The song that I’m going to play for you now is a song that in my meet and greets or my every day life, when I run into you guys a lot of people bring up this song actually which is an amazing compliment because they’ll say this song helped them with a breakup or when they’re trying to get over somebody or even when they’re trying to get over a habit that’s really bad for them or an addiction or something like that. And just so that you know the most incredible honor that you could ever bestow on a songwriter would be that you helped them, that their music helped you through something in your life, that you turned to their music, something that they wrote in that moment.
Here is the thing about when you’re heartbroken. I think about it a lot. I think that for people who are heartbroken it’s almost like time slows down to a much more gradual pace. And you’re walking around you feel like heartbreak is written across to your forehead like everyone else can see it. And I think the worst part about heartbreak is that if you think about what it takes to let somebody into your life what it takes to fall in love or even just trust someone enough to make a new friend. It takes vulnerability, it takes letting down your walls and letting somebody in and it takes trusting someone. And I think the worst part about when you’re heart is broken or when you get betrayed or somebody leaves you is that the first thing you do you start regretting letting them in, trusting them and being vulnerable. And you sit there and you think ‘I’m so stupid. Why did I do that? Why did I trust that person? Why didn’t I play mind games with them? You’re supposed to mess with people’s heads that’s what everyone says but I just let them in. Why did I do that?’ And I just want you to know that you can regret a lot of things in life and regrets are valid but ‘trusting someone, letting someone in and being vulnerable are not valid regrets. You should never feel stupid for doing any of those things.
So then you have to move on right, you have to replace all these moments where you let that person into your life and you have to fill in the holes where you made space for them and it’s hard in the beginning I’m sure but what might end up happening is you start replacing time you spent with that person with friends who actually care about you and still want to be in your life. And maybe the decisions you start to make are no longer based on what someone who you’re in love with might want you to do. Maybe they’re based only on what you want to do. Little by little you start filling in the gaps, and more and more each day you start to forget like heartbreak was written across your forehead and then one day, whether it’s a year later or a month later or three years later or seven days later you look in the mirror and you don’t see heartbreak written any where on you anymore. And in that moment, in that moment you’re clean.
Taylor to the Toronto crowd on night 1 before performing Clean. (via belleswift17)
“You are the best thing that’s ever happened to me, you are the reason for this tour, this show, and these memories. I hope you remember it as well as I do.”
Trusting someone and letting someone in and being vulnerable– those are beautiful things to do, those are brave things to do. It’s never stupid to do that.
