I have to be honest here, I do not like Taylor Swift all that much. I think she's spoiled, entitled, and just so goddamn whiny. And I think the thing that I hate the most about her is that - as much as I don't like her - by God her shit is catchy. I will dance and sing along to her stuff as loud as I possibly can, but Lord knows I hate myself while doing it. I mean, the girl has essentially built a career trashing her multitude of ex-boyfriends in the form of jaunty pop tunes. To me, that's just teaching her extremely young and extremely impressionable fans that being petty will get you far in life. She's a role model and - if I were her, that's not a message that I would want to be sending.

As much as I still don't like Taylor Swift, I've had a slight change of heart about her methods since I started writing with The Odyssey. I have to write something every week, and I'd be pretty starved for material if I didn't draw from my own experiences. Turns out some of my most recent experiences involve guys. Not 13 of them like Taylor Swift, but still. After the articles that I wrote about those experiences were published, I noticed that those were the ones that seemed to get the most positive feedback. So - all feelings aside - Taylor Swift has a formula, and I can't say I blame her for sticking with it. If I were her, I'd use it as long as it makes me money, and I think we all know that she's swimming in it right now.

Everyone has a breakup story. I haven't decided if it's just pure bad luck that Taylor Swift seems to have a new one every week. I'm not exactly defending her as a person, but I can understand at least some of her thinking now. I think - no matter who you are - breakups are one of the few things that we all have in common with each other. And dear, sweet Tay-Tay seems to work with that. And now she has amassed a literal army of angry, emotionally unstable, recently dumped teenagers who seem to identify with her every word. From a business standpoint, you have to admit that it's pretty damn smart. Breakup songs aren't exactly an untapped market. But Taylor Swift has managed to tap so damn deep into it that she basically owns it now.

I've been writing for a pretty long time now. Long story short, I didn't really talk much in my younger days, and writing just got everything out for me. For as long as I can remember, I've just been writing to let go. It wasn't until I got on The Odyssey that I realized that my unfiltered rambling may have actually reached a few people. Now I've written a few articles about my past relationships, and I've gotten a few comments about that. Nothing mean, just people pointing out that I have a funny habit of "Taylor-Swifting" it. But I think there's a certain level of professionalism that separates her and I. I'm not saying this because the stick is lodged too far up my ass and I think I'm better than her. Everyone processes breakups differently. I just try my damn hardest to make sure that I process things a lot differently than her.

I don't write for attention, and I don't write to publicly trash the people that have been in my life. When people compare me to her, I almost feel like I have to defend myself. When I write about a past relationship, I'm not trying to be petty or get back at the guy. It's engrained in me to overthink things. And it's just convenience that all that overthinking produces enough material for a weekly 1000 word article. I hold no ill will towards the few people I've been with, save for 1 of them. I don't name names and I don't publicize any details about the relationships. What I choose to publicize are the most vulnerable parts of myself that have been hurt. I don't have much experience with relationships, but the few that I've had have really got me thinking about life. I guess my hope is that all that thinking can do some good for someone else. Maybe that says something about me, and I think I'm okay with that.