--- title: The "Do What You Need to Do to Cope" Meme Understands How Crazy Life Can Be description: Twitter's latest self-care meme is a sarcastic take on justifying reasons to do crazy things. canonical: https://time.com/5759884/cope-meme/ author: Raisa Bruner article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2020-01-06T19:34:53.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T08:01:11.294Z og:title: The "Do What You Need to Do to Cope" Meme Is Here For You og:description: The latest Twitter meme is about more than just justifying canceling plans og:url: https://time.com/5759884/cope-meme/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: The "Do What You Need to Do to Cope" Meme Is Here For You twitter:description: The latest Twitter meme is about more than just justifying canceling plans twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # No One Understands the Hectic Things You Do With Your Life Like the 'Whatever You Need to Do to Cope' Meme > Sponsored content. 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Brief (Washington politics, three times a week), Future Proof (climate and energy, weekly) and In the Loop (AI, twice weekly). All are free at time.com/newsletters and together reach more than 1.1 million engaged readers. #### Which TIME newsletter should I subscribe to? It depends on what you follow. For a daily briefing, The Brief. For health, Health Matters. For Washington politics, D.C. Brief. For AI and technology, In the Loop. For climate and energy as a business story, Future Proof. For culture recommendations, Worth Your Time. For how TIME's journalism gets made, Inside TIME. Readers can select any combination at time.com/newsletters. #### Are TIME's newsletters free? Yes. All seven TIME newsletters are free to join at time.com/newsletters. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes TIME's newsletters? TIME journalists write them. Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement.  by [Raisa Bruner](https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner Jan 6, 2020 7:34 PM UTC  by [Raisa Bruner](https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner Jan 6, 2020 7:34 PM UTC [Life is hard](https://time.com/5759197/cultural-sites-iran/). Twitter understands. The latest [self-care](https://time.com/5625371/moose-in-sprinkler-alaska/) meme to [sweep](https://time.com/5720246/best-memes/) the social media site is all about prioritizing yourself and doing what you need to do to get by. “Cancelling plans is OK,” it usually starts out. That’s decent advice! But then things usually take a turn — and readers will be surprised by the actions that are deemed acceptable in order to cope. That’s because users have been converting the plots of different movies — from[ _Mamma Mia!_ ](https://time.com/5347210/mamma-mia-challenge/)to last year’s indie thriller [_Midsommar_](https://time.com/5615615/midsommar-movie-review/) to critical favorite [_Parasite_](https://time.com/5697795/bong-joon-ho-parasite-interview/) to classic _Shrek_ — into the formula of the meme. In the process, they’ve been ironically justifying everything from singing Abba songs to casual murder in the name of coping. “Do what you need to do to cope,” the tweets inevitable end, wryly. > [](https://twitter.com/filmgurlthot/status/1212882921541046279) > [](https://twitter.com/ULTRAGLOSS/status/1213507425996853248) > [](https://twitter.com/Igbtpoes/status/1213610601739673600) > [](https://twitter.com/jjomarch/status/1213210396657672192) > [](https://twitter.com/houseandhens/status/1214039200951087104) Spoiler alert: most of this advice should _not_ be taken seriously. But since when has Twitter ever actually been positive for our [collective mental health?](https://time.com/5390750/twitter-follower-counts/) In any case, welcome to 2020, where the memes are already flowing freely. 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