‘Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour made me cry as I realised how much her music has healed me’

I can’t help but reflect on how much of a truly transformative experience it was when the Eras tour ended in Vancouver. After surviving the great war on Ticketmaster, I had the opportunity to see two shows in London.

In my room, I had watched all of the TikTok livestreams for the year leading up to the performances and sang along along. You didn’t even need to be physically present to see the pure joy of an Eras tour show, which is Swift’s magic. I was sucked into the recaps, the outfits, the girlies dressing up. It was peak girlhood, at its finest.

Taylor Swift’s debut album, Taylor Swift, was released in 2007, and I first saw her on YouTube in 2007. Before I finally persuaded my Mum to order the CD, which had been ordered from America on Ebay, I kept hearing her track “Tim McGraw” on repeat for days. I listened intently to what she said and had dreams about finding the love she mentioned. I believe that Swift is the real reason I’m still a hopeless romantic.

I had a broken heart to do it.

It’s a fact of life that I’ve experienced heartbreak and fall in love a few times in my life. It wasn’t until seeing Swift live and re-living all of her heart-breaks with her, that I realised, maybe my wounds weren’t quite as mended as I had hoped they were. I could feel it, when she sang. I felt as though I was going through this with her as she began her journey through her various eras.

When she began to sing Fearless, I recall how I felt when I first heard it, and the memories that followed, which had become discolored over time. I cried with her as she sang and I could feel these memories, that I had buried within myself, come out again. I allowed myself to feel things I hadn’t in years.

I’m open to sharing my feelings, but I can admit that I did it after both of my significant breakups that I fell in love with both of them. Nothing positive could be seen through the lens of my alteration, and I only could see the negatives. I somehow allowed that to happen because these men had taken away my sparkle. I had a bad feeling about being in love because there had to be something wrong with me, but Swift made it clear that this wasn’t the case.

In this day and age, I believe that being a woman is so difficult because social media and peer pressure make it so easy for you to compare yourself to others. I was bad for that, in my head, these guys didn’t want me because I wasn’t skinny enough, I wasn’t pretty enough, or I wasn’t smart enough. Taylor Swift’s description of this situation helped me heal because it made me realize that none of those things were accurate. It made me realize that the right person would never alter my self-esteem.

Taylor Swift and her music seem to have taught me a lot. When I needed to smile or cry, her songs have been there for me. There is always a song that you can relate to because you have gone through the same thing, and she has one that can capture any moment in time. When I allowed my brain to try so hard to keep buried when I was watching the Eras tour, I could feel the things that had been buried there.

I’ll forget it too well for a second.

Taylor is just a girl, just like the rest of us, and the many eras she traverse reveal that she has a human side. She talks about herself so openly in her music that it inspires you to do the same. She struggled with this. These shows really helped change that, despite my long-held, very negative opinion of myself.

I know in life, you’re not everyone’s cup of tea and that’s what’s beautiful about it. Everyone is not for you, just like you are. This was a problem I had with really late in my twenties when I was in my late teens. I would hide parts of myself to make it so that everyone would like me. Anyone who has come across me knows that I speak my mind openly, but that hasn’t always been the case. In fact, I was once afraid to speak up because I was worried what others might think of me. I know now, that it’s okay to speak, not everyone’s going to like what you have to say and that is okay.

Because it’s my favorite Swift album, The Red era was one that made me through my first heartache in particular, which made the Red era particularly painful. I stomped into my duvet while listening to All Too Well on repeat, as if someone had literally ripped my heart out of my chest. Hearing this live temporarily recalled those emotions, but it also revealed to me that I am now so much more powerful than I did when I first started loving myself. Although I can recall the bad times far too well, I never let them define me. I have far greater strength than I have ever been given credit for.

Meet me at midnight

By the time the Midnights era started to roll around, I had truly felt like I was going on a journey of soul-searching and discovery, which is difficult to describe unless you were present. The music of Swift brought thousands of people together in one place, which is a pretty unique thing.

I had the opportunity to network with thousands of women who had gone through the same experiences and were now better off than they were. So call it delusion, call it crazy, in fact, call it what you want, but Swift’s music and show experience truly had healing powers for me.

The concert allowed me to feel everything again, but from a different, more grown perspective. It taught me that I am a unique human being and allowed me to confront my emotions.

I was taken to a place of healing that I hadn’t realised I so desperately still needed, and for that, I thank her endlessly. There were still standing walls in the Eras tour before they were abruptly destroyed.

I came to the realization that I am perfect in every way and that I don’t need to mold myself to win others over. I had the freedom to be who I wanted to be. What Swift managed to convey made me feel was truly remarkable. All that there is left to say is so long, Eras tour, you made a young woman very happy. I will remember it, all too well.

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Source: Mirror