slayerklaus:

Dear Taylor,

Before I say anything else, thank you. Thank you for you.

My name is Emily. I’m only eleven months older than you, and I feel as if, in some ways, I’ve grown with you and your music ever since I watched a CMT special about you. I don’t remember when it was- I was probably around eighteen when it aired- but I’ve loved your music since. I can’t really say that you’ve changed my life- it’s more like you have been a part of my life, a formative part- and you and your music have spoken to me at each significant step I’ve taken for the last seven years.

Heartbreak. Fun. Friends. Family. Sadness. Love. Relationships. Happiness. (The Hunger Games!)

And now you’re in New York City. My hometown, my first love. Your new album is beautiful and poppy and makes me feel like my heart will burst because I have never heard such joy and happiness in your music as I do now. And again, I feel as if your music and your life changes have paralleled mine once again.

A few months ago, I moved to Southern California, because, unfortunately, there are some areas in NYC that are not as welcoming as you’ve experienced. I grew up in a very enclosed community that does not accept “boys and boys and girls and girls.” A few years ago, I came out, and then I met my girlfriend (on tumblr!), and I haven’t felt safe or comfortable in NYC since. So I left. It helps that my girlfriend also wanted to move to California so that we could pursue our dreams of working in the entertainment industry. So we are together, and happy, and in love.

Ever since Shake it Off was released, I’ve listened to your new songs and smiled to myself every single time. Because it seems to me that you are together, and happy, and in love. Together with yourself and friends and Olivia and family, and happy with your music and your hair and your style, and in love with a city I loved, that loved me, that took care of me until I was ready to move on with my life and grow and finally let myself be happy.

New York was never just mine, even though I always felt like she was. But she’s not anymore. She’s yours. Yours to fall in love with over and over again. Yours to be warmed by (and frozen by, seriously good luck with her winters). Yours to change and be changed by. I’ve always believed that if you love New York, she will love you back. And I think that if you sing to her the way you do, she will sing back too. I look forward to visiting and hearing the winds hum your songs.

Even though it looks like you are happy, I am not one of those people who are fooled by celebrities’ constant smiles and laughter. A person’s face on Good Morning America is not always the face they see in the mirror. So I don’t know if you are actually happy. I don’t know what you’re going through or which challenges life is choosing to throw at you right at this moment. But I hope you are happy. I hope that you are as happy as I am, that you love New York as much as I love LA, that New York loves you as much as LA loves me, and that, above all, you are at peace and in love with yourself and who you are.

I am so proud of you. Proud of your choices, your smile, your music, YOUR HAIR, your love of your life and your happiness. I am proud of you and I am proud of myself and I am proud of your fans. We are honored to have you as our friend, our tumblr follower, our inspiration, and our role model.

You are our starlight, Taylor. Stay beautiful. Be fearless. And welcome to New York. She will be enchanted by you.

With love,

Emily