The Life of a Delusional Girl
Written By : Hannah Corbett
Taylor Swift’s new album, The Life of a Showgirl, reminded me that no era lasts forever — and that maybe, the point isn’t to hold on, but to return to yourself with better lighting.
There’s a fine line between delusion and fate. And I think it’s time to depend a little bit more on your own delusion.
Taylor Swift’s The Life of a Showgirl dropped, and the internet immediately did what it always does — spiral. Think pieces, hot takes, SwiftTok theories. But for me, it didn’t feel like a debate. It felt like a reset. A reminder that we can’t live in one era forever, no matter how comfortable it gets.
For instance, I’ve been in my hibernation era. For a long time. The cozy kind that starts as a rest and slowly turns into not being your fullest self. I’ve been journaling, thinking— but not doing. And this album, in its glitzy, sequined, self-aware way, gave me something I didn’t know I needed to hear: you can come back now.
I wrote about this once — I called it the winter arc. That weird, in-between chapter where you crave change with the “new year” coming but fear it at the same time. You tell yourself you’re waiting for clarity, for January first but really, you’re waiting for courage. It’s a story I think a lot of us live without realizing it.
And then there’s Taylor, reminding us that change doesn’t have to mean reinvention. It can just mean evolution. You don’t have to burn everything down to start again — sometimes you just move on without even noticing, just because enough time has passed and you’ve made peace, or you can burn everything down. If you feel like it.
“The Life of a Show Girl", her track 12 with Sabrina Carpenter, hit something soft in me. I was instantly 11 again — in Glee Club, learning how to play the guitar for the first time, Speak Now perfume was taking over my childhood bedroom. I can still feel that specific kind of feeling— being too young to drive but dreaming so, so big.
Back then, I couldn’t wait to grow up. I wanted to be her — the girl with plans, heels, purpose. But somewhere along the way, I realized I missed the version of me who was just full of life for no reason at all. The girl who didn’t edit her personality to fit the moment, or care really what anyone thought.
Growing up has this sneaky way of convincing you to shrink — to dim the lights so no one gets uncomfortable. But every big thing I’ve ever done came from a little delusion, a lot of faith, and zero logic.
Last year, I moved away from everything I knew. And it shook me. It taught me what I actually care about. It gave me new friendships and new aspirations that feel like they’re mine.
And maybe that’s what all of this — the album, the move, the reflection — comes down to. It’s not about becoming someone new. It’s about returning to the version of yourself that always existed underneath it all.
So yes — I think it’s time to be delusional again. To believe before there’s proof. To trust that the best parts of me were never lost, just waiting for me to remember. Because if I’ve learned anything from Taylor Swift, and from life, it’s that the eras change, the city shifts, the songs evolve. And you shouldn't disagree with it or force out the feeling.