Dear Taylor Swift

*Here is another fabulous post by my sweet girl Molly.*

Dear Taylor Swift,

I am writing this to you as an avid Swiftie. My fandom began around the age of 11 with your release of “Tim McGraw”, but this newfound interest in your music did not become quite as deep until I bought your first album and heard the first of what would be many favorite T.Swizzle jams, “Stay Beautiful.” I became more of a fan with the release of your second album (and to every true Swiftie, the best album) Fearless. Oh my goodness, this one was-in the words of my brother-“straight fire.” I remember myself and one of my best friends proclaiming “Fifteen” as our freshman year anthem, and I remember singing, rather jamming to, “Forever and Always” about a billion times until I no longer had a voice. At this point in the Swift journey I did not think that you could get any better, and then…you released your third album, Speak Now. This one was a little different from the other two, but nonetheless still amazing. Another one of my friends and I used to sing songs from this album everyday in P.E., at the top of our lungs, once it was released. We knew every word to every song and the album order the second day it was out. “Sparks Fly” was one song that proved you were a lyrical genius, “Enchanted” had every girl fist pumping (especially at the epic build up that comes after the first verse in the song…yes), and last but not least, Speak Now contained the very first “Taylor Swift Ballad,” “Dear John,” which no one can actually sing and sound even remotely pleasant, but that doesn’t mean we don’t all still try! I also experienced my first concert with Speak Now and it was amazing, as in no words to truly explain, so I’ll leave it at that. I remember clearly the day that Red was released. I was a junior in high school, and just happened to be on a field trip that day. I remember getting on YouTube and searching all the new songs, listening to as many 30-second samples as I could find, then tweeting the lyrics…I wish I could say I am ashamed of that, but I’m not. Red was awesome. This one claims a top spot, just under Fearless, and contains some of my all-time favorite T.Swizzle jams. Just to name a few: “Treacherous,” the song that is a perfect lyrical description of each of our lives at one point or another; “WANEGBT,” the song with that one line that everyone knows the words to; “State of Grace (Acoustic Version),” a million times yes; “Holy Ground,” because of all of the “oooays” (BGVs are my favorite); and the second “Taylor Swift Ballad,” “All Too Well,” the ultimate emotional roller coaster song that will have you needing a nap after one listen. I traveled to Nashville… to see you perform Red…on the last night of your tour…with my best friends…it was so worth the drive. Finally, in my first year of college, you released your fifth album, 1989. This was a weird one, but in a good way. I watched the telecast that you held the day you released “Shake it Off,” then proceeded to have a dance party with myself. I annoyed my roommate when you released “Out of the Woods,” because I could not get over how deep that song was, and played it over and over again. When the full album was finally released, I listened to it on repeat for weeks on end, including a entire weekend in Chapel Hill where one night myself and three of my best friends cranked the stereo in the car to its fullest potential just to hear “Bad Blood” (and just FYI, the song was awesome before you asked that one guy to rap for you, just saying). I do have to say that “All You Had to Do Was Stay” still remains as one of my favorites from this album, and it may or may not be because of the weird “STAY” in every chorus. I am excited to say that I will be seeing you again in concert a few weeks from now, in Atlanta, and I am sure I won’t be disappointed. To sum up this rather lengthy first part, I am the ultimate fan. I know every word to every song that you have ever released, including the bonus songs. I say this ashamedly, but I also know the order of each song on each album…we’ve all got skeletons in the closet, okay?! As I transition into the next part of this post, I do so as a fan who has been there every step of the way, and through every Taylor Swift phase, so here we go.

I want to first thank you for not being a Miley Cyrus, or a Lindsey Lohan and for staying rather loyal to who you are throughout the years. Almost-20-year-old me appreciates that, but 11-year-old me is a little hurt. I tried not to listen to the critics, or rather, people much wiser than me, when they said things about this last album. They’re just songs, right? It’s Taylor Swift!!! I said that, I believed that, and I refused to move off of any obligation I held to being one of your biggest fans. Naturally, I ignored mostly all of the negative because I did not want to believe that it could be true. Yeah, okay, you are not swinging (naked) on a huge ball and chain while licking a sledgehammer, or leaving rehab for the billionth time, and you definitely have not boasted about kissing another girl…and liking it. But, I had to face reality when the music video to “Wildest Dreams” came out. Girl, you insinuate a few risqué things in this song, and they are portrayed, briefly, in the video. Do not get me wrong, as much as I hate to admit it, the song is super catchy. However, when I ride in the car with my 11-year-old sister, another avid Swifite, and we listen to this album, I find myself always skipping over this song. I hate that. I hate that while it is only one song, it is still on the album, and is still talking about something that Taylor Swift would never talk about, or at least the Fearless-phase Taylor Swift. Why am I so hurt by this? I mean, it isn’t a big deal, right? But then I go back to sweet 6^th grade Emma and it becomes a huge deal. Here I am feeling like you are dancing on the edge of what sells, and what is true to you, that makes me sad.

