Ep. 200 The Surprising Coping Skill Taylor Swift Reveals in Her “Life of a Showgirl” Interview To Ease Midlife Stress & Anxiety

What if one of the world’s most famous women just shared the secret to reducing anxiety in midlife?

You’re not alone if endless scrolling leaves you feeling drained, distracted, and anxious.

In this episode, you’ll discover:

1. The conscious choices Taylor Swift makes to protect her peace and reduce stress.
2. How attention, not time, may be your most valuable coping skill in midlife.
3. Why less scrolling and more creativity can transform anxiety into calm.

🎧 Take 9 minutes to reclaim your calm and refocus your attention—you’re worth it.

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About the Host:
MJ Murray Vachon LCSW is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker with more than 48,000 hours of therapy sessions and 31 years of experience teaching her Mental Wellness curriculum, Inner Challenge. Four years ago she overcame her fear of technology to create a podcast that integrated her vast clinical experience and practical wisdom of cultivating mental wellness using the latest information from neuroscience. MJ was Social Worker of the Year in 2011 for Region 2/IN.

Creating Midlife Calm is a podcast designed to guide you through the challenges of midlife, tackling issues like anxiety, low self-esteem, feeling unworthy, procrastination, and isolation, while offering strategies for improving relationships, family support, emotional wellbeing, mental wellness, and parenting, with a focus on mindfulness, stress management, coping skills, and personal growth to stop rumination, overthinking, and increase confidence through self-care, emotional healing, and mental health support.

Transcript

MJ Murray Vachon LCSW: 0:00

In this episode, you'll discover how Taylor Swift's album promos aren't just about music because she's telling you how she creates calm Welcome to Creating Midlife Calm, the podcast where you and I tackle stress and anxiety in midlife so you can stop feeling like crap, feel more present at home, and thrive at work. I'm MJ Murray Vachon a Licensed Clinical Social Worker with over 50,000 hours of therapy sessions and 32 years of teaching practical science-backed mental wellness. welcome to the podcast. Maybe you missed it, but Taylor Swift dropped her 12th album last Friday, and a fellow Swifty sent me an interview with the message checkout minute four 20. Taylor Said in this interview on Hits radio, I have a real priority of being peaceful and happy, and getting attention has now been monetized. So you have to choose what reality you wanna be in. That stopped me in my tracks. I actually met Taylor Swift once at Soldier Field in Chicago after her reputation concert. My daughter was one of 12 fans picked for the after party, and what struck me the most was her presence, even in the middle of all that whirlwind she made, everyone she spoke to feel calm and seen. Looking back, I realize that even with the enormous amount of attention she receives, she hasn't lost her ability to connect first with herself in a peaceful and grounded way, and then to connect with others in ways that make them feel truly seen. And that's exactly what we're talking about here on creating midlife calm. What she's saying applies to all of us, especially those of you in midlife who constantly feel pulled between work, family, and the digital world demanding your attention. You have your own ERA'S tour that you do every day of the week. In this episode I'm gonna share with you tips from Taylor. You're gonna discover what Taylor revealed about how she uses or doesn't use her phone and social media. Why conscious choices about attention and time are essential for mental wellness and how replacing, scrolling with creativity and giving can reduce your anxiety and stress. Let's start with what Taylor actually said in the interview. She admitted I'm really not much of a scroller at all. Then she added, I don't have the apps on my phone or else. And finally listen to this because this is the payoff. I'd rather just spend those hours doing something else or planning something fun for the fans, baking or some of my other hobbies, and then came that powerful line, which is worth repeating again. I have a real priority of being peaceful and happy. And getting attention has now been monetized. So you have to choose what reality you wanna be in. That's mindfulness in action. Taylor is reminding us that attention is currency and every time you scroll you're spending it. But she's also modeling what it looks like to make intentional, conscious choices. She's not relying on willpower. She's designing her environment. She removes the app, so the temptation isn't even there, and that's the quiet exhaustion So many of you feel. like your attention is being pulled apart piece by piece. Scroll by scroll, notification by notification. You may not be a global superstar, but your attention gets hijacked exactly in the same way that Taylor does. That constant pull to check. Your phone isn't harmless. It keeps your mind on alert, shortens your focus, and quietly feed your anxiety. I invite you to listen to episodes 1 21 and 1 22, where I cover the science behind all of this. Your phone lights up the same parts of your brain associated with addiction and vigilance. No wonder it's so hard to put that thing down. That's why even short breaks can restore calm and improve mental clarity and help you step into your agency where you're actually choosing how you want to spend your time. Taylor's approach offers a model for midlife, and guess what? Here's an update. Swifties. Guess who's in midlife? Taylor's 35. She's choosing her mental peace, calm over chaos, and she's using her freed up time for creativity, baking planning things for her fans, making moments that connect. Rather than consume, that's a shift. I want you to notice less scrolling doesn't mean less distraction. It means more space to give, create, and connect. When you spend less time consuming, less time scrolling, and more time creating, you start generating calm. Instead of chasing it, and as we head into the busiest season of the year, this idea of choosing peace becomes even more important. So here's your Inner Challenge for today. Take one small window of time, maybe 10 or 15 minutes when you usually scroll and trade it for something that fills your tank. Bake some cookies. Write a note to someone. Tidy that drawer in your kitchen. That's a mess. Take a short walk or start a hobby you've been too busy for, then notice the shift. You'll likely feel more grounded, peaceful, and maybe even proud. That's your nervous system, saying thanks. In this episode, we discovered that even Taylor Swift, in the height of her fame prioritizes peace. she removes social media apps to protect her mind and invest her attention in creativity, and reminds us that happiness comes from conscious choices. Not constant connection. When you use your example to make small but intentional changes, you can reduce anxiety and stress and reclaim time for what truly matters. On Thursday, we're gonna build on this idea, taking Taylor's spirit of creativity and applying it to what's coming up. You know what I mean? October, November. December it's holiday season. I'm gonna flip the script from obligation and overwhelm to connection and calm. Instead of seeing the holidays as a chore, we're gonna explore how you can look at these in a different way, in a way that can actually restore your peace. Before I close, I have a huge thank you to say to all of my listeners, this is the 200th episode of Creating Midlife Calm. It certainly isn't his momentous as Taylor's 12th album, but trust me, when I started this podcast, I never thought for a second that I would drop episode 200 And all of you who listen so faithfully share episodes with friends. As well as email me ideas like this episode are to thank. So thanks for listening and I'll be back on Thursday with more creating midlife Calm.