Taylor Swift Appreciation Post

In the eight years that I've had this blog, I've written about all sorts of magical fairy tale princesses from various types of media, but I rarely focus on real people. That's because the combination of kindness, beauty, and popularity, while still remaining genuine enough to avoid spreading toxic positivity, is nearly impossible to embody in a real-life role model. That is, however, unless your name is Taylor Alison Swift, a woman who makes her money being pretty and witty. I have been a Swifty since the first time I heard "Teardrops on My Guitar" on the radio around 2008, and I am so proud of everything she has accomplished, particularly with her latest album, The Life of a Showgirl, which I think is one of her best yet.

I cannot begin to tell you the number of ways this woman has inspired me in my creative endeavors, relationships, and difficult periods of my life, but that doesn't make me special. She's done the same for millions of people all over the world for the past two decades, reminding us to beware the wrath of masked crusaders and to find that beautiful, beautiful life that shimmers that innocent light back like when we were young. From her very first album, she has transformed personal hardships into happy endings through her writing and passion, proving false the skeptics who thought people want to see her rise but don't want her to reign. To me, that is exactly what a modern princess should be, and that's just the tip of the iceberg. It is impossible to compile a complete list of how much she has given back to fans and her community over the years by donating money to charity, paying her people's medical bills, and including as many fans as possible in her creative projects through secret sessions, exclusive post-concert parties, and more.

These are just two of the photos I personally took at Taylor Swift's Fearless tour in 2010 at the Amway Arena. You might think these pictures look too close for someone who packed in with the autograph hounds, and that's because something magical happened to me that day. I arrived at the theater early, excited for the concert, and found a small group of fans gathered at a trailer in the back. A couple of crew members came out and entertained us with songs and stories while we waited for the show. I brought a poem I wrote for Taylor since I was on a huge poetry kick at the time, and even released a book of poems on Amazon that year. I gave it to a friendly young man who came out of the trailer, letting him know it was for Taylor. I'd like to think she received it, though I have no way of knowing for sure. When the concert was about to start, a woman emerged from the trailer and handed us all pit passes, telling us to go have a good time! Suddenly, the nosebleed seat number I had scrawled onto the corner of the poem turned into a once-in-a-lifetime experience where I was standing three feet away from Taylor for the entire show! It's these sorts of things that make people feel like part of her life, even though she's immortal now and couldn't meet them all if she tried.

Later that year, she released my favorite album, Speak Now. I purchased tickets for this tour as well, but I sat quite a bit further back after contacting the Staples Center for tickets to sit in a special handicap accessible section to accommodate my friend who went with me. That didn't stop me from going all out to celebrate the woman who lit my sky up by hand-crafting a sign to hold up at the arena, painting the number 13 on my hands, and writing the lyrics "Time turns flames to embers" from my favorite song on my arm, which caught the attention of a reporter outside the Staples Center. For a short time after that, my arm became famous. Speak Now helped me through a difficult time in my life, and now The Life of a Showgirl is here to do the same after my last dream ripped me off like false lashes and then threw me away. It's honestly lovely how Taylor is always there for her fans through her music, even if she can't reach out to them directly.

I already mentioned the book of poetry I wrote when I attended the Fearless tour in 2010, but Taylor's creativity and success have inspired so many other aspects of my life, as well as the lives of countless others. She's living my dream. For instance, this music video for "Love Story" inspired me to write my historical romance novel, Most Wanted Knight, back in 2009, which I decided to self-publish four years later. More recently, her reliance on music as a form of healing and escapism from difficult times was one of several reasons I decided to start learning how to play piano. Many of my followers may have observed that I chose "White Horse," a Taylor Swift song, as the first song I learned to play for my Princess Piano sessions, instead of a Disney Princess song. Her continued success in the face of adversity inspires me to keep working toward my writing goals and dancing through the lightning strikes. This empire belongs to me.

Being a modern princess no longer relates to your heritage, marital status, or where you live. It's about the way you present yourself to the world, and Taylor has proven herself time and again that she has the grace, perseverance, and tenacity to be a real-life princess in the 21st century. How many of my readers are also Swifties? Prove it to me by counting the number of lyrics from The Life of a Showgirl album that I've peppered throughout this post, and let me know the total in the comments! It might be a number that has a special significance to the album.