"Keep Calm" - Fuck Off

2016 has not been a productive year for me.  It didn't start well, for health reasons I wasn't able to get much done for a few months, after which yet more health concerns racked my mind, this time that of a very close friend.  The year itself beyond these preoccupations was littered with events around the world that drew focus and attention on a level that has never been so hard to dismiss.  "Keep Calm and Carry On" as they say has at times proven to be the most difficult thing to do.

I do find myself asking why we have to keep calm though.  When you stop and think about it, panic, and fear, are perfectly normal reactions to worrying situations.  These responses are shared not only by humans but by a magnitude of animals we share this planet with.  Really when it comes down to it "Keep Calm and Carry On" really means "Repress It Don't Address It" which is a typically British response to problems.  Is it healthy though?  I know people will argue that panicking achieves nothing, but is that actually true?   Or is it simply seen as such because panic is typically seen as a negative emotion.  I would argue, if you look at crying, a behaviour which was also typically seen as being negative and of no benefit to an individual, and consider the fact that it has been shown that crying can actually be beneficial and therapeutic then consider the fact you wouldn't dream of telling someone at a funeral to stop crying, because something horrible happened where crying is a perfectly reasonable response, so why is the same mentality not extended to moments when moments of equal magnitude happen worthy of panic?

One could argue that most of the negativity associated with panic is to do with control and the idea that someone in a panic is hard to control; if we define the scope of behaviours we are allowed to exhibit as being within the limited scope of behaviours which we can consciously control then we would exhibit very little emotion if any at all. 

I would argue in moments of distress panic is an acceptable response because in the very least it shows you comprehend the severity of the situation.  Only once you accept the severity of a situation can you actually approach it with the weight that is needed.  To "keep calm" is to repress this, and to approach all situations with the same brevity.  I do not believe you should approach a mass shooting with the same mentality you would approach dropping a bottle of wine in a supermarket.  The extremity of your response should be proportionate to the severity of the situation you find yourself in.

So if you want to panic, then do so.  It's perfectly acceptable to show emotion.  Don't "Keep Calm and Carry On" because that's bullshit, it's repression.  It's a message that originated in Britain during the Second World War to motivate people.  Let's be clear here, this was propaganda at the time and it still is, it's repression of emotion.  Do you honestly believe people sitting in shelters beneath the streets of London during the Blitz weren't shitting themselves, weren't worrying about their futures, weren't worrying if they'd surface to find their homes in rubble, and weren't sitting thinking they might go to sleep that night and never wake up again?  Fuck off and don't be so condescending.  Emotion is not a crime.  Repressing it is not healthy.