Tavi

I have a vintage necklace that says GLORIA—it was a gift from my friends Autumn and Arrow, and they gave Petra a matching one that says MARCIA. I wore my GLORIA necklace when I saw Patti Smith live, and at an event honoring Gloria Steinem, so it has lioness-power vibes. As does my other lucky necklace—Stevie Nicks gave it to me. (I know!) Sisters of the moon! Stevie saw my TED talk where I spoke about her, and then she invited my family and me to a Fleetwood Mac concert. We met her after the show, and that’s when she gave me the necklace. She said it is a traveling moon, so it’s OK to pass it on to someone if I feel they might need it. Which is a nice thought and all but, um, that’s never gonna happen. It also makes an appearance in a collage in Rookie Yearbook Two.

I wear my GLORIA necklace on special occasions (Rookie events, concerts) or when I need to feel strong (a day I really don’t want to go to school, meeting up with a friend or a loved one to have a difficult conversation). I like to think the vibes of Autumn, Arrow, Petra, Patti, Gloria, and Stevie transfer over to me in these times of celebration or times of need. On a miserable school day, the Autumn and Arrow necklace reminds me of a circle of creative friends I have outside of school—matching with Petra gives me happy Rookie sisterhood feelings, Patti reminds me to think of myself as a person more than a girl, Gloria reminds me to be a boss, and Stevie reminds me to own it when I am a crying mess. This shit works.