Twelve year old me would be screaming right now (just as twenty-five year old me is). I haven’t exactly made it a big secret on my blog that I’m a Taylor Swift fan, so it should be no surprise to anyone when I say that ‘Fearless’ changed my life. In my early years at secondary school, I often felt like the odd one out. I would frequently pretend to like things that I didn’t actually enjoy to seem cool and try to fit in. I didn’t have any direction or understanding of what was important but, after all, I was only young. So whilst this may sound dramatic, I truly believe this album had a profound effect on me. These are all songs Taylor wrote between the ages of 16-18 years old, so in a way it felt like an older sister giving me advice.

It’s such a cliché thing to say Taylor Swift is the reason I play guitar, but that is 100% the truth. Not long after ‘Fearless’ was released, I became the proud owner of an acoustic guitar. The correlation between the two events is no coincidence. Growing up, my guitar was everything to me. I played for fun, I played to destress, and I played to escape. And whilst songwriting is definitely not a talent of mine, it’s something I’ve dabbled in as a way to let out some of my own feelings in a way that feels both personal and secret.

Taylor choosing to re-record her entire discography under Big Machine Records is a lesson in itself. We shouldn’t stand by and let other people steal the work we have created. By doing this she is reclaiming her own art. But I actually want to talk about some of the lessons that songs from ‘Fearless’ taught me as a youthful teen who knew nothing about life. Many of these lessons are timelessly relatable.

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1. IT’S OKAY TO NOT KNOW WHERE YOU’RE GOING IN LIFE

Fifteen taught me the most important lessons of my early teenage years. Society puts so much pressure on young people to know what direction they want to take their lives in. At that age, we don’t even know what it truly means to live. Taylor sang that being fifteen is “life before you know who you’re going to be” and I really needed to hear that. When you’re that young every minor thing feels important. As you grow older you start to realise what is actually important.

2. DON’T TAKE TIME AND PEOPLE FOR GRANTED

The Best Day reminds us that the time spent with our family is precious. My wonderful parents provided me with a very privileged and happy upbringing. Having people constantly on your side isn’t something that shouldn’t be taken for granted.

3. YOU DON’T NEED TO ACCEPT APOLOGIES

There are going to be people in your life who continuously do you wrong. Apologies can only be repeated so many times before they become meaningless. You’re Not Sorry describes both the pain of being constantly let down and the liberating feeling of having the strength to remove toxicity from your life. You can only give out so many second chances.

4. SOMETIMES PEOPLE JUST DRIFT APART

It’s easy to mistake Breathe for being about an ex-partner, but it’s actually about the loss of a friend. The older we get, the more people we drift apart from. “People are people and sometimes we change our minds” relates to the different paths we all choose to take. Recently, I have been trying to make a more conscious effort to stay in contact with people who I don’t see that often but still have a lot of love for.

5. DON’T ALLOW PEOPLE TO TREAT YOU LIKE DIRT

In Tell Me Why, Taylor describes a person who’s bad temperament is draining her. If someone in your life is making you think “I’m sick and tired of your attitude” then cut them out. We don’t have time to be wasting it on people who don’t treat you with respect.

6. SOMETIMES THINGS DON’T TURN OUT THE WAY YOU WANT THEM TO

In White Horse, Taylor describes having a future she had planned out being shattered. Of course, in the song, she is talking about the breakdown of a relationship. However, we can apply this theme to many aspects of our lives. We all have hopes and dreams that sometimes just don’t work out. Whilst it may be hard to move on from these setbacks, Taylor reminds us that it’s a big world out there. There will be other opportunities and the negatives will be “in my rear-view mirror disappearing now.”

6. YOU’RE GOING TO FACE SETBACKS

Change alludes to all the closed doors Taylor faced when first trying to make it in the music industry. When she eventually got signed, it was for a small label where she was their only artist. Whilst the odds were stacked against her, she had the determination to make “these walls that they put up to hold us back will fall down.” The main takeaway from this is that you should continue fighting for the things you love and believe in.

8. SOMETIMES YOU JUST HAVE TO TAKE THAT LEAP

Taylor once explained how the concept of being fearless to her wasn’t the absence of fear, but continuing to power through despite feeling fear. Growing up, I was very shy and quiet at school. It was a shock to everyone I knew, including myself, when I decided to move to London for university. Next thing I know I’m off embarking on a nine-month study abroad programme where I knew absolutely no one. Was I afraid to do these things? Absolutely! Do I regret any of them? Not at all. I guess you could say that I jumped into them both “head first, fearless”.

9. IT’S OKAY TO BE DRAMATIC

Honestly, this one isn’t a life lesson, it just makes me feel validated. Admittedly, I can be a really over-dramatic person. So when Taylor sang “it rains in your bedroom everything is wrong, it rains when you’re here and it rains when you’re gone” I fully endorse that level of exaggeration.

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What are your favourite Taylor Swift songs? Let me know in the comments!