listening with our hearts
Over here, I believe that sometimes we have to turn to the words of others when our own words fail us. I've been turning to Mister Rogers for wisdom often throughout the last year or so, well really for the last 38 years.
Did I tell you the dream I had about him earlier this year? In the dream, I walked into a classroom in the preschool I attended just as the kids were running out to play for recess. Mister Rogers was standing in the classroom. I walked over to him and began to tell him all that his work has meant to me and how he was instrumental in teaching me so much about love as a child. He put his hands on my shoulders and looked me in the eyes and said, "Teachers like you must keep doing the work I was doing."
When I woke up, my first thought was, "I'm so glad I was able to tell him what he meant to me before he died." And after a few moments, my fuzzy, just-awake mind remembered that he's been dead for years. Months later, it still feels real. I have to remind myself that it was a dream, yet I also feel so grateful for that moment with him even if it was imagined.
As you walk through whatever you are walking through in your corner, I hope you'll keep listening with your ears and your heart. I hope you'll keep asking questions, even when it feels awkward and hard. I hope you'll realize that just starting the conversation, whatever it may need to be about, is one step closer to love.
Be kind to each other, to yourself, today,
Liz
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I sent this note to the beautiful souls on my newsletter list over the weekend and thought you might want to read it too. To receive love notes like this in your inbox just about weekly, sign up for my newsletter here.
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