I came up with the tagline, KEEP CALM AND CHA CHA ON, in October 2010. I had just been laid off from my job, thus losing the lifeline of my twenty-six-year-old autonomy, money. All I wanted was to move to California, away from my parents, Dr. and Mrs. Judgmentalstein.*
Unfortunately, I couldn’t move to California. At least, not right away. First, I had to finish my master’s degree at New York University. —It may sound pretentious but that doesn’t make it any less of a toxic time to be me.
Anyway, I started using it as a mantra. Keep Calm and Cha Cha On. —For brevity, I will skip evidentiary examples of the forces I was up against during my last 10 months on the east coast. In short, Keep Calm and Cha Cha On helped me to keep calm and keep going.
So one day, I updated my Facebook status: Keep Calm and Cha Cha On.
My mother commented: Are you ok?!
I replied: I’m fine. It’s a tagline!
That was the end of the exchange, both on Facebook and IRL (in real life). She never mentioned it again. Not even to comment on how silly (and genius) of a tagline it was! Tough crowd. But then again, you don’t get a nickname like Judgmentalstein for taking things lightly.
What’s the point? Well, I have a few. (In No Particular Order of Importance)
- My name is Charlotte. Friends and family call me Cha Cha.
- Keep Calm and Cha Cha On means keep calm and do your thing. Trust yourself. You go girl! You got this.
- It’s a tagline!… though, come to think of it, it might be more of a catchphrase. Sorry, mom.
Keep Calm. The mantra means just as much today as in 2010. I don’t know what the f*ck is going to happen. But I do know that I’m going to keep cha cha-ing— whatever that may mean.
We are about to find out together.
One day at a time. You’re doing great.
Keep calm and cha cha on.
*Judgmentalstein is not their real last name. It’s a joke. *:p
