(One Happy Morgan as a youngster. Luker, T, circa 1984)
I interviewed Morgan May Luker as the ‘happiest person I know’. This was an incredibly challenging question to answer as I wonder how you ever truly know if another person is happy (or not), or if they are indeed the happiest person you know. However, I have known Morgan since my first year of University and I felt it was a safe bet to say that Morgan knows what happiness is at her core. The two of us met in our all-girls dormitory at Lakehead University in 1996. We lived together in the transformed convent (not our idea of an exciting first year away from home) as we had both been working in the backcountry all summer and neither of us knew we had to apply to residence in our University applications. We were also both enrolled in the Outdoor Recreation, Parks and Tourism course and had all our classes together. We became instant friends. We lived together for another three years in the same house with mostly the same room mates, and became a family unit while away at school, a friendship which has continued 20 years later into the 2020’s, and includes almost annual visits (as we live in different part of the world on different oceans). Over the years I have witnessed many of Morgan’s life events in close proximity (love, achievements, moves, risks, trials and sadness) due to the closeness of our relationship, even with miles between us. I have always felt her exude happiness as a person.
Morgan lives and breathes adventures in nature in her home on Providenciales, Turks and Caicos (TCI). Morgan’s father moved there when she was young and she visited frequently, falling in love with the landscape. She runs an outdoor adventure company in TCI called SURFside Ocean Academy, that offers unique and authentic water-based experiences. Morgan is extremely into Stand up Paddle boarding (SUP) and swimming and is happy to be able to live on an island where she grew up and can visit the ocean every day. Morgan travels frequently and volunteers for the organization Sea Shepherd both at home and abroad. She has built a successful business and has a life that is rich in community, beauty and joy through her daily life choices.
What I know of Morgan and she doesn’t say herself, is that she continues to seek and find joy, even when life is handing her incredible challenges. Morgan’s home was destroyed (with her in it) during Hurricane Irma in 2017, a terrifying experience that created incredible loss throughout her community. Morgan immediately sprung to action, helping others, finding them housing and making sure vulnerable community members were cared for. During COVID, she gave this same house (which had been rebuilt) to a local in need of housing during these uncertain times. Being such a social person and living alone, COVID lockdown is the first time I have seen Morgan’s positive self slightly rattled. Lockdown has been intense in TCI. However, when faced with not being able to leave her house or see people for weeks, Morgan began to find ways to nurture her happiness. She started taking her yoga training online, preparing her house to be a retreat centre, and found ways to connect with community members without leaving her home.
In relation to PERMA, when I look at Morgan’s profile as a human being and happy person, she checks all the boxes. She could be described as leading ‘the pleasant life’, she engages in her work and passions deeply, identifies relationships as a foundational piece for her - ‘support from family and friends is one of the biggest muscles that you have’, finds meaning through volunteerism, work, and philanthropy, and continues to set goals that allow her to flourish.
Something I’m not sure that PERMA covers that Morgan’s life most definitely includes is a positive outlook. Not only do we need to feel these positive emotions, but we need to be able to see past the times when we can’t feel them, due to circumstance. That is to say, see that there is pain, but know that happiness is still possible. One of my favourite quotes for approaching hardships is:
‘Barn’s burnt down. Now I can see the moon.’ -Masahide
I have witnessed Morgan’s barn burn down and watched her transform her personal difficulties into being able to see the moon.
I also see Morgan’s connection to the more-than-human world as a part of why she is rich in happiness and well-being. Morgan’s PERMA status is complete and includes that more (w)holistic approach to Sustainable Happiness and well-being. She provides me with a real example for why Segilmen’s definition needs to be expanded to include our life relationship to that which sustains us.
Morgan, thanks for taking the time for this interview! My impression of you is that you are a very happy person. Please tell me what contributes most to your happiness.
Thank you for thinking that, that makes me happy. I would say there are definitely a few key factors that contribute to a happy me. I would have to say (and in this order) the things that I have in my life that give me the most joy would be my family, travel, the ocean, exercise, and work. When these things are not all present, I am not living my happiest life. I feel that I am also the happiest when I am working towards goals, learning new skills, traveling to new places and experiencing and exchanging with communities that are outside of my own community. I am passionate about our local community, so working with them, and giving back and contributing also makes me very happy too. I have done this in the form of outreach programs, fundraisers, and events with an ocean/water focus. I really enjoy creating and implementing programs with my work, and as an owner/operator of 3 businesses the possibilities are really endless. I believe I am happy because I have the freedom and the opportunities to make big choices in my life that I control and can take responsibility for (good and bad) and learn from them. Being able to ‘choose your own adventure’ in life is something that I am most grateful for. You’re always ON in tourism and when you work for yourself, so you have to be careful to balance that with time for yourself and time spent in healthy ways.
I also think having a HOME is very important to me and helps to bring me happiness as well, one that I’ve made into my own living and retreat space, and one that I can’t wait to go to at the end of a work day. What I do know, as well, is that all of the material things in my life really don’t matter unless those things can be shared and enjoyed with others (like my family or with guests on excursions).
What lessons have you learned from overcoming obstacles in your life?
That anything is possible. That support from family and friends is one of the biggest muscles that you have. That people become stronger from working through the challenges that they have. That most challenges have solutions. That there is so much more outside of the box than there is inside. That once you solve something that was challenging (or even considered impossible, although I don’t often use that word) you feel really happy about that and it makes you stronger.
Do you have any advice to share about living a happy life?
Figure out what makes YOU happy and work hard to have those things in your life. Whether it’s one hour of alone time every day, or spending time in a city, or starting your day off with music… work towards incorporating those things in your life. Do something every day (this is my dad’s advice)…sometimes it’s hard to get up and go, but just make one goal every day and make sure you accomplish it the very best you can. Make sure to surround yourself with positive, happy, supportive people. Make sure to ingest positive, happy, supportive food and drink (nothing in excess, OK, a little, but just for a treat). Set bigger goals, write them down, and work towards making them happen. Know that life will carry on and be OK if you step away to make a dream or goal happen (like taking a leave from work)…just DO IT. Shoot for the moon. Know that you can do anything if you work towards it and are CONSISTENