{"id":733,"date":"2009-11-04T13:40:00","date_gmt":"2009-11-04T13:40:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/freshliving\/2009\/11\/for-big-birds-birthday-lessons-we-learned-from-sesame-street.html"},"modified":"2009-11-04T13:40:00","modified_gmt":"2009-11-04T13:40:00","slug":"for-big-birds-birthday-lessons-we-learned-from-sesame-street","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/freshliving\/2009\/11\/for-big-birds-birthday-lessons-we-learned-from-sesame-street.html","title":{"rendered":"For Big Bird’s Birthday: Lessons We Learned from Sesame Street"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Thumbnail<\/span> <\/p>\n

Next Tuesday is the 40th anniversary of Sesame Street!  What a flood of nostalgia just those two S-words bring up.  Our entertainment editor is collecting those memories–and the life lessons that go with them–over on our sister blog Idol Chatter<\/a>.  Here’s what I contributed:<\/p>\n

“When I’m Itchy, I Scratch”<\/strong><\/p>\n

Among the many memorable songs that were
\nsing-in-the-backseat-of-the-car staples of my childhood is the growly,
\nslow, completely frank number from Sesame Street, “When I’m Itchy, I Scratch.” <\/p>\n

The images on the screen were of bison and other big beasts
\nscritching and scratching their backs against trees and rocks, and the
\nlyrics preached an utterly animalistic sort of common sense. “When I’m
\nhungry, I eat. When I’m thirsty, I drink. I get my fires lit up with a
\nmatch, and when I’m itchy, I scratch.” <\/p>\n

Looking at it one way, I suppose the song could be read as the case
\nagainst self-control, doing exactly what you want when you want it. But
\nI think the song has more to do with the virtues of instinct, the
\nsimple categories of needs that we all need to meet–but not exceed. So
\nif you’ll excuse me, I have to go look for a scratch-worthy tree…<\/p>\n

Click here for more Sesame Street anniversary memories, lessons, and wishes.<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n

And don’t miss Valerie’s moving post about how Big Bird is her Power Animal<\/a>.<\/p>\n

And don’t forget to post your own memories!<\/p>\n

Like what you see? <\/strong>Click here to subscribe<\/strong><\/font><\/a> and get Fresh Living in your in-box every day!<\/strong>
<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Next Tuesday is the 40th anniversary of Sesame Street! What a flood of nostalgia just those two S-words bring up. 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A graduate of Cornell University and Harvard Divinity School, she has more than a decade of experience writing about religion and spirituality for Newsweek, The Washington Post, Spa Finder, Sojourners, Search, and many other publications. Her commentaries have also been heard on NPR\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s \u00e2\u20ac\u0153All Things Considered.\" When not at her desk, you can find her baking, in her garden, or rockin' out in water aerobics class. She lives in Arlington, Mass. Visit http:\/\/www.hollyrossi.com for more.","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/freshliving\/author\/hrossi"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/freshliving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/733","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/freshliving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/freshliving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/freshliving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/28"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/freshliving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=733"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/freshliving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/733\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/freshliving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=733"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/freshliving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=733"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/freshliving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=733"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}