Your Being You

Mr. Rogers used to finish every episode of Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood in the same way:

“You make each day a special day. You know how, by just your being you. There’s only one person in this whole world like you.”

This was a daily mantra for kids to internalize, and I think that the word ‘your’ must have been intentional. Because it would be far less clunky to say,

“You make each day special. You know how, by just being you. There’s only one person in this whole world like you.”

But he chose to say, “By just your being you.”

I think he meant for us to feel a connection to this experience of being ourselves — that our uniqueness was ours, and something to marvel about, take in, internalize, and own.

–Renee Roederer