As a native Pittsburgher I grew up on the couch watching Mr. Rogers. I remember the land of make believe, the trolley sound effects and Mr. Rogers himself. As a young child at face value, he was a happy man who seemed to go through the world with the playfulness of a child. I viewed the land of Make Believe as incredibly creative, and I enjoyed all the tiny lessons Mr. Rogers taught throughout the entirety of his show. I traveled to a movie theater in Pittsburgh today, and I watched a documentary about him for the first time, and I was brought to tears. I was brought to tears for a few reasons which are hard to put into words, but I will do my best here: 

1. There are genuinely decent people in this world. As people, we tend to get caught up in all the negativity, but many people around the world are trying to help the world. It is an undeniable fact. Choosing to dwell amongst these individuals is the choice one must make on their own in addition to the realization that good does exist. 

2. Children are beings with feelings. They internalize many emotions and we must be open and willing to listen. 

3. There was a moment in the documentary where Daniel Tiger (who was essentially Mr. Rogers himself) is explaining that he feels completely worthless. Lady Fairchild reassures Daniel Tiger that he is indeed special and unique and no one is just like him which makes him beautiful. However, instead of having Daniel's doubts disappear, Mr. Rogers decides to have both individuals sing a duet where Daniet is singing about his feelings of self-worth and his doubts and Lady Fairchild is simultaneously singing about how he is special. Mr. Rogers was an extraordinary man, but I think sometimes when you are doing the work that requires you to sift through the rawest of emotions, you do begin to self-doubt. Even Mr. Rogers was overwhelmed by these inner-thoughts at times. You begin to wonder if what you are doing is actual good or if it is making an impact or if it is making a difference. Doubts are not necessarily evils but just small ingredients to remind you that you care about the world and even more, you care about what you are doing to try to help. No success comes without self-doubt rather self-doubt travels hand and hand with self-reflection.

4. Mr. Rogers wanted everyone in this world to know their inner-self. Interestingly, watching his documentary, you really learned about the intricacies of one extraordinary man who traveled along a winding path until he ultimately ended up where he wanted to be (or rather...what he wanted to travel deeper into.) This leads me to my final point and that is...Why is it that Fred Rogers never seemed to be fully satisfied with his journey? Don't get me wrong, his ability to teach child psychology and minister and counsel through a medium such as as television was certainly his life's mission and his vocation. He found his passion yet the pathway always, in his mind, appeared unfinished. And so for those of us out there who are still searching for our vocation or perhaps, those of us who have found our vocation but continue to travel down an adventurous path, it was important for me to realize that perhaps a true vocation always yields unfinished results. I think a true passion is not necessarily one that leaves us empty or dissatisfied but one that never truly closes. A journey is afterall constant development of one's mission and passion and, if we are constantly trying to do our best work, then we come to realize that goodness cannot always be fully reached-for there is always room for more love, more growth, more change to make this world a beautiful place. 

I know longer see Mr. Roger's word "neighborhood" as just a neighborhood. He wanted all of us to recognize our neighborhood or our community, our world, our family and our small part, important part within it. Neighbor is a humbling term because it does not contain arrogance. When you are a neighbor, you are existing not for yourself but for others, for your community, for the world. The word automatically looks beyond the self into a humble space of inspiration where it focuses on being a small part of a group rather than an individual. For change to exist, a group of people must come to terms with the fact that they are neighbors that exist to help one another-looking beyond self into our larger world. This is what generates kindness and the ultimate human sacrifice-LOVE.