So, I write this in love, and I write this still remaining one of your biggest fans. I also write this in no way shaming you, or banning your music, or not still promising to jam to each song that you have released and will release in the future. I guess what I am trying to say is that I hope you remember your curly-headed phase, and I hope you remember all the little girls who have grown into bigger girls and have remained faithful Swifties through it all. Don’t forget where it all started, before you had to appeal to a fallen world, and a warped image of what society says is the “norm.” My 11-year-old self thanks you for the image you have portrayed as I have grown up, and my almost 20-year-old self asks you to remember it-

“stay, stay, stay. I’ve been loving you for quite some time, time, time…”

Love,

Molly

Happ-(He)-ness: A Guest Post by Molly

I have some amazing kids [I know. I am biased. But they are amazing. Have you met them?] and my oldest wrote a blog entry.  I asked her to share it with the world as my first guest blogger. 

Love. This. Girl.

This girl’s got a boyfriend. Yep, ‘tis true. For those who know me and my extremely high, almost unattainable (okay slightly dramatic, but they’re pretty high up there) standards, you know all too well that this boy must be the cream of the crop, top notch, A+, extra special boyfriend material. He is. But sadly, this isn’t a post solely purposed around this extra special, cream of the crop, top notch, A+ boyfriend of mine. As word has spread around the two very small towns I spend all of my time in (seriously, in one there is literally a single stoplight), that I can now change my Facebook relationship status to “in a relationship” the reactions, responses, etc. that I have received have been across the board, much to my surprise. While they have all been positive, some have been unsettling and have really made me ponder life in a different way over the last few weeks. There has been the obvious, “Tell me about this boy” and “when do I get to meet him” and “that’s so exciting” and oh, my personal favorite, “you have a boyfriend?!” Yes, I realize it is shocking because I am so homely and un-dateable (is that a word?), but it is really very true. Okay, back to the main point. Another, very frequent, response I have gotten has been simply this: “You deserve this. I am so glad you are finally happy.” That word, finally, has really shaken me to my core. Why is it that people have been assuming I have been so unimaginably sad up until this point in my life? Then it hit me. People assume that I am suddenly so much happier because that is the worldly view speaking. The world says you need a boy to make you happy, you need a boy’s approval, you need a boyfriend so people will not assume you are sad, a.k.a. the world is saying, you need our approval. In this society, we are so very consumed with our image, and I am guilty of this as well. I will be the first to admit that identity has been a crutch in my spiritual journey; it has been a crutch in me being a stepping-stone versus a stumbling block for many of my long 19 years of life. I am a firm believer in the fact that the Lord places people in our lives for a reason, but ultimately it is always for a greater purpose that we cannot even begin to understand. I believe that He lets our paths cross with one another because HE is doing something extremely awesome within each of us, and maybe, just maybe, He knows that through one another we will uplift, encourage, and ultimately glorify Him more. That being said, I have really tried lately to not let my image get in the way of something amazing the Lord may be orchestrating. And you know what? I have found that I am so much happier when I have allowed the Lord’s work to be done with me in the background and Him upfront leading the way. So, as I have pondered this word “finally” that has been thrown at me over the last few weeks, I have realized two things: one, I have always been happy, and two, who cares what they think anyways?

I came up with the clever little title, “Happ-[He]-ness” because it reminds me that in the middle of our happiness lies the Creator. The awesome, holy, completely flawless Lord, who died just to know us. How could you not just be a tiny bit happy about that?! Yes, it has been fun to have someone of the opposite gender (not including my daddy, although I do love him so) tell me I’m pretty, but really, if you think about it, there has been someone doing that exact thing for my entire life, and He beats them all because He was doing it before I was even a thought. The Godly view says we don’t need another person to make us happy, to make us whole. We don’t need worldly approval or 100+ likes on our “Facebook official” relationship. The Godly view says that Jesus, only Jesus, is true happy-happy-happiness. 

“HE will yet fill your mouth with laughter and your lips with shouts of joy.”

-Job 8:21 NIV [emphasis mine]

love,

Molly

There is nothing more awesome than knowing that my children are allowing God's will to be done in their lives.  I am so thankful for all they teach me.  I am blessed.