+
upworthy

8 great lessons from Mister Rogers that are still true when you're an adult.

He's gone. But his legacy is getting stronger.

<span class="redactor-invisible-space"></span><span class="redactor-invisible-space"></span>


We can live in Mister Rogers' neighborhood. We can do it. Just listen to me talk about everything he did that was so cool. Volcanoes of cool.

I looked into the lessons he was trying to teach us, and I think I found some things we just might need. Let's begin!

Lesson 1: Be the Mister Rogers you wish to see in the world.


Think: What would Mister Rogers do? Then do that. This is the most simple and most difficult of all the lessons.

Lesson 2: Know that scary things are there. And talk about it.

For example. If you are worried you might go down a drain, Mister Rogers has you.

"The rain may go down,
But you can't go down.
You're bigger than any bathroom drain.
You can never go down
Can never go down
You can never go down the drain."




Lesson 3: Talk about your feelings. If you know what to do with your feelings, you can do anything.

Mister Rogers went to Congress to talk about his feelings.

He was like, "By the way guys, people can't deal with their feelings and they're hurting each other."

 

And then he straight up was like, "Hey congressmen, can I sing you a song?"

And he did.

 

And that's how he won over a grouchy old senator and got millions of dollars of funding for his show.

Lesson 4: Dress down! The only thing that matters is who you are inside anyway.

It's OK to be comfortable.

Here's some more of his beautiful song:

"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."







Back to the lessons.

Lesson 5: It's good to be curious and imagine new things.

CRAYONS!!!!!

 

Remember when he took you to the crayon factory? No one questions how crayons are made because Mister Rogers changed your life when he showed you how your favorite writing utensil came to be.

Mister Rogers was ready to learn, he was curious, and he thought that, like, EVERYTHING was interesting.

Even cassette players!

(Yes. That is what cassette players looked like!)

Best question ever, right here:

WHAAATTTTT?!

Get out of your life and into your mind. It's called imagining.  

Lesson 6: Remember the helpers in our world.

Maybe even be one of the helpers. Feel the feelings.

Lesson 7: Like other people. Like yourself!

"I'm just so proud of all of you who have grown up with us, and I know how tough it is some days to look with hope and confidence on the months and years ahead. But I would like to tell you what I often told you when you were much younger: I like you just the way you are." — Mister Rogers

Lesson 8: Remember that everyone is your neighbor. I mean everyone.


Imagine if we lived in a world where we realllllllly thought that everyone was reallllly our neighbor.

That's Mister Rogers' world.

People from Ferguson.

People from halfway around the world.

People on your street! (Your literal neighbors!)

EV-ER-Y-ONE.

Sing me your song, Mister Rogers.

"So, let's make the most of this beautiful day. Since we're together we might as well say: Would you be mine? Could you be mine?

Won't you be my neighbor?"

We can live in this neighborhood. How about we grow that idea in the garden of our minds?

Mister Rogers taught us a special thing about ideas in the gardens of our minds.

All you have to do is think, and they'll grow.

Happy birthday, Mister Rogers. And thank you.

FOR EVERYTHING. And your special songs. :)

True

Making new friends as an adult is challenging. While people crave meaningful IRL connections, it can be hard to know where to find them. But thanks to one Facebook Group, meeting your new best friends is easier than ever.

Founded in 2018, NYC Brunch Squad brings together hundreds of people who come as strangers and leave as friends through its in-person events.

“Witnessing the transformative impact our community has on the lives of our members is truly remarkable. We provide the essential support and connections needed to thrive amid the city's chaos,” shares Liza Rubin, the group’s founder.

Despite its name, the group doesn’t just do brunch. They also have book clubs, seasonal parties, and picnics, among other activities.

NYC Brunch Squad curates up to 10 monthly events tailored to the specific interests of its members. Liza handles all the details, taking into account different budgets and event sizes – all people have to do is show up.

