Free to read — What we can all learn as creatives from Taylor Swift.
Love her or hate her, the girl's a creative genius.
Look, it’s no surprise around here that I’m a Swiftie. I’ve written a previous love letter to Taylor, talking about how her songs resonate with me so deeply as a sensitive soul and this newsletter has recently been renamed after one of her most famous songs.
Love her or hate her (my audience is pretty divided) you can’t deny the absolute powerhouse of a year she’s had. I’ve seen articles written about how she contributes to saving the economic crisis due to her world tour and donating millions to every city she tours. I mean, that’s pretty fucking epic? Especially for a woman who makes no secret that she’s soft, feminine, sensitive, and creative. It’s awe-inspiring to see how someone who isn’t a white male in a pantsuit can single-handedly change the world through her vulnerability and storytelling.
So for a little bit of fun (that I’m very serious about though) I wanted to write about what we can all learn from Taylor’s success this year and how, even if you’re not a Swiftie, you can still be inspired to be a more connected creative by following her lead.
The queen of reinvention
The genius of the Eras tour lies in the fact that she’s celebrating being a multi-faceted human being. Something that isn’t generally talked about in the culture of ‘niche down’ in the online space. The Era’s tour and each album represent the beautiful ebb and flow of life, the cyclical nature of women, and the growth of a young woman finding herself through the seasons. She showcases all sides of her personality and experiences that shaped her with zero intention of fitting into a box. You’ve got the soft and feminine aesthetic of Lover, the villain-era aesthetic of Reputation, and the comforting cottagecore coos of Folklore. An album for every mood. As a woman with mood swings and emotional experiences that fluctuate, it’s reassuring to know that we don’t have to identify as one thing. We are all things, at the same time. Sexy, dark, feminine, light, fun, serious.
Takeaway - don’t be afraid to experiment, surrender to the season you’re in, and push the boundaries of what you’ve created before. Try new things and use your emotional experiences to shape your art.
The queen of community-building
Taylor knows how to cultivate die-hard fans and a loyal AF community. Rumour has it people are selling their cars to get their hands on a ticket to her show. So what makes people SO obsessed with her? Put simply they want to be part of a movement. They want to feel like they’re a part of something. Humans have always found a way to meet this basic need of connection through community. We were brought here to connect, experience emotions, and share universal experiences. Taylor knows exactly how to connect to her fans on an emotional level through storytelling, but also how to encourage them to connect so that they feel like they’re part of something exclusive. That makes them feel special, and never alone. The Swifties are a tribe, a force to be reckoned with, and they have friendship bracelets to prove it.
Takeaway - if you want a loyal readership or people who engage with your work, make them feel like you’re talking directly to them and welcoming them into an intimate conversation.
The queen of vulnerability
If you want to truly connect with your audience, vulnerability is the key to unlocking that bond. Taylor writes songs about her most intimate relationships, mistakes, moments of madness, and deepest darkest feelings that make us go ‘Is she inside my head?!’ Because here’s the thing about the human experience. We’re all living such different lives, and yet we share so many universal emotional experiences. Shame, regret, unworthiness, joy. Vulnerability makes you feel like you know somebody, even when you’ve never met. Shared experiences make you feel like you can see yourself in everything they do, talk about, and have. It makes you feel like you’re less alone, and not as weird or broken as you suspected.
Takeaway - don’t be afraid to open up, overshare, and write from your heart.
The queen of authenticity
Taylor Swift is Marmite. People get tattoos of her face on their bodies, and some people have nothing nice to say about her. ‘She’s annoying, bitchy, can’t keep a man, her music is crap’. All the usual misogynistic stuff. And as a sensitive soul, she’s written about how deeply damaging that narrative has been. But in her maturity, she’s come to realise that she cannot please everyone. She is better off being 100% authentic and creating a community of die-hards than pleasing everyone and creating a bigger community of fans who just think her music is ‘good.’ See the difference? When you try to speak to everyone, you speak to no one. Know who you are, know what you stand for, speak your truth, and the right people will be drawn to your honesty.
Takeaway - get clear on your values, interests, POV, and who you are at a deep level and always create with integrity to attract the right audience who have a similar vibe and will resonate with your work.
The queen of doing what she loves
When I went to the Eras tour this year, one of the most awe-inspiring things about Taylor’s performance was how much fun she was having. She looked like a kid living out her wildest dream. She dances around that stage with such euphoria, that it makes you feel inspired to find something you love that much and do it on purpose. Taylor has had so many ups and downs in front of the whole world. She could have easily given up, taken her money, and ran. But she didn’t. She stayed, she learned, and she grew. Why did she get back up when people knocked her down? Because she loves what she does. She is creative at heart, and it’s obvious to anyone who watches her shows that even if she didn’t get to do this as a job, she’d be doing it at home anyway. Her passion for creating teaches us that it doesn’t matter whether 1 person is reading your stories or 1 million people are. If you love what you create, that’s truly all that matters.
Takeaway - don’t get so caught up in the success of numbers that you forget to have fun. Whether it’s creativity or a hobby you love, don’t forget to do what you love with passion. People, opportunities, and more love follow when you’re in the frequency of just creating for the sake of ‘because it makes me feel good.’
Are you a Swiftie? Let me know below how she inspires you!
She inspires me all the time. I went to the Eras tour last year and seeing her impact and experiencing a single night in a single city with 70k other Swifties is something I’ll never ever forget. It’s mind boggling to even think about — and she’s just being herself. A true queen!! 👑
I went to two of her shows here in São Paulo, Brazil, and it felt like I was finally meeting in person a long distance friend. Being a Swiftie gives me this deep sense of community and belonging to something bigger. She's really amazing ❤️