I am not just a little obsessed with this phrase.
While in the UK two weeks ago, I saw it everywhere. In shop windows, on merchandise, and printed and framed on display in private homes. It’s such a lovely encouragement. Makes you feel like you do once you’ve had a good cup of tea. Mind you, not a cup made from our new police commissioner Mangwashi Phiyega’s type of tea. By the way did you see this? The best quote of the weekend was from Phiyega in the City Press on Sunday:

“A woman is like a teabag. You can never know the strength of that teabag until you put it in boiling water and you can see whether you are dealing with strong tea.”

I prefer a weak Earl Grey tea.

But back to Keep Calm and Carry On. The UK has just been through a lovely and positive publicity stint. It was a national attempt to boost the British morale, and it seemed to work. Using their Queen’s diamond jubilee was a good way to do so. There clearly was a spring in the national UK step.

According to Wikipedia, Keep Calm and Carry On was originally a poster produced by the British government in 1939 at the beginning of the Second World War. Its purpose then, not dissimilar to its current purpose, was intended to raise the morale of the British public. Then, there was the threat of invasions and of bombing by the Germans. Now, there is a general glumness about the economy, unemployment, state of education, healthcare and the future of the world.

For me in South Africa, far away from the UK, the little saying helps boost my mood.