This month there has been a lot of talk about letting go with the first eclipse of that which no longer serves you in order to make space for the new. I have been creating intentions around these two eclipses about what I am ready to let go of and trying to open myself up for what's next. I am trying to follow my intuition around this and my mind keeps coming back to this blog.

I'll be honest I use to write here quite regularly about my family and kids and our adventures. It was a great place to document life. But alas it is 2025 and putting my kids on the internet in any public sort of way is not the move for me. But I still have this space, a space I wrote occasionally about other things. And is it okay if in 2025 I want to write again like the girls did in 2008-2016 the glory years of blogging. I use to love to just read about what people were reading, places, they were going, the small and simple daily actives they use to share. I miss it, and I want to carve that space out again. 

I don't know if it will succeed in a world where there are a million platforms that exist that are easier to access, places to scroll and scroll. Endless entertainment. But maybe there is still a space for me to write, to share, to be, and maybe the placement of the moon is giving me the go ahead to be in this space where I want to be, and let go of the other spaces that no longer serve me.

So here I am. Mallory Hazel. I love to read, crochet, embroider, eat (mostly) plant based meals, talk about Taylor Swift. I'm a mom a daughter and a wife, but here I am coming back to me, outside of those labels. And I am excited for the ride.

Spent a minute yesterday in nature to ground myself for the eclipse, and found this little flower, its petals folding back into each other creating a heart. It felt like a little love note to me from the universe.

 I wonder if you know I'm trying so hard not to get caught up now...

Fearless is one of my favorite Taylor Swift songs, and not just on this album. I love songs that make you feel something deeply, and often connect with the ones that lead me gently to emotions like sadness or pain. But I appreciate that this song unapologetically leads me to joy, fun, and hope. If I want to feel energized, happier, lighter, or just move into those spaces, I can put this song on and I'll be there within four minutes.

This song paints a picture for us of the setting and the emotions. It is a story to fall into. I don't know where our main characters are coming from but they are walking in a parking lot to the car. I'm not sure if the glow off the pavement comes from the sun or the street lights but either way it's freshly rained. There is something about the moment with this person where what they want is to extend an invitation to dance, right there. I can feel it while I listen. The anticipation, the excitement, the nervousness, the desire. We are 30 seconds into a song and I am catapulted back into high school where the feelings of wanting wash over you so easily. 

As she moves through the song she gives us line after line that reinforces that same feeling and the ease with which it can come over you. It's not really something you are trying for or creating, rather it's this magical experience that comes to you and that you get to experience if you are brave enough to lean into it. The most brave thing you can do at this moment is to be so present in it. To give into those feelings where even if your hands are shaking you let the fear move out of you so you can experience the joy. 

I'm not always brave enough in real life. Too often I have been too scared to proceed, but occasionally I have been fearless and those moments always lead to something quite extraordinary. There are moments I would love to return to, to be more brave and daring. While those times are gone, there are still plenty of opportunities to be fearless in the present and future, so for now every once in a while I'll put this song on and practice.

And I don't know how it gets better than this!

I love Taylor Swift’s music and have a deep curiosity about who it is so meaningful to so many people. If you have any thoughts about this song in particular please share it in the comments below so that me and the Swiftie community that finds this space can enjoy your insights. 

Fearless was released in the fall of my senior year of high school. Upon revisiting this album it was incredibly familiar to me (besides the from the vault tracks of course.) It's hard to remember how I knew all the songs. I didn't have the CD, or the album downloaded to my iPod. I have come to the conclusion that Taylor Swift must have been so popular back in the day that I heard all the songs on the radio enough times that 15 years later I can still easily recall them. 

For me Fearless really leans into the fairy tales and the fantasy. It's about being young and believing in whatever world you want to believe in. It is the space before the heartbreak. It's finding your footing and being curious and living in the moments. It's wanting to experience love for the first time. It's full of hope and optimism. And I love leaning into that space. 

It's wanting to experience love for the first time...

I'm going to jump back into these songs one by one over the course of the next few months and talk about what they all mean to me. I invite you to share your insights and what these songs mean to you. At the end of the album we will reconvene and discuss favorite songs, favorite lyrics, how this album ranks and any fun other fun facts we come across. Thanks for joining me and for sharing your voice.

Drew talks to me. I laugh cause it's just so funny.

I've already done a write up about the song Teardrops on My Guitar and since the pop version has the same lyrics I don't have too much else to add about this song. So instead of talking about what this song means to me I am going to highlight one of my favorite lines in this song. 

Let's set the stage. Taylor is singing along about this boy she loves and she says "Drew talks to me, I laugh cause it's just so funny." The way she says so funny in this song is unironically my favorite part of the song. I absolutely love it and think it is perfect in every way. It's feels right to me and I am thankful she dug deep to give us this treasure. I am very interested to see if she keeps the vibes of that line around for the rerecording. 

Feel free to share below if you agree with me on this hot take or if I'm simply way off and it's too ridiculous.

 Baby let me love you, let me want you.

It's March 2025 and Taylor Swift is an international pop star, global sensation, 11 albums deep into her career, generally about as far from being invisible as you could possibly be. But I think she got to this place by being incredibly vulnerable in her song writing. She has given us the gift of sharing all parts of her and allowed us as listeners to be able to relate.

When I think back to the teen years I think that everyone experienced the feelings of being invisible on some level. There is this idea that if people could just see who you really are that everything would just work out perfectly. In some ways I still hold this thought, that if the people around me could really see me then everything would be okay. Maybe everything would be more than okay, maybe my relationships could be a "beautiful, miracle, unbelievable." It just feels like by now I should have made it to a place where I no longer feel invisible. 

Cultivating meaningful relationships can be tough though. I guess in some ways it's nice to know that even the Taylor Swift knows what that feels like. Like we've really all been through it haven't we. The loneliness of feeling invisible is maybe the hardest part. But in Taylor's very first album she wrote a song that communicates that you are not alone. She said I've been here, and look where she is now. It might feel like a lot but she is a testament that you can get through it and there is more on the other side.

And you just see right through me but if you only knew me, we could be a beautiful miracle, unbelievable, instead of just invisible.

Our song is the way you laugh, the first date "man I didn't kiss her and I should have.