relearn as adults. That there are constructive ways of dealing with the anger and the madness that we feel. Of deciding what kind of people we're going to be. So without singing it, I'm going to be reading the lyrics today to some of these very poetic songs of Fred Rogers. And I'm gonna start with this one because it just feels appropriate. What Do You Do with the Mad That You Feel? What do you do with the mad that you feel? When you feel so mad you could bite. When the whole wide world seems oh so wrong and nothing you do seems very right. What do you do? Do you punch a bag? Do you pound some clay or some dough? Do you round up friends for a game of tag or see how fast you go? It's great to be able to stop when you've planned a thing that's wrong and be able to do something else instead and think this song. I can stop when I want. Can stop when I wish. I can stop, stop, stop anytime. And what a good feeling to feel like this and know that the feeling is really mine. Know that there's something deep inside that helps us become what we can. For a girl can someday be a woman. And a boy can someday be a man. Think about those lyrics today. No matter how this election may go, no matter how the circumstances in our world are, you can always stop when you've planned a thing that's wrong. You can always stop. And it doesn't just have to be violence. It can be things like, maybe I'll save that mean tweet, that I was gonna send out today. Maybe I'll save that harsh word and get rid of it. Instead of saying it, I'm just gonna crush it right now because it's not gonna do anybody any good. And it may make me feel better for a second, but in the long run it'll make me feel worse even about myself. What do you do with the mad that you feel? And that leads me to another song, again in the book It is beautifully illustrated by Luke Flowers. But what shall I be today? These are important questions. Again, I know they are asked to children, but these are important questions. So here are the lyrics. Who shall I be today? Who shall I be today, I say? Who shall I be today, this day? A dark horse, a light cow, a doggy or a cat, a gray mouse or a blue owl or something like that. There's so much to choose and so much to be. That's why it's fun to be anybody. Who shall I be today? I say, who shall I be today, this day? A king or a queen? Or a doctor or a nurse, a streetcar conductor, a witch with a curse. There's so much to choose and there's so much to be. That's why it's fun to be anybody. One day I decided to be a fireman strong. I squirted water bravely and I rang the firehouse gong. The next day was a Sunday. So I most naturally just chose to be a singer, and I sang most gloriously. Another day I baked a pie, another wrote a book. One day I was a fisherman, and I fished without a hook. Someday I'll be an engineer, someday I'll dig a moat, someday I'll be a carpenter, Someday I'll drive a boat, but who shall I be today? I say, who shall I be this day? A rich man, a poor man, a beggar man, a thief, a doctor, a lawyer, a commander-in-chief. There's so much to choose and so much to be. That's why it's fun to be anybody. Anybody. You know, those are simple lyrics for a child to understand, but it's important for us too. Even though we may not choose this day to be a dark horse or a light cow or a doggy or a cat, or even as the song goes into later, a commander-in-chief, we get to choose who we get to be today, and we get to decide today the kind of people we're gonna be. If we're going to be people of character, if we're going to be people of generosity and kindness and hope, if we're going to be people who love our neighbors well, even our neighbors who don't love us back. Who shall I be today? It's a good reflection for us. I hope that we will take it seriously, not just today, but in all days. Well, there is another one that I want to share with us this morning. And actually, it comes from a duet. We have talked about this on the show before. But it is a song that is sung by— it is really a duet. It is from Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood, and it is Daniel Striped Tiger. Who really, they say, represented Fred's personality the best. And it's sung along with Lady Aberlin, and Betty Aberlin does a beautiful job, and as, as she always did on that show. And she just seems like a lovely person in real life too. But I've always loved this because even as adults, we're still dealing with the idea wondering, are we a mistake? We all have our insecurities, and we all have those times that we're wondering in who we are, are we the person that we were made to be? And I think it's just as important as an adult to be able to come and ask these questions, but then to hear the voice telling you the truth back about who you are, which is really what Lady Averilland's part does. So I'm first going to read the part of the song that's sung by Daniel