Many of us grew up with Mr. Rogers… well, my kids did. Perhaps because I was already in middle school when the “Neighborhood” first aired, I’m more of a Captain Kangaroo product!

PositivelyPositive.com posted a nice piece paying tribute to Mr. Rogers recently. I offered a brief response on the PositivelyPositive website. Here’s the tribute and my response:

 

The Tribute:

“I went to see the Mr. Rogers movie last week (“Won’t You Be My Neighbor”) and found it as heartwarming and uplifting as I expected.

If you’re able to see it in a theatre, don’t hesitate. At the screening I attended, everyone applauded at the end. This doesn’t happen much in Portland, Oregon. It felt like we were on a flight landing in Miami from Central America (it’s a thing).

 

Afterwards I stumbled on an article that details the level of precision that Fred Rogers put into editing the language used on his show. The man was relentlessly focused on connecting with children. He would go back and edit previous episodes if he found they no longer stood up, or if language had changed and required an update.

The article shows how a simple sentence would be deconstructed over and over:

1. “State the idea you wish to express as clearly as possible, and in terms preschoolers can understand.” Example: It is dangerous to play in the street.
2. “Rephrase in a positive manner,” as in It is good to play where it is safe.
3. “Rephrase the idea, bearing in mind that preschoolers cannot yet make subtle distinctions and need to be redirected to authorities they trust.” As in, Ask your parents where it is safe to play.
4. “Rephrase your idea to eliminate all elements that could be considered prescriptive, directive, or instructive.” In the example, that’d mean getting rid of “ask”: Your parents will tell you where it is safe to play.
5. “Rephrase any element that suggests certainty.” That’d be “will”: Your parents can tell you where it is safe to play.
6. “Rephrase your idea to eliminate any element that may not apply to all children.” Not all children know their parents, so: Your favorite grown-ups can tell you where it is safe to play.
7. “Add a simple motivational idea that gives preschoolers a reason to follow your advice.” Perhaps: Your favorite grown-ups can tell you where it is safe to play. It is good to listen to them.
8. “Rephrase your new statement, repeating the first step.” “Good” represents a value judgment, so: Your favorite grown-ups can tell you where it is safe to play. It is important to try to listen to them.
9. “Rephrase your idea a final time, relating it to some phase of development a preschooler can understand.” Maybe: Your favorite grown-ups can tell you where it is safe to play. It is important to try to listen to them, and listening is an important part of growing.

I so admire the precision of this work. When I write a major talk—the kind I’ll give over and over in a dozen or more cities—I try to think a lot about the words I use, the examples I provide, and so on. Of course, I’m no Fred Rogers.

But the point is every word, every sentence, and every inflection matters. Language matters!

To give oneself so fully to something, and then do it over and over again every single day for decades… it’s no wonder the man made such an impact on so many people. This kind of consistency and important to detail is all too rare.

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Chris Guillebeau is the New York Times bestselling author of The Happiness of Pursuit, The $100 Startup, and other books. During a lifetime of self-employment, he visited every country in the world (193 in total) before his 35th birthday. Every summer in Portland, Oregon he hosts the World Domination Summit, a gathering of creative, remarkable people. His new book, Born for This, will help you find the work you were meant to do. Connect with Chris on Twitter, on his blog, or at your choice of worldwide airline lounge.

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My Posted response:

I am likewise no Mr. Rogers… yet I believe deeply in simplicity. Nature, too, prefers simplicity. Even in seemingly complex ecosystems, life distills to relationships between an organism and its neighbors and environment.

Having served as president at four universities, I always instructed my leadership team members to deliver even the most complicated issues to the governing Board in a manner that a sixth-grader could understand. Not because the Board had difficulty understanding complexity… but because I wanted my folks to do the incredibly hard work of simplifying the concept and its nuances.

Mr. Rogers mastered the art of simplifying adult-worthy messages. I believe that he shared my conviction that every lesson for leading, serving, learning, and living is written indelibly in Nature or is powerfully inspired by Nature.

May Nature inspire all that you do!

This morning (May 5, 2018) Positively-Positive, a global website with more than a million subscribers, posted a pilot essay I had submitted for their consideration: http://www.positivelypositive.com/…/positive-living-by-har…/

I am actively seeking to spread the gospel of Nature-Inspired Learning and Leading. This is a positive step!

Note: That’s not me standing atop the hill in silhouette — I’m the old guy sitting in the chair by the bookshelf!

The Blog Post text

Louis Bromfield, a mid-twentieth century novelist and playwright, published some thirty books, each one a best-seller. Several evolved into Hollywood movies, yet Bromfield chose to devote his life to rehabilitating the “old worn out Ohio farm” he purchased in the 1930s. He wrote of his mission in his non-fiction Pleasant Valley: “The adventure at Malabar is by no means finished… The land came to us out of eternity and when the youngest of us associated with it dies, it will still be here. The best we can hope to do is to leave the mark of our fleeting existence upon it, to die knowing that we have changed a small corner of this Earth for the better by wisdom, knowledge, and hard work.” Isn’t that what all of us should strive to achieve? To live our lives fulfilling our own destiny… and, to change some small corner of this Earth for the better? Such is the core of my current Life-mission.

