Playlist: Everything Is Terrible But Also Ultimately OK

Maybe you shrunk your favorite t-shirts in the dryer and suddenly all your clothes feel like they belong to someone else and you hate them. Maybe you just broke up with the live-in girlfriend you’ve been dating for three to five years and now you can’t remember what pizza toppings you used to get before you switched to her order. Maybe you’re nonplussed by your day job in both senses of the word and daydream of fleeing to the Pacific Northwest to live with your A-camp cabin, but realize it’s highly financially impractical at this time, and also, you’ve never visited Seattle and possibly you wouldn’t even like it.

Maybe none of these situations apply to you, and maybe it’s just me, and maybe we’re all alone in this world after all. Wouldn’t that be terrible. Yup, everything is terrible… but also ultimately OK.

Right?

Whatever’s currently happening to you is almost definitely not the worst thing that has ever happened to a person. It’s probably not even the worst thing that has happened to you personally. (Or maybe it is! I guess don’t know your life. But the odds are in your favor.)

Regardless, I made playlist this for you. I hope when you listen to it, you’re reminded of how OK things really are/were/will be.

Take care.


Be Calm – Fun.
I’ll Be Fine – AARON WRIGHT
Fine! – Mal Blum
Don’t Panic – Coldplay
Everything Is OK – Ben Lee
Keep Breathing – Ingrid Michaelson
It’s Going To Be Alright – Sara Groves
L.I.F.E.G.O.E.S.O.N. – Noah And The Whale
Que Sera Sera – Doris Day
Don’t Look Back – She & Him
Ding Dong – Nellie McKay
We Are Okay – Joshua Radin
Float On – Modest Mouse
Fix You Up – Tegan And Sara
Don’t Let It Get You Down – Spoon

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Laura Mandanas

Laura Mandanas is a Filipina American living in Boston. By day, she works as an industrial engineer. By night, she is beautiful and terrible as the morn, treacherous as the seas, stronger than the foundations of the Earth. All shall love her and despair. Follow her: @LauraMWrites.

Laura has written 210 articles for us.

52 Comments

  1. Love this playlist. Keep Breathing and Float On are my go-to comfort songs. (Sometimes accompanied by watching the scene from Grey’s Anatomy where Meredith cuts Cristina out of her wedding dress while Ingrid Michaelson plays in the background).

    • TV can be so comforting! I am currently watching all of The Good Wife and it’s great.

      • I binge-watched the first 5 seasons of The Good Wife earlier this summer! It’s a show that I’m sort of surprised I like, but that is just really enjoyable and kind of smart while still being fluffy. I really like how all of the judges have very distinct personalities and get built into the different storylines rather than being almost-props in a procedural.

        I hope Amazon Prime puts up season 6 soon.

        • Yes! And there are complex story arcs, but not so complex that I have difficulty following them (like Game of Thrones or Orphan Black this last season). It’s just good, smart writing. Really into it.

  2. I definitely wrote down that quote from Rachel when that awesome list of things she said came out, and I refer to it often. Today though, I really really needed this, so thank you Laura and also (always) Rachel.

  3. I enjoy this playlist and just want to reassure you that YOU’D LOVE SEATTLE and to not give up on our A-camp communal home.

    • That is very reassuring, actually. I WILL KEEP THE FLAME ALIVE IN MY HEART. (And try to visit sometime in the next year, because that just seems necessary.)

      • I will second this: I thought no place would ever hold a candle to NYC and then Seattle happened and I fell in love and am making semi-official plans to move out there.

    • This makes me very excited! Come visit the land of coffee and flannel! We welcome you. <3

    • Yeah I’ve been listening to these at work all week and it was a good choice!

  4. I moved to Los Angeles this morning and am living with my future mother in law while my lady and I look for work. This playlist could not have come at a better time. Thank you!

  5. Did you read my journal?! I’m definitely nonplussed (I love the dichotomy of the two definitions and how perfectly they both apply) with my job/life at the moment …and currently planning a trip to Seattle to see if I’d like it.

    I love playlists, so much, and I love this one. Thanks for sharing.

    Also this is my first comment after lurking around here everyday for like a year, I feel weird… Hi?

    • Hi! It’s nice to hear from you, and I hope your Seattle trip goes well. :)

      • Thanks :) It’s actually more of a plan to make a plan to make a trip but maybe I’ll actually get it done before summer is over…. We’ll see.

  6. Whoa AS, you know what’s going on with my life. There’s a lot of hard stuff going on, to say the least. But I know things are gonna be OK, ultimately. Thanks for the playlist!

  7. I love this playlist. “We live in a beautiful world (yeah we do, yeah we do).”

  8. This is so perfect and soothing. I’m going to listen to it in the car and when falling asleep and after I hear Donald Trump say anything.

  9. Oh jeeze, I was having the worst 2 hours ever, like the kind that make you feel like the whole day must have been 100 percent terrible and life will never ever be not terrible again… And then I was scrolling through Facebook trying to get strategy ideas and THIS post popped up and it’s so perfect and now I can stay up all night working and feel way less horrible and miserable so THANK YOU I LOVE YOU <3

  10. 1. I thought a girl and I were connecting. Turns out she’s only interested in her professional networking group, and has stopped all communication that doesn’t have to do with that. 2. I’m one semester away from finishing a master’s program and have literally no idea what I’m going to do next. 3. I’m stressed out about paying back the loans from said graduate program. 4. I unleashed a swarm of fruit flies in my office today. 5. I turned 30 this year and feel like I should have A LOT more figured out by now.

    But a friend just came over and we drank all the wine and bonded with my roommate. Maybe, just MAYBE, everything will be ok.

  11. Hi! If its not too much trouble can some of the more recent playlists be made available on 8tracks? Spotify isn’t available everywhere (I’m not from the US). Thanks :)

  12. amazing, how did you know this is the thing I needed right now in this moment? ty for this.

  13. Just to echo everyone – this is perfect and *exactly* what I needed… Thank you!

  14. This playlist has been on repeat since you posted it. THANKS FOR READING MY MIND. <3

  15. But really, what DID I order on pizza before? And like, what should I be buying at the grocery store. I don’t remember how to cook for just one person and I hate leftovers and grocery shopping and like can I call her and ask her to go grocery shopping for me? I am moving in 37 days to Denver and I keep hoping that I’ll get a breakup hookup with her before I leave. Is that a real thing that happens to people?

  16. Its sad how often I listen to my own playlist with this theme. One I’d definitely add is “Comes and Goes in Waves” by Greg Laswell.

  17. I just got diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder. This is exactly what I needed. So thanks a bunch :)

  18. Laura, I love your taste in music. I feel like a creeper, but I followed a bunch of your spotify playlists after I listened to this playlist. So good.

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