Striped Tiger, because I think it hits at the core of who we are as human beings. And then I want us to hear Lady Averilland's part after that, as the voice of truth coming to us and telling us the reality of who each of us are. Because I don't believe any person in this world is a mistake. Mistake. So, here are the lyrics, Sometimes I Wonder If I'm a Mistake. Sometimes I wonder if I'm a mistake. I'm not like anyone else I know. When I'm asleep or even awake, sometimes I get to dreaming that I'm just a fake. I'm not like anyone else. Others I know are big and are wild. I'm very small and quite tame. Most of the time I'm meek, I'm weak and I'm mild. Do you suppose that's a shame? Often I wonder if I'm a mistake. I'm not supposed to be scared, am I? Sometimes I cry and sometimes I shake, wondering, isn't it true that the strong never break? I'm not like anyone else I know. I'm not like anyone else. And then we hear Lady Aberlin as the voice of truth. I think you are just fine as you are. I really must tell you, I do like the person that you are becoming when you are sleeping, when you are waking. You are my friend. It's really true. I like you. Crying or shaking or dreaming or breaking, there is no mistaking it. You're my best friend. You're not a fake. You are— you're no mistake. You are my friend. Friends who are listening to this podcast this morning, I want to read that one more time, and I want to read it to you. If you find yourself this day having any doubts about yourself, as we all do from time to time, I hope that deep in your heart you will hear these words as the voice of truth to you this day. I think you are just fine as you are. I really must tell you, I do like the person you are becoming. When you are sleeping, when you are waking, you are my friend. It's really true. I like you. Crying or shaking or dreaming or breaking, there's no one mistaking it. You're my best friend. You're not a fake. You're no mistake. You are my friend. So friends listening today, please know you have such worth and you have such value. I don't believe you're a mistake. And even though we are separated through miles and even countries, those of us on this podcast, I hope you'll consider me a friend, and I hope that we in community can find that together today. And I'm gonna close with one final poem, song, from Fred Rogers. And it's the words to "It's You I Like." And I hope that you can hear this in your deepest place. Not just as me saying it. Not even as Fred Rogers saying it. But I hope that you can hear it as a voice of truth to you. That you are a person who's likable and lovable. It's not what you have, and it's not the things that you hold on to and possess, and your talents. It's actually you. The person you are. And you don't have to be anybody other than who you are. So in closing today, I hope you can just hear these words: It's you I like. It's you I like. It's not the things you wear. It's not the way you do your hair, but it's you I like. The way you are right now. The way down deep inside you. Not the things that hide you. Not your toys. They're just beside you. But it's you I like. Every part of you. Your skin. Your eyes, your feelings, whether old or new. I hope that you'll remember, even when you're feeling blue, that it's you I like. It's you, yourself. It's you. It's you I like. I like you, friends. Thanks for listening to Welcome to the Neighborhood. I hope you guys have a terrific day today. And I know that even though we're separated by masks and we're separated oftentimes in our own homes, I hope that you can still find a way to reach out and love each other well in these difficult days that we're having. It won't always be like this, but we can be the people who we are made to be. Let these difficult times show the character of who you really are, because it's you I like. Thank you for joining me here today in the neighborhood. Music featured on this podcast was Nouvelle Noël by by Kevin MacLeod. I want to say a special thanks to the @MrRogersSay community on Twitter and now on Instagram. I'm your host, Rick Lee James. My Twitter account, personal Twitter account, is @RickLeeJames. My website is rickleejames.com. And my other podcast is Voices in My Head: The Rick Lee James Podcast. And I look forward to being with you again next time. And just to let you know, we also have a Patreon account too. If you're interested in that, you can find more at the website. And you can find our podcast actually at fredrogerspodcast.com. No www needed. You just put fredrogerspodcast.com or welcomeneighbor.podbean.com. You'll be able to find our show. We're also on, you know, everywhere the podcasts are found. So thank you for being with us. So until we meet again, remember, you make each day a special day. You know how? By just your being you. There's only one person in this whole world like you, and people can like you exactly as you are.