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.

Send us a text

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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.

Episode Transcript

MJ Murray Vachon LCSW (00:00):
In this episode, you'll discover how
Taylor Swift's album promosaren't just about music because
she's telling you how shecreates calm Welcome to Creating
Midlife Calm, the podcast whereyou and I tackle stress and
anxiety in midlife so you canstop feeling like crap, feel
more present at home, and thriveat work.

(00:21):
I'm MJ Murray Vachon a LicensedClinical Social Worker with over
50,000 hours of therapy sessionsand 32 years of teaching
practical science-backed mentalwellness.
welcome to the podcast.
Maybe you missed it, but TaylorSwift dropped her 12th album
last Friday, and a fellow Swiftysent me an interview with the

(00:42):
message checkout minute four 20.
Taylor Said in this interview onHits radio, I have a real
priority of being peaceful andhappy, and getting attention has
now been monetized.
So you have to choose whatreality you wanna be in.
That stopped me in my tracks.
I actually met Taylor Swift onceat Soldier Field in Chicago

(01:05):
after her reputation concert.
My daughter was one of 12 fanspicked for the after party, and
what struck me the most was herpresence, even in the middle of
all that whirlwind she made,everyone she spoke to feel calm
and seen.
Looking back, I realize thateven with the enormous amount of
attention she receives, shehasn't lost her ability to

(01:29):
connect first with herself in apeaceful and grounded way, and
then to connect with others inways that make them feel truly
seen.
And that's exactly what we'retalking about here on creating
midlife calm.
What she's saying applies to allof us, especially those of you
in midlife who constantly feelpulled between work, family, and

(01:53):
the digital world demanding yourattention.
You have your own ERA'S tourthat you do every day of the
week.
In this episode I'm gonna sharewith you tips from Taylor.
You're gonna discover whatTaylor revealed about how she
uses or doesn't use her phoneand social media.
Why conscious choices aboutattention and time are essential

(02:16):
for mental wellness and howreplacing, scrolling with
creativity and giving can reduceyour anxiety and stress.
Let's start with what Tayloractually said in the interview.
She admitted I'm really not muchof a scroller at all.
Then she added, I don't have theapps on my phone or else.

(02:36):
And finally listen to thisbecause this is the payoff.
I'd rather just spend thosehours doing something else or
planning something fun for thefans, baking or some of my other
hobbies, and then came thatpowerful line, which is worth
repeating again.
I have a real priority of beingpeaceful and happy.

(02:57):
And getting attention has nowbeen monetized.
So you have to choose whatreality you wanna be in.
That's mindfulness in action.
Taylor is reminding us thatattention is currency and every
time you scroll you're spendingit.
But she's also modeling what itlooks like to make intentional,

(03:18):
conscious choices.
She's not relying on willpower.
She's designing her environment.
She removes the app, so thetemptation isn't even there, and
that's the quiet exhaustion Somany of you feel.
like your attention is beingpulled apart piece by piece.
Scroll by scroll, notificationby notification.

(03:43):
You may not be a globalsuperstar, but your attention
gets hijacked exactly in thesame 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 toepisodes 1 21 and 1 22, where I

(04:06):
cover the science behind all ofthis.
Your phone lights up the sameparts of your brain associated
with addiction and vigilance.
No wonder it's so hard to putthat thing down.
That's why even short breaks canrestore calm and improve mental
clarity and help you step intoyour agency where you're

(04:27):
actually choosing how you wantto spend your time.
Taylor's approach offers a modelfor 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

(04:47):
her freed up time forcreativity, baking planning
things for her fans, makingmoments that connect.
Rather than consume, that's ashift.
I want you to notice lessscrolling doesn't mean less
distraction.
It means more space to give,create, and connect.
When you spend less timeconsuming, less time scrolling,

(05:11):
and more time creating, youstart generating calm.
Instead of chasing it, and as wehead into the busiest season of
the year, this idea of choosingpeace becomes even more
important.
So here's your Inner Challengefor today.
Take one small window of time,maybe 10 or 15 minutes when you

(05:34):
usually scroll and trade it forsomething that fills your tank.
Bake some cookies.
Write a note to someone.
Tidy that drawer in yourkitchen.
That's a mess.
Take a short walk or start ahobby you've been too busy for,
then notice the shift.
You'll likely feel moregrounded, peaceful, and maybe

(05:56):
even proud.
That's your nervous system,saying thanks.
In this episode, we discoveredthat even Taylor Swift, in the
height of her fame prioritizespeace.
she removes social media apps toprotect her mind and invest her
attention in creativity, andreminds us that happiness comes

(06:17):
from conscious choices.
Not constant connection.
When you use your example tomake small but intentional
changes, you can reduce anxietyand stress and reclaim time for
what truly matters.
On Thursday, we're gonna buildon this idea, taking Taylor's
spirit of creativity andapplying it to what's coming up.

(06:41):
You know what I mean?
October, November.
December it's holiday season.
I'm gonna flip the script fromobligation and overwhelm to
connection and calm.
Instead of seeing the holidaysas a chore, we're gonna explore
how you can look at these in adifferent way, in a way that can

(07:03):
actually restore your peace.
Before I close, I have a hugethank you to say to all of my
listeners, this is the 200thepisode of Creating Midlife
Calm.
It certainly isn't his momentousas Taylor's 12th album, but
trust me, when I started thispodcast, I never thought for a
second that I would drop episode200 And all of you who listen so

(07:28):
faithfully share episodes withfriends.
As well as email me ideas likethis episode are to thank.
So thanks for listening and I'llbe back on Thursday with more
creating midlife Calm.