There is the German word for feeling joy for others. It’s ‘Freudenfreude’; the opposite of Schadenfreude, meaning taking pleasure in other people’s misery.
It’s a modern phrase that perfectly captures how we feel about today’s happy engagement news for Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce.
I clearly don’t know them personally but there is an inexplicable global joy at their shared happiness.
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It’s a Hallmark movie IRL. The world’s biggest popstar falls for one of the NFL’s most successful players. That alone would make it movie material but it’s how they met and how they fell in love that is so heartwarming.
Taylor has likened it to an 80s John Hughes movie, the director behind classics including The Breakfast Club, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off and Sixteen Candles.
On the widely popular New Heights podcast episode with Tay and Trav (they are our mates now, so let’s just do nicknames), she likened his wild romantic gesture to standing outside her window with a boombox blaring: “I want to date you! Do you want to go on a date with me? I made you a friendship bracelet! Do you want to date me?”
It worked.
They dated, first in secret, and then all the way to the Super Bowl.
Sports fans poo-pooed the amount of time Swift popped on their screens but girl-dads rejoiced and the NFL did too with viewership up and Swifties handing out friendship bracelets at the football.
Now, ESPN is sending out alerts on their engagement. To use a sports analogy, if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.
The announcement itself was timed to perfection. We know Taylor knows her numbers. The beautiful engagement photos were posted at exactly 1300 on August 26th. What’s 26? 13+13. What’s 13? Her favourite number.
His favourite number is 100. What’s 1300? 1pm or 100. See, it was made to be.
The caption read: “Your English teacher and your gym teacher are getting married”.
Cynics will complain that it was too coordinated right down to the matching Ralph Lauren outfits but this is a couple who couldn’t care less about their critics. All power to them.
After all, Taylor Swift has lived her life in the spotlight since she was 14-years-old and that has meant a very public love life too. She rarely comments about personal matters but her lyrics speak volumes.
“Forever & Always” was written about Joe Jonas, “All Too Well” on Jake Gyllenhaal, “Dear John” for John Mayer”, “Style” about Harry Styles and “So Long, London” about her relationship with Joe Alwyn.
It’s rumoured that “Actually Romantic” on her album is about Travis Kelce, which brings up back to that actually romantic proposal.
We know it happened a few weeks ago. We think it was on the grounds of his Kelce’s Kansas mansion. We have confirmed it’s a gigantic ring; up to a million dollars worth from New York jeweller, Kindred Lubeck from Artifex Fine.
Travis’s dad has confessed his son spent weeks planning the set-up that looks very similar to a photoshoot for her album, Lover.
It’s all just so damn clever and so lovely.
Comments are disabled on their engagement Instagram post. They don’t care about what you have to say about their love.
“I don’t see a lot of things,” she told New Heights. “I think basing your feedback from internet and comments … anything you feed your brain it will internalize, and anything you feed the internet, it will kill.”
Just not today. We are living for it. The comments are priceless.
From total stranger, @Burcu; “Literally crying for my close and personal friend, Taylor Swift”.
Sunrise viewer, Jillian woke up her 11-year-old daughter to share the news this morning. This CBS reporter is going viral for her live reaction.
They were literally shouting it from the Empire State Building in New York.
Taylor has described Travis as a “human exclamation point”.
Well, to the lovely couple, let us here at Seven News say CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thank you for giving the world something to smile about.
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