Style is my absolute favorite artistic song piece that Taylor Swift has written. Some of my favorite memories of my younger years include this song and my mom and I dancing around in the kitchen holding spatulas as microphones. When I was younger, my dad and mom would fight constantly due to my dad's abuse and he would cheat on her constantly. I didn't really understand all that was going on at the time but I knew that my dad was causing my mom, my brother and I a lot of pain. He broke my mom in every way that he possibly could, and he constantly abused my younger brother and me which only hurt my mom more. He belittled my mom and made her feel worthless. She couldn't be herself around him, and she rarely had time to smile or laugh anyways with all of the pain he was causing her. Every sense of happiness was drained by him when he was around. My dad wouldn't allow my mom to sing along to songs or even listen to songs that he didn't approve of. He controlled everything about her and all that she could do, but once he would leave for work and I knew my mom needed a little pick me up, I would quickly run over to the computer, type in "Style" on Youtube and press play. Taylor Swift's song, Style, allowed my mom to smile, it allowed her to feel a moment of brief happiness for three minutes and fifty-one seconds (or as long as we kept replaying it). It was as if all of the worries in the world went away. It gave her hope that there was a brighter future, one where my dad would change or he would be out of our lives. Every time that song played, Taylor Swift reminded us that you can have happiness and fun even in the craziness and upsetting "eras". I knew that if I played Style my mom would put on her red lipstick and start singing along and all would be okay, at least for a couple of minutes. Taylor Swift gave my mom the freedom to be her again and that was one of the best gifts-to see my mom happy. It has been 5 five years since my parents have been divorced, and almost three since the last time I saw my dad, my mom and I still play Style every time we are feeling down and need a little bit of freedom from the stresses life can bring. Style still puts a smile on my mom and I's faces and it will always be something that relieves the bad even for just three minutes and fifty-one seconds.

I am a victim of domestic violence, and suffer from PTSD and anxiety. My abusive dad made me feel like I was worthless and crazy, that I was the problem. My dad has constantly belittled me and gaslighted my family with neglect, emotional, spiritual and financial abuse for as long as I can remember. My parents got divorced in 2018 and what we thought was going to be a beginning to peace in our lives, did just the opposite. My dad began calling the police on our family, trying to say that my mom was trying to keep us from seeing him, when all she wanted was for him to love us. I had so much anger and hatred in my body; I felt so worthless and I was depressed and anxious. The first time that my brother and I had to stay over with my dad at the beginning of the purge was at his new house with his new wife, who I had only met once. She was a complete stranger who was either just like my dad to marry him or had just fallen for his tricks. Every visitation I was scared and had to record every second I was with him to remind myself I wasn’t crazy and to catch the abuse to prove his manipulation. I would go from Friday to Sunday, sometimes Monday morning without any water or food, just stuck in the basement. My brother and I shared not even half of a room when we were there that didn’t even have a door. I developed a bad eating disorder because of the differentiating eating routines and the constant stress. I was always worried that my dad was spying on us, because he was. At his new home, they had video cameras in almost every single room of the house, always watching us. All I did when I was there was lay in bed, not showering, not using the restroom, not eating, because I was scared. I would violently throw up even on my empty stomach because of the stress and he didn't even care. I was down in that basement for days until I would finally come out to go back home. Being able to deal with all of the trauma and stress that I have had to cope with just goes to show how strong, not only I am, but my God is. I know that prayer IS powerful and I know that having a relationship with God is so so important. My relationship with Christ only continues to grow and flourish as I learn more about who God is and how I can serve His kingdom better. Looking back, the Lord has matured me like I couldn’t have even imagined, He has given me a hope for the future, removed the bitterness in my heart against my dad, given me joy, developed my character, strengthened my faith, gotten rid of my anger and replaced it with His love, given me empathy, shown me His great power and majesty, and shown me a fatherly love, a gap that no one else could have filled. I intend to share my story with many other mental illness victims to showcase how we can learn to cope and use resources to cure and aid our mental illnesses. Together, we can make a change to improve our society and spread awareness on the seriousness of mental health. We should be standing up and speaking out on the significance of our emotional well-being. We can make a change, but we must be willing to speak up.