Mister Rogers — ‘Garden of Your Mind’ Autotuned Video

Published in

Raising a Smart Kid

3 min readNov 11, 2013

I’m not usually a fan of autotuned videos. They’re just not usually funny in a sense that I appreciate, and most of the autotuned videos that I’ve been exposed to are trying to be funny. I do appreciate, however, this beautiful tribute to Mister Rogers. I want to watch this video while I’m in labor in a few weeks, to remind me of the positive, hopeful view of the world and how positive it can seem, especially for a child. “Growing up” can make us more cynical and of the glass-half-empty view, and I like that this video helps recapture, or remind us, that there is so much beauty out there, even if there is also ugliness.

In case you aren’t already familiar with him, Fred Rogers is best-known for the show Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, which he created and hosted from 1968–2001.

I watched Mister Rogers Neighborhood only a few times as a kid, and it’s only as I got older that I really came to appreciate the work that Fred Rogers did. His advocacy and passion are inspiring. In 1969 he almost single-handedly saved PBS and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. His presentation to the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Communications can be seen here. I wasn’t raised in a household that emphasized putting action behind the causes we cared about, but it’s something I’ve become much more focused on as an adult. Seeing the positive benefits from someone like Fred Rogers helps me remember that it isn’t all in vain, that good can come from pushing forward and fighting for causes we believe in. I hope to hold up people like him as real heroes for my daughter to look up to. Thank you, Mister Rogers!