“There’s probably a secret encoded message that means something else.”
After giving the world a full week to digest reports that she and Joe Alwyn have broken up (and three Eras Tours shows in Tampa to dissect via TikTok and YouTube in search of clues about how she’s doing/if the breakup is even real), Taylor Swift has officially broken her post-split social media silence.
On Saturday night, after finishing her third and final performance in Tampa, Taylor hopped on Instagram to share a carousel of her favorite pics from her shows there and to thank her Floridian fans for their support. She’s been sharing similar posts throughout the Eras Tour, but since this one comes to our feeds on the heels of news of a huge change in her personal life, Swifties are naturally doing exactly what Taylor has spent years training them to do and scrutinizing every aspect of the post and its caption in search of hints, clues, and hidden meaning.
Here’s the caption (which also includes a photo credit shoutout for Getty Images and Octavio Jones, the talented photographer who captured the gorgeous pics in the post):
“Still buzzing from those 3 shows in Tampa!!! Thank you to the unforgettably epic crowds and to @aarondessner for coming out to play twice with me, we’ve been dreaming about that for so long!! So grateful for the memories we’re making on this tour 🥲.”Advertisement – Continue Reading Below
Not a *ton* to work with, in the clue-hunting department, but there are a few notable takeaways:
As counterintuitive as it might seem, the breakup might have come at the best possible time for Taylor, mental health-wise.
Taylor has always been a bit of a workaholic, but her productivity and creative output since 2020 have been truly astounding, even by Taylor Swift standards. Lots of people throw themselves into work after a breakup—it provides a much-needed distraction and lets you channel energy into positive outlet. But for Taylor, throwing herself into work is also how she processes emotions and makes sense of the world.
And bonus, being on a record-breaking stadium tour means that, for Taylor, going to work at night rn means being enveloped by the screaming, crying, no-holds-barred love of thousands and thousands of people who are pretty much unconditionally in her corner in a ride or die way. Going onstage (aka to work) every night is her happy place and it leaves her buzzing with good vibes.
Her circle seems to be stepping up.
During the 1989 Tour, Taylor welcomed a parade’s worth of special surprise guests on stage to perform with her. This hasn’t been something she’s made a staple of the Eras Tour so far, which means that just having a guest join Taylor on stage at all is a genuine surprise this time around.
Taylor’s only pre-News of the Joe Split special guest on the Eras Tour was Marcus Mumford, who joined her onstage during her second night performing in Las Vegas. Aaron Dessner performed with Taylor two nights in a row in Tampa, which means that, if Taylor is coping with a breakup, his back-to-back guest appearances also doubled as back-to-back nights of having a close friend around during a tough time.
She’s practicing gratitude.
If you’ve ever been to therapy, read a self-help book, or even scrolled through inspirational TikTok videos, you’ve already heard about the mental and emotional benefits of a gratitude mindset (but if you haven’t here’s a quick primer on the topic from Harvard Health). This one isn’t even speculation or clue-hunting: Taylor used this IG post as a chance to practice gratitude, which is scientifically proven to, among other things, increase self-esteem, resiliency, and optimism.
Source: cosmopolitan.com
