I finally sat down to watch the Documentary about Mister Rogers. I have always found Fred Rogers to be a comfort during times of strife. This quote usually comes to mind, “When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, ‘look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.’ To this day, especially in times of ‘disaster,’ I remember my mother’s words and I am always comforted by realizing that there are so many helpers - so many caring people in this world.”

I find this to be so very true. Even though most folks are quite cynical about social media and question its merits, I see regular people using this tool to offer help to their neighbors on a daily basis. Often multiple times a day. I for one take comfort in that. Not to mention the helpers we see on the front lines in any crisis. They are always there for us, without fail.

My relationship with Mister Rogers is not unique for my generation. But it is unique in that I sincerely thought the man was my father for a good portion of my early childhood. It was all in my head of course. But every day I had the chance to spend time with my deeply kind and gentle ‘daddy.’ Lord help any person in my household who wanted to watch something else when he was on the television. I was devoted.

This deep seated relationship is important to me. So I was hesitant to watch the documentary for fear this delicate connection could be altered. Thankfully the documentary did not disappoint and neither did the man portrayed by it. Not surprisingly, tears streamed down my face the entire time and as I hoped, my memories were not tarnished. Fred Rogers was a very special man and so was his message.

Imagine my surprise when it also slowly dawned on me that one of his main messages for children which he repeated consistently was that they were each unique and special.

“You are a very special person. There is only one like you in the whole world. There’s never been anyone exactly like you before, and there will never be again.” Fred Rogers

As a child I received this message repeatedly and it is firmly planted in my DNA. It is something I simply believe with all my heart. I now realize this is one of the reasons I connected so deeply to Human Design and why I feel compelled to share it. We are each unique pieces of the puzzle of humanity meant to connect and work together to reach our full potential. Self awareness and acceptance is key. Everyone is lovable exactly as they are.

Human Design utilizes astrology, the Chinese I-Ching, Hindu Chakras, the Kabbalah Tree of Life, and Quantum Physics to create a unique chart that not only describes your personality but also how you energetically interact with others. Just like an astrological chart, no chart is the same. So it simply isn’t possible to be like anyone else. Even twins with the exact same chart express their energies in different ways at different times. Because each and every energy defined by the chart also has the capacity for low expression and high expression.

There is a lot of talk in Human Design about no choice and while I do agree we are not particularly in control of our life path, I also strongly believe we do have the choice to strive towards the highest expression of our chart.

Human Design teaches us when we try to be something we are not, it is called ‘not self’ behavior which inevitably results in anger, frustration, bitterness, or disappointment.

Fred Rogers chose to use his platform to teach little children that it is OK to be themselves. That they were lovable and likable exactly as they are. As a little girl with loads of Individual Circuitry (which in other words meant I felt like a complete weirdo), that message was so very important to hear.

“As human beings, our job in life is to help people realize how rare and valuable each one of us really is, that each of us has something that no one else has - or ever will have - something inside that is unique to all time. It’s our job to encourage each other to discover that uniqueness and to provide ways of developing its expression.”

How could I resist running this very special man’s chart?

At the time of Fred Rogers’ birth, the sun was transiting the Gate of LOVE OF SPIRIT. Venus and Mercury were also transiting the gate of SPIRIT or FAITH which means he valued SPIRIT and felt compelled to talk about having faith in SPIRIT. This was a man of faith. He was an ordained minister and very much treated his television show as his ministry in the very best sense of the word.

LOVE OF SPIRIT, LOVE OF THE BODY, LOVE OF SELF, and LOVE OF HUMANITY are all gates defined at the time of his birth by the sun and the earth which make up what we call his Incarnation Cross. The Right Angle Cross of The Vessel of Love.

Fred Rogers was the embodiment of LOVE.

With a split definition he had two sides to his personality. On one hand he was a creature of habit and PATTERNS with deep powers of physical COMMITMENT and PERSEVERANCE as evidenced by his daily morning swim and strict adherence to maintaining a weight of exactly 143. Which by the way was deeply spiritual symbolism for him representing I(1) LOVE(4) YOU(3). His highly disciplined COMMITMENT to his ideals was an expression of his spirituality.

On the other hand he was an enormously emotional, creative person who dealt with emotional crashes from time to time that were slow to climb back up to a happy, contented place. As such, he was devoted to helping children learn how to handle the scope of their emotions. Finding healthy, creative outlets for very strong emotions was a fact of life for him. This connection to the full spectrum of emotions I think allowed him to stay connected to how he felt as a child and therefore understand how children felt. He was also someone with a deeply adventurous bent who hated to be bored. So I think this also made him a child at heart. His ability to pick up a puppet and immediately tap into his emotions was part of his gift.

“Confronting our feelings and giving them appropriate expression always takes strength, not weakness.”

He was unfortunately plagued by self DOUBT but this energy kept him quite humble and also an astute observer and critic of how the power of television can shape minds in both positive and negative ways.

He chose to use the medium to teach children how to accept themselves and also how to be kind and neighborly to the people in their lives. He chose to LEAD by example.

“There have been so many stories about the lack of courtesy, the impatience of today’s world, road rage and even restaurant rage. Sometimes, all it takes is one kind word to nourish another person. Think of the ripple effect that can be created when we nourish someone. One kind, empathetic word has a wonderful way of turning into many.”

Just as angry actions and words can have a ripple effect, so can kindness and love. Not everyone is built to be a Vessel of Love. But we can choose when at all possible to be KIND.

Please, won’t you be my neighbor?