Words and actions have lasting effects…
In 1969, having been in California for a year and moved from one job to another, I ended up working as a bookkeeper at Capitol Records in Beverly Hills.
It was the place everyone in the industry came to get records, and celebrities often dropped by. One time I got front row seats to a Blood Sweat And Tears concert because Clive Davis dropped by the store on the concert day and said he had three tickets to give away. I was the grateful recipient.
All the way home that night our four-year-old son kept singing the last note of the concert. He might not remember that night, but I do.
It was an exciting place to work, and although I wasn’t there long because I got pregnant and women didn’t work pregnant then, I have lovely memories of that time, along with a few wonderful stories.
Like taking Ella Fitzgerald’s son home (he worked in the mailroom) on the back of the pink Honda 50 that the store had won and loaned to me because they worried about me riding my bike to work.
But the story I want to tell is valuable because it’s a reminder of how lasting an influence a few words can be on someone.
It was Igor Stravinsky’s few words spoken to me one day, over the phone, that affected me then and still do. Although for him, I was just another conversation, and I am sure he never gave it another thought.
Stravinsky had called the store checking on his account. He was moving to New York and wanted to close his account. After receiving the bill I sent him, he called because he wasn’t sure that it was correct, and he wanted me to talk him through it.
Did I know who he was? Of course. Who didn’t? I had danced to his music. I was awestruck that I was talking to him. But it was what he said after I walked him through the numbers that have stuck with me.
“I’ll get this paid right away. I know you know what you are doing. Thank you.”
After he said goodbye, I worried. Stravinsky said I knew what I was doing. But did I?
My life was a mess. I was a bookkeeper, not because I was trained to be one, but because I can make order out of chaos and I talked my way into the job with that premise. The bookkeeper before me had left a mess. I might have made a mistake.
As soon as he hung up, I checked again. Was I right? Did I really know what I was doing? Igor Stravinsky said that I did. And I decided to believe him. And I have tried to live up to his faith in a stranger, although I am sure he never thought of what he said, or me, again.
Why is this important to anyone but me?
Because it is a reminder that we most likely will never know the outcome of what we say and do. That day, I could have been wrong. And I believe Stravinsky knew I might have been wrong.
However, he encouraged me instead. And that encouragement kept me going. I believe Stravinsky chose to be kind instead of right, and that made all the difference.
Perhaps he chose kindness because he had known so much unkindness. In May 1913, the performance of The Rites Of Spring caused a riot. In Germany, they considered his music degenerate. They forced him from his homeland. But he persisted. He followed his vision, and today his music is known and loved all over the world.
So two lessons from the great Igor Stravinsky.
And trust that what you do makes a difference, even if you never know about it.
Here are more words of his that bear repeating:
Just as appetite comes by eating, so work brings inspiration. -Igor Stravinsky, composer (17 Jun 1882-1971)
BECA LEWIS coaches, teaches, writes blogs and books, plays with art, and is addicted to reading. She lives in Ohio with her husband and has kids and grandkids scattered across the country.
