[ Becoming Mr. Rogers ]
This may sound like a far-fetched unattainable goal, but I am here to tell you that you can be anything you want. You can be like the great Mr. Rogers.
First of all, Mr. Rogers was not an actor. Isn’t that incredibly encouraging? He was a man who was planning to be a minister until he saw a television show that inspired him to pursue television. Right from the start, his mission was to create a show for children. He did not put his energy in his acting. Instead, he focused on learning more and more about his target audience, children.
At one point, he stopped his pursuit of television to finish out his growth in the seminary. However, his passion to help children in early education kept on growing. He got into the need to understand pediatric psychology and development. From all that he learned with his natural passion, he worked his tail off to create the first educational television show for children. In February 1968, Mr. Rogers had its first week on the air. It was a hit.
Some of you readers may remember the start of his episodes. Mr. Rogers came in the door, changed his shoes, put on his sweater, and fed the fish every time. He did this to his audience into his comfortable home. You may remember the trolley that would leave his home and go into the land of make-believe. I personally recall looking forward to getting out of the boring house by way of the trolley.
Like I said earlier, Mr. Rogers did not take an acting class to improve his craft. That was not his goal. He wanted to make sure he fully understood children and the best way to get and keep them engaged. He did not follow a rule book on how to make his dreams happen. He followed his heart.
Is it possible for any of today’s performers to take on such a mission? Would we be considered a copycat? Would we be considered a fake and only doing it for attention? Absolutely not. No matter your mission in life, you are what makes your goal different. No one else can be you. It is impossible to be a copycat with your individuality.
We all have the capability and creativity to bring something grand to this world. You just have to find something specific, some kind of niche that really speaks to you.
Now let your imagination run wild and live your best life. It can and will be whatever you want to be. Just take that leap and I promise the net will appear.