19 times the world fell in love with Taylor Swift.

Taylor Swift is a lot more fun since she’s stopped trying to please everyone.

Earlier this year, she was all sunshine and fairy floss. She didn’t believe that sexism existed, she wore her broken heart on her sleeve, and she was generally described as ‘annoying’ or ‘boring’.

NOT ANYMORE.

Now, she’s not just the highest selling pop star on the planet. She’s found a way to be authentic in an industry of fakers. She strongly identifies as a feminist (we credit Lena Dunham’s friendship for that), she acknowledges her haters, she hits back at her critics, and she writes genuinely interesting, sometimes jaded lyrics.

Self-awareness suits Taylor Swift. She knows she’s not going to please everyone all the time, so she just goes about her business being Taylor Swift. The 24-year-old crazy cat lady who named her cat after a fictional detective. The tall girl who can’t really dance but god that’s not going to stop her from doing it. The sweet star who finds ways to pay back her young fans for their loyalty.

Love her or not, this girl is the closest damn thing we got to real in the pop industry. We don’t throw around the term ‘role model’ lightly, but Taylor Swift seems to be one of the few stars on the planet parents actually want their kids to worship. Compared to the ubiquitous nudity of her peers, T-Swift is practically modest. It’s no surprise she’s best friends with Lorde; they’re both trying to live and breathe that old BE TRUE TO YOURSELF maxim.

In the past 24 hours, since Taylor Swift released her new album 1989, something has become clear: You either love Taylor Swift, or you’re about to. Just go through these 19 times the world fell in love with Taylor Swift, and see if you can make it through it without wanting to know more.

1. When her brand-spanking new album went straight to #1 in 88 countries. Oh, and got rave reviews from everyone.

2. When photographic proof of her lifelong cuteness emerged.

3. When she outed herself as a crazy cat lady.

4. When she wore this cat raincoat to further demonstrate cat obsession.

5. When she scoured social media sites for her most dedicated fans and invited them to her apartment to listen to her album before everyone else.

6. When she threw shade at her ex-boyfriend (and total love weasel) John Mayer in this powerful ballad:

7. When she said sorry to ex Taylor Lautner via song because that’s how it should be done:

8. When she did Lena Dunham proud and called ‘sexism!’ on the shit she gets for writing about love.

9. When she surprised this fan at her bridal shower.

10. When she got involved in this social media fight about whether that’s her or some girl called Becky (it’s Becky).

11. When she pulled this face at Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez pashing.

12. When she capitalised all letters in her CD lyric sleeves to spell out special ‘secret’ messages to her fans.

13. When she wrote this gorgeous song about a little boy with cancer who passed away, and dedicated it to his mother.

14. When she got her mum to find her biggest fans at concerts and allowed them to come backstage and eat pizza with her.

15. When she dances like a crazy person. Everywhere.

16. And she aint gon’ apologize for it.

 17. When she won her first Grammy for Album of The Year at 19, and cried happy tears.

18. When she made friends with all of the famous people ever.

19. When she gave personalized love advice to her fans.