Taylor Swift is just like me… and you. by Alissa Thibault

I became a huge admirer of Taylor Swift today and it had nothing to do with her music. No, I became a fan of Taylor Swift because I realised we're the same person... I mean, the similarities are very small but stay with me.

I came to this conclusion because intimate details of T-Swift's relationship with Jake Gyllenhaal are now published all over the net, and it’s awful. So the story goes, the two had been seeing each other for a while and decided to have sex, it doesn't sound like that big a deal for a couple but it was Taylor's first time so, yeah, probably a big deal to her.

At first I was jealous, because it's Jake Gyllenhaal and he's a babe, then I changed my mind.

According to 'sources' Taylor was head over heels and started planning her life with Jake and then, boom - he doesn't show up to her 21st. No call, nothing. Leaves her high and dry. So what does she do? Spends the best part of that party locked in the bathroom crying. She’s one of the biggest music stars in the world, has millions of fans who adore her and on her 21st birthday she cried over a boy.

I felt for her. Last time I got dumped I spent a good hour sobbing on my kitchen floor, so naturally, I concluded T-Swizzle and I are the same person. Granted my breakup didn’t make front page news, it wasn’t even on Facebook, my mum did get a long phone call though.

But the reason I now have a lot of respect for her is what she did next. That break up became the inspiration behind the song ‘Red’ which debuted at number 6 on the US Billboard charts and sold more than a million copies just in the States. The album - of the same name - was nominated for two Grammys. So yeah, she’s been criticised for writing SO many songs about boys and break ups but really, who’s the real winner here? Hey, Jake?

There are lots of clichéd lessons to be learnt here - 'from hardship the greatest achievements grow', 'the stones that shine brightest have weathered the toughest storms' blah, blah, blah. But in all honesty, we all get knocked down from time to time, and that’s ok.

No matter what you think of Taylor Swift, or her music, you have to respect the fact that she picked herself up and became even better at what she does, and that takes true guts. At the end of the day, that’s the biggest win of all.

#Celebrity