Taylor Swift, inspiration and creation

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Taylor Swift, inspiration and creation

2020 has not been the year that many of us expected when we made plans for the Roaring 20s or the Best Decade ever.  It’s been a challenging year for most, and much harder for others who have suffered illness and loss.  And yet Taylor Swift just released what I, and actual music critics, think is her best album yet.  

It’s easy to think of celebrities and artists as special or different from the rest of us, however, 2020 has not spared anyone.  Like many of us, her year didn’t start off as expected.  She said in interviews, “Most of the things I had planned this summer didn’t end up happening.”  She had to reschedule her Lover Fest shows promoting her last album, and she missed headlining this year’s Glastonbury Festival because the concert was cancelled.  

If she spent time in suffering, it couldn’t have been for long because she began working on this album in April, and released it in July.   She turned her focus, her attention, and her energy to what she does best - she wrote great songs.  “In isolation my imagination has run wild and this album is the result.” 

I am inspired that she could experience the same grief and disappointment that many of us have experienced this year and still release her album Folklore in 4 months.  I am impressed that she did all of this in isolation without the benefit of the standard process it takes to create an album. 

She is not the only one who created during challenging times.  During the plague of 1606 in London, William Shakespeare wrote King Lear, Macbeth, and Antony and Cleopatra while in quarantine.  I know that Taylor Swift and William Shakespeare were not homeschooling their children while they were creating, however, it still made me think about my own year and whether I was living and creating fully.  It’s easy to distract ourselves and seek comfort, but what if in that distraction we were missing a huge opportunity that would be more fulfilling? 

  • What if we each decided to live our own lives with the same intention, inspiration and wonder?  

  • What if we didn’t wait to do the things that we’ve been putting off? 

  • What if we sought progress over perfection?  

  • What if we created, built, and experienced things NOW because we see each day as a gift?   

  • And, what if we didn’t wait for the perfect time to fully live our lives?  

“Before this year I probably would’ve overthought when I release this music at the ‘perfect’ time, “But the times we’re living in keep reminding me that nothing is guaranteed.  My gut is telling me that if you make something you love, you should just put it out into the world.” - Taylor Swift 

What if 2020 is meant to be the year that we grow, transform, and reach our highest potential? What will be your masterpiece this year?