Those who know me know that I am a very proud, and loyal, Taylor Swift fan. For a very long time, I have been inspired by Taylor and her capability of staying true to herself. It is impossible for me to explain exactly how much Taylor has shaped who I am, but I hope that throughout this post you are able to gain a slight understanding of how much I admire the person Taylor is.
I have always been thankful for my anomaly, but just like any person, I have my insecurities. There are some days where I question the cards I have been dealt, but one time many years ago I heard something Taylor said, and to this day it has stuck to me and I remind myself of it every time I who I am: “you’re lucky enough to be different, never change.” That one phrase has become a life motto for me and I can’t thank Taylor enough for teaching me something that has made me appreciate my uniqueness in ways I never imagined were possible.
To give some context on how much Taylor has helped me in just about every aspect of my life, I thought that I’d share some of her songs and how they relate to my life… When I think of how thankful I am for all of my best friends, I think of “I’m Only Me When I’m With You.” When my sister found her first love, we sang her “Hey Stephen (insert boy’s name).” And to this day, I sing my younger friends “Fifteen” whenever they get into high school. When one of my sisters and I shared a room and we would argue, when she locked me out I’d sit outside the door and sing “Mean” (we still laugh about this today). When I had my first crush, I danced around my room and belted out “Enchanted.” When someone close to me lost her best friend and spiraled into a hole of bad decisions, I sang her “Innocent.” And this past April when I danced on a nationals stage one last time with my sister (the same one I sang “Mean” to all those years ago) we sang “Long Live” and cried while reminiscing on all of the great times we had dancing together. I sing “Ours” once a week as a reminder that when you sing “I love the gap between your teeth” you are in fact singing a lyric for me because of the tooth that I have missing right in the front of my smile. My favorite song to dance around the kitchen to is “Holy Ground.” My sister and I sing “All Too Well” together to remember her first love and how it changed us all. I am always singing “You Are In Love” because to me that song describes love in the most perfect way (even though I have never been in love). I can honestly say that “New Romantics” is my favorite Thursday night dance party jam. And “Shake It Off” reminds me to always love myself for who I am and to never let anyone else change me. One last song that I think will always be the most influential and memorable, for me, is “Fearless.” This is the song that got me accepted into college because I wrote my application essay on its inspiring lyrics, this is the song that I have painted across my walls, this is the song that taught me to take chances, to be fearless because sometimes FIVE SECONDS OF FEARLESSNESS can change your whole entire life. While this is only a handful of Taylor’s songs, I think that they are a strong representation of how each of her songs can give a message that represents any moment in my life.
I hope that one day I can share this with Taylor and thank her for how much she has unknowingly changed me; even if that day never comes, I will always be thankful to have been inspired by her and all she has done. I’ve written all of this as an attempt to show why I look up to Taylor, and I hope that some of you are able to understand how influential someone like Taylor can be—it’s not because she’s “famous,” it’s because of how she has used her popularity to show others that being true to who you are is one of the greatest gifts you can give yourself.
five seconds of fearlessness 