Taylor Swift Is Kinda Awesome, Really

I'm not heavily into celebrities. There are a few that I've met and fallen madly in like with because they were so damn nice (Bon Jovi, Alexander McQueen, Rich Cronin from LFO, Eminem, Xzibit, Johan Djourou) and a handful that I'd be genuinely starstruck meeting (Stephen Fry, Stephen Hawking, Prof Brian Cox, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, both of the Obamas, Anderson Cooper, George Takei, Example) as well as a few dozen that I quite like, based on interviews they've given.

There are also hundreds that barely enter my radar. I don't read tabloids. I rarely watch reality TV. The only magazine I buy regularly is New Scientist, and occasionally Scientific American.

But I do like to read about Taylor Swift.

I'm not a superfan - actually I'm sort of ambivalent on her music in general. I liked a handful of her songs and didn't care for others. I never bought any of her albums, though I got a few of the songs from iTunes. But I google her every few months because I'm always intrigued by her love affairs.

Most of the world seems to agree: when it comes to love, Taylor Swift is a car crash. Everything from her relationship with the four-years-younger Conor Kennedy (which brought a lot of the haters out, with cries of "cradle-snatcher" and even "pedophile") when she was 22, to her insta-love with Harry Styles, to the infamous lyrical blowouts with Joe Jonas and John Mayer, Taylor attracts a lot of attention for her rollercoaster of a love life, much of it negative.

But the thing that really gets me about her is that she keeps trying. I don't know the girl, so I don't know if  she's a Pollyanna or just a severely codependent chick who needs a man to feel validated. But I find her persistence weirdly inspiring.

No matter how bad the breakup - and there have been some bad ones - the kid keeps falling in love, keeps opening her heart. And it gets trampled on. And instead of getting bitter and jaded, she opens it up again for the next guy, just in case this time is different. She never stops hoping.

You could view this in a negative light, and say that she never learns from her mistakes; never gains any insight or maturity. You'd probably be right. But despite that, I can't help but admire someone who holds their heart out in front for everyone to see, and doesn't apologise for it.

I don't want to be Taylor Swift. I like my life to float along peacefully and evenly. If she were a friend of mine she'd probably drive me crazy. But as far as being open-hearted goes, I think I could learn a lot from her.