I was at a Stevie Nicks concert, on the ‘Story’ tour. Stevie told her team and the concert producers that she was going to do things differently this time. She was going to tell lots of stories in between the songs.
They told her she couldn’t do that, that no one would be interested.
“Yes, I can. I am,” she told them.
It was a pattern of agency that played throughout her life.
On stage, Stevie told the story of being on her honeymoon and driving in the car with her new husband when Prince’s song Little Red Corvette came on the radio. Stevie immediately grabbed a piece of paper and a pen and started writing down a poem. Her husband looked at her and asked, “What are you doing?”
“I’m writing a poem to this song,” she replied.
“You can’t do that,” said her husband, “It’s Prince’s song.”
“Yes I can,” said Stevie, as she continued, “I’m doing it now. ”
She did write that poem. She later went on to record the poem as lyrics over Prince’s song. Not only that, but when they were recording the song in LA, Stevie called Prince, whom she had only met once, told him what she was doing, and invited him into the studio to play on the song. He came, they recorded, and she split the proceeds with him50/50.
I can, she said. I’m doing it. It was a consistent theme in her life.
You have agency over your own life. Sovereignty. You can do the things you want to do. You can simply choose to, just like Stevie Nicks. Your life. Your choice. Think of Stevie sitting in that car, writing down a poem to a song already on the radio by one of the most famous artists in the world.
“I can”, she said as she wrote away, inspired, “I’m doing it now. ”
She didn’t ask for permission. She didn’t seek approval. She followed her inspiration. Trusted her muse. Trusted herself. And did exactly as she chose too. You can too.