“We have members who met at our events and became friends and went on to embark on international journeys to celebrate birthdays together. We have had members get married with bridesmaids by their sides who were women they first connected with at our events. We’ve had members decide to live together and become roommates,” Liza says.

Members also bond over their passion for giving back to their community. The group has hosted many impact-driven events, including a “Picnic with Purpose” to create self-care packages for homeless shelters and recently participated in the #SquadSpreadsJoy challenge. Each day, the 100 members participating receive random acts of kindness to complete. They can also share their stories on the group page to earn extra points. The member with the most points at the end wins a free seat at the group's Friendsgiving event.

Keep ReadingShow less
Education

3,700-year-old Babylonian stone tablet gets translated, changes history

They were doing trigonometry 1500 years before the Greeks.

via UNSW

Dr. Daniel Mansfield and his team at the University of New South Wales in Australia have just made an incredible discovery. While studying a 3,700-year-old tablet from the ancient civilization of Babylon, they found evidence that the Babylonians were doing something astounding: trigonometry!

Most historians have credited the Greeks with creating the study of triangles' sides and angles, but this tablet presents indisputable evidence that the Babylonians were using the technique 1,500 years before the Greeks ever were.

Keep ReadingShow less
Family

Mom’s blistering rant on how men are responsible for all unwanted pregnancies is on the nose

“ALL unwanted pregnancies are caused by the irresponsible ejaculations of men. Period. Don't believe me? Let me walk you through it."

Mom has something to say... strongly say.

Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, commonly known as Mormons, are a conservative group who aren't known for being vocal about sex.

But best selling author, blogger, and mother of six, Gabrielle Blair, has kicked that stereotype to the curb with a pointed thread on reducing unwanted pregnancies. And her sights are set directly at men.

Keep ReadingShow less
Family

Dad takes 7-week paternity leave after his second child is born and is stunned by the results

"These past seven weeks really opened up my eyes on how the household has actually ran, and 110% of that is because of my wife."

@ustheremingtons/TikTok

There's a lot to be gleaned from this.

Participating in paternity leave offers fathers so much more than an opportunity to bond with their new kids. It also allows them to help around the house and take on domestic responsibilities that many new mothers have to face alone…while also tending to a newborn.

All in all, it enables couples to handle the daunting new chapter as a team, making it less stressful on both parties. Or at least equally stressful on both parties. Democracy!

TikTok creator and dad Caleb Remington, from the popular account @ustheremingtons, confesses that for baby number one, he wasn’t able to take a “single day of paternity leave.”

This time around, for baby number two, Remington had the privilege of taking seven weeks off (to be clear—his employer offered four weeks, and he used an additional three weeks of PTO).

The time off changed Remington’s entire outlook on parenting, and his insights are something all parents could probably use.

Keep ReadingShow less
Science

She tattooed half her face and you'd never know it. Her skills are just that good.

This incredible medical tattoo technology is giving renewed hope to burn victims.

All images via the CBS/YouTube

Basma Hameed runs a tattoo shop, of sorts...


Meet Samira Omar.

The 17-year-old was the victim of a horrific bullying incident.

Keep ReadingShow less
Images via Alan Taylor/Flickr, used with permission.

Updating the kitchen.


Remember those beloved Richard Scarry books?

Books from when you were a kid?

Keep ReadingShow less
Education

Voice recordings of people who were enslaved offer incredible first-person accounts of U.S. history

"The results of these digitally enhanced recordings are arresting, almost unbelievable. The idea of hearing the voices of actual slaves from the plantations of the Old South is as powerful—as startling, really—as if you could hear Abraham Lincoln or Robert E. Lee speak." - Ted Koppel

Library of Congress

When we think about the era of American slavery, many of us tend to think of it as the far distant past. While slavery doesn't exist as a formal institution today, there are people living who knew formerly enslaved black Americans first-hand. In the wide arc of history, the legal enslavement of people on U.S. soil is a recent occurrence—so recent, in fact, that we have voice recordings of interviews with people who lived it.

Keep ReadingShow less