My favourite saying of all time (although one I don't heed nearly often enough) is "don't panic." It comes from The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, which I think I bought in a bookstore in PEI while on holiday at the age of 11 or so and read repeatedly when I was young. This is my copy, which now resides in my kids' bookshelves. Ah, for the days when a book was only $2.95 ... but I digress.
One of the main characters, Ford Prefect, is "a roving researcher for that wholly remarkable book, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy." He carries a copy of it in a satchel around his neck. The book is actually electronic because it's so humongous, and it has "DON'T PANIC printed on it in large friendly letters."
"Don't Panic" is also the name of the opening song on one of my favourite albums of all time, Coldplay's Parachutes. (I think the band are fans of The Hitchhiker's Guide as well.)
I decided to start a blog the other day and immediately realized I needed a catchy title (thanks, Wix). Frick. I figured I could just start writing without having to be super-smart right off the bat, but it turns out I was wrong. So I played around a little bit with the idea of "don't panic," and this is what I came up with. I quite like it. It's inspiring, contradictory and evokes two things that always make me happy.
I do tend to panic, but in general, I think life on earth is pretty fantastic, and I intend to write about things I think are fantastic: writing, books, music, gardening, my dog, love, mountain biking, the ocean, snowboarding, etc.
There. That's the catchy title out of the way.