"If you can keep your head when those about you are losing theirs you are a man my son". Or words to that effect someone said. Know what?

Hi, Rosie!

Rudyard Kipling wrote the poem "If" around 1895, so his idea of what it means to be "a man" might be outdated in some regards.

But I believe the question here, and one that occupied me directly for a long time, is whether stoicism equates to indifference. I don't think it does. Keeping a level head could at times be the same as not caring, but of what use is it to "lose one's head"?

Not only do I reckon it's possible to feel strongly about something without reacting very emotionally -- generally I'd also say it's very important not to cross a certain line, and to balance emotional feeling with rational action. Otherwise, when we get too worked up, it's very easy to end up undermining our own efforts: fostering that which we fear or distancing what we hold dear.

Happy Wednesday!