Why This Mission?

Dad died February 13, 1995. I was still running competitively then. I did a ten-mile loop the memorial service morning, departing as dawn began painting the eastern sky. Mid-single digit readings encouraged a quick early pace to bring warmth to my extremities. I floated, calm in the crisp silence, heading down to the winding road along Evitts Creek.

North-bound, the road flanked the creek’s west bank, some 100 feet above the mostly ice-covered stream. Three and a half miles into the loop, movement at an ice-free sharp turn with mild rapids caught my eye. Hitting the stop watch, I paused, looking east below me, squinting into the sun nosing above the ridge.

A great blue heron stood, shrouded in mist rising from the exposed water. We locked eyes, the magnificent bird watching me as intently as I gazed at him (I automatically assigned male gender, not wondering why). My quiet run had focused on thoughts of Dad – our many adventures in nature — fishing, camping, hiking, and observing. He loved herons. Their still, patient, deliberate, yet stilt-legged, awkward movements. Their lightning strike to nail a next meal. Their regal flight when, in lifting, those ungainly legs become one with the sleek flight profile.

We maintained eye contact for perhaps a minute, and then he rose, effortlessly. Not heading up or down the waterway, but rising in slow spirals, ever skyward. I lost him when his flight crossed the rising sun, tears blurring my vision. I stood a moment, continuing to search the sky, but to no avail. I hit the stopwatch and resumed the loop, wiping tears as I ran. Dad had just said goodbye.

Since that long-ago winter morning, Dad occasionally makes a symbolic appearance – a farm pond; a beaver dam; in flight. The tears return. Warm memories flood. Dad is with me. He always will be.

Thanks to him, I am a lifetime outdoor enthusiast. Now, at 45 years past my bachelor’s degree in forestry, I am convinced that nature communicates every lesson for living, learning, serving, and leading indelibly, repeatedly, and powerfully. Not all of Nature’s messages are lessons. Some are symbols, from which we draw inspiration and comfort. I know that Dad lives in me. Heron reminds me, freshens the memories, and deepens my gratitude. I suppose there is a lesson embedded in the imagery – that we all owe much to those who shaped us. That we should never forget that we grow from seeds others have sowed and nurtured. That nothing shapes us more than love.

We all owe much to those who shaped us. We should never forget that we grow from seeds others have sowed and nurtured and that nothing shapes us more than love. – Steve Jones (Click to Tweet!)

Yes, Dad said goodbye, yet he holds me tightly. I should have thanked him more often, more clearly. He knows, I am sure. He occasionally stops by to tip his wings, grab a fish, or wade through the shallows.

Looking Ahead

I am living each day to its fullest – I am fulfilling my own destiny… and, striving to change some small corner of this Earth for the better. I can offer reflections on how, through Harnessing Nature’s Power and Wisdom, Positively Positive participants can as well.

Leonardo da Vinci saw Nature’s Beauty, Wisdom, and Simplicity some 500 years ago:

“What induces you, oh man, to depart from your home in town, to leave parents and friends, and go to the countryside over mountains and valleys, if it is not for the beauty of the world of nature?”

“Human subtlety will never devise an invention more beautiful, more simple or more direct than does nature because in her inventions nothing is lacking, and nothing is superfluous.”

Nature offers infinite lessons rich with inspiration and humility. Nature’s ways are purpose-driven, passion-fueled, and results-oriented. Of that I am positive – positively positive!

Nature-Inspired Learning and Leading – it’s my passion; it’s Dad’s spirit!

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Steve Jones is a lifelong Nature enthusiast (BS forestry; PhD in applied ecology) who eventually stumbled into higher education administration. A retired university CEO (four universities), he is now dedicating his life to applying Nature’s lessons for living, learning, serving, and leading by way of writing, speaking, and boutique consulting. Steve’s mission is to change some small corner of the Earth for the better through wisdom, knowledge, and hard work.

The Write Launch recently posted an essay chronicling a rather daring bike ride from my Ohio days: https://thewritelaunch.com/2017/07/steves-foolish-weather-dare/.

The lessons I learned apply to much of living, learning, serving, and leading.

My concluding remarks from the essay:

“A towering thunderstorm reminds me that I am of little consequence. And that same storm instructs me that I have an obligation to extend nature’s lessons and inspiration to others. Spreading the gospel of Earth Stewardship is the small price I must pay for enjoying the magic and wonder of this world that sustains us from conception to death. I pledge to devote my remaining days to Nature-Inspired Learning and Leading. To Applying Nature’s Wisdom to Life and Work. So much of nature’s wonder can be condensed in 30-minute lessons.

All we need do is get off the porch. Mount your steed. Test your limits. Challenge yourself. Pursue inspiration. Embrace humility. Make a difference. Live. Learn. Serve. Lead.”

 

Featured Image: A storm across Big Blue Lake… not the Ohio biking storm that I raced.