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Crucial Update

Has Taylor Swift Found Her Chill?

@taylorswift/Instagram

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Something is happening to Taylor Swift. For the past few weeks, she's been pretty much MIA, having escaped North America for the final leg of her 1989 World Tour, including Singapore, China, Australia, and finally, New Zealand, where she remains. And it's there that the unthinkable has occurred: Taylor Swift, she of the #squadgoals and handmade fan gifts, appears to have found her chill.

Of course, this is both completely shocking and highly improbable. Most people with as little chill as Taylor Swift never find it, and continue to live their lives utterly chill-less until their final, un-chill breath. But against all odds, a woman who once literally bought a house next door to her boyfriend's family's vacation compound is now wearing sweatpants and hanging out with exotic birds.

Evidence suggests the switch seemed to have occurred some time around Halloween. As one can't easily forget, she wore an extremely un-chill Olaf costume during a Halloween performance of "Let It Go" with Idina Menzel:

Photo:Tim Boyles/LP5/Getty Images

But since then, Taylor Swift's Instagram feed has been suspiciously quiet, save for the occasional super-chill 'gram of babies:

A photo posted by Taylor Swift (@taylorswift) on

And cats:

A photo posted by Taylor Swift (@taylorswift) on

And sweatpants — sweatpants!!!!!

A photo posted by Taylor Swift (@taylorswift) on

And skipping stones while wearing sweatpants:

A video posted by Taylor Swift (@taylorswift) on

And chilling with exotic birds:

A photo posted by Taylor Swift (@taylorswift) on

In another shockingly chill move, she was also notably absent from this year's American Music Awards, where she was nominated for the most awards out of any artist, thereby forgoing a chance to a) wear a great outfit and b) pose while holding an armful of impressive awards. She even reportedly banned all media from Hamilton Island, where she and her family are staying.

But more so than all of these things, the most concrete evidence that Taylor Swift has finally found her chill is that on a photo caption of the 1989 World Tour cast and crew, she wrote, "Aussie press, I love your enthusiasm but my birthday isn't for two weeks and it'll be a quiet one this year. Let's take it down a notch :)."

This is shocking not only because the person who counted Beyoncé among her birthday party guests last year is having "a quiet one" this time around, but also because Taylor Swift had to tell a group of people to "take it down a notch." We are now living in a new era, one where Taylor Swift has chill. No one can say what this means for the world just yet, but it will likely include a lot fewer hand-knitted sweaters.