Taylor Swift shares the mantra she uses when fame feels 'unmanageably big'

Taylor Swift has shared the mantra she uses to cope with the pressures of fame, explaining how she reminds herself that she chose the demands that came with her career.

The 14-time Grammy winner discussed her approach to fame and songwriting during a career-spanning interview for The Icon Sessions, presented by the Recording Academy’s Songwriters & Composers Wing.

Swift explained that she has developed several “coping mechanisms” over the years for dealing with moments when her public life feels overwhelming.

“I go through several processes and coping mechanisms that I’ve gone through over the years,” she said. “And one of them is saying, ‘You chose this. You chose this every day. You could have opted out of this any day before it got unmanageably big.’ And I decided not to because I love it that much.”

Swift said that this perspective ultimately comes back to her desire to continue creating music.

“Everything that comes with this ultimately is worth it as long as I get to still make music,” she said.

The singer also discussed how she views her audience and the purpose behind her songwriting. She said her music is rooted in “emotional truths” and does not need to appeal to everyone to have meaning.

“I realized that I’m making music because I’m playing for the fans,” she said. “I’m putting this out for people who care about it and who look to music as a way to cope with their life in the way that I did.”

Swift added that releasing music she believes in is not a route to universal approval.

“I think that if you can actually go through all those checkpoints and realize that putting out music you’ve made that you love so much is not the path to universal validation, if you’re still doing it, then you love it for the right reasons,” said Swift.

“The songwriting, for me, is pretty much the only thing I ever just naturally did,” she added.