It’s All Good in the ‘Hood

The meme says it all: “We still want to go to the Land of Make-Believe.”

It shows Mister Rogers holding King Friday.

Oh, how I want to go back there.

Mister Roger’s Neighborhood was my favorite television show in my preschool years, and I considered the host my friend—my “homie in the ‘hood,” if you will, an adult who talked to me on my level and cared about my dreams, my fears, and other aspects of my life. Mind you, I was raised by attentive, loving parents, but Mister Rogers was still an important part of my childhood.

I would get most excited about the Land of Make Believe segments, with Trolley whisking me off to another world. I looked at that setting through the innocent eyes of Daniel Tiger; I laughed at King Friday and his self-importance; I meow-meow-meowed with Henrietta Pussycat.

One thing I have to admit . . . I was often scared of Lady Elaine.

Don’t judge me—she could be a mean woman. Well, not really a woman, more like an unanimated puppet whose lips couldn’t even move. And I guess she was more mischievous than anything, but she still got to me at times. That was the power of Make-Believe.

When my sons were small, I got to revisit the program and to enjoy it on a different level, sharing a piece of my childhood with them. A few years ago they even bought me a t-shirt featuring Rogers’ picture with the phrase “It’s All Good in the ‘Hood.”

When I saw the aforementioned meme online recently, it hit me: Mister Rogers also helped develop my imagination. The Land of Make-Believe was a place where the possibilities were endless. As an only child, I spent a lot of time by myself, so I took the cue from Rogers and made up my own characters and worlds. On any given day I would be a superhero, a captain of a ship, or even a mischievous museum owner.

I owe at least some of my creativity (I know, you’re thinking, he has creativity?) to the show and to that time spent entertaining myself.

As writers, we get to play “make-believe” with our characters and our plots. We conjure up our own lands populated with interesting people and even some stinkers like Lady Elaine. A pretty good gig, if you ask me.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have some more meow-meow-meow writing to do.