I Want Your Midnights, but I'll Be Cleaning Up Bottles With You on New Year's Day

and other poignant new year advice from TS

I’m running on the year-end theme of switching up this blog while we’re in the no man’s land of the week between Christmas and New Years. This time is one for reflection and taking stock of the year prior, while making plans for the year ahead. In the spirit of that, I’ve compiled ten of Taylor Swift’s best pieces of advice embedded within her song lyrics. Enjoy, and I’ll see you in 2023 - the year of the Eras Tour!

1. And if you don’t recognize yourself, that means you did it right - Dear Reader - Midnights

   1. Anyone else’s life look completely different on December 28th, 2022 than it did in January 2022? I read a book this week with a line that really stuck with me - “we will like it once we get used to it.” I’d like to think that I’ll look back on this time of my life with some level of fondness, even if at the moment it doesn’t always feel that way. I appreciate this lyric because it serves some reassurance - not recognizing yourself means you’ve taken some calculated risks, many of which were probably necessary. We should be proud of that.

2. Past me - I wanna tell you not to get lost in these petty things. Your nemeses will defeat themselves before you get the chance to swing - Long Story Short - evermore

   1. Like a certain pop star in 2016, I feel like I had wracked up a good shortlist of people I’ve made enemies out of in the last couple of years. Some of those are true adversaries - I tend to hold people accountable to their own behavior, and I’ve learned the hard way how others will lash out at you rather than look at the mirror you’re holding to their face. We’d rather blame someone else and assert that they are delusional or crazy rather than really reflect on whether we have negatively impacted another person. I’m trying to be better about this - it’s only human to run from your own insecurities, but it’s heroic to face them head on and admit your faults. In my case, I’m learning that the people I so desperately wanted to prove wrong, who had so tremendously wronged me, will eventually see their own karma come back to them. This doesn’t require action on my part, other than living my own life to the greatest I possibly can. Like TS in 2016, I spent the last year hiding from people, afraid to admit how deeply I felt my own failure. In 2023, I’d like to reclaim the land.

3. 'Cause there were pages turned with the bridges burned; Everything you lose is a step you take; So make the friendship bracelets, take the moment and taste it; You've got no reason to be afraid - You’re On Your Own, Kid - Midnights

   1. In the same vein of #2 - I still have a hard time listening to this bridge without tearing up! Life carries wins and losses, and no matter what side of that spectrum you're finding yourself on, laugh with the people you love and enjoy the collateral beauty. Everything is a mess, but that doesn’t mean it’s not gorgeous.

4. Boys Only Want Love if it’s Torture - Blank Space - 1989

   1. Anyone else get their heart broken by a man in 2022? Enough said.

5. Cold was the steel of my axe to grind for the boys who broke my heart; Now I send their babies presents - invisible string - folklore

   1. …and we’re gonna forgive them, right?

6. Long live all the mountains we moved - Long Live - Speak Now

   1. This song is like giving your best friend a hug after they’ve accomplished a major goal. We should all do lots of that this year - the big wins and the smallest of steps should be celebrated. Life is way too short to downplay things. You deserve to be proud of yourself for whatever mundane thing you’ve done that day.

7. I had a marvelous time ruining everything - the last great american dynasty - folklore

   1. From a Gemini - have a little chaos! If you’re going to mess up your plans, at least have some fun doing it. Embrace how weird life can get, how everything changes in a moment, and laugh at how ridiculous it gets.

8. I've found time can heal most anything; And you just might find who you're supposed to be. - Fifteen - Fearless

   1. I’m hoping to look at every moment as an opportunity to get closer to the type of person I want to be - someone who thinks of others before themselves, who lets go of the small stuff, and who emphasizes the good before the bad. With time, I hope to get there and get closer to that version of myself. It’s amazing that Swift wrote this song at fifteen, I’m sure this bit of advice became more valuable to her with time.

9. Barefoot in the kitchen / Sacred new beginnings / That became my religion, listen - Cornelia Street - Lover

   1. I love how uneasy new beginnings are. I find them to be so endearing - that feeling when you move into a new place and you’re just finding your footing. I love the process of establishing a new routine - it feels like a world of potential. A new year can reignite parts of that in us, even if nothing major in our life is changing between December 31st and January 1st.

10. Hold On To the Memories, They Will Hold On To You - New Years Day - reputation

    1. Happy new year, friends. Let’s make some great memories in 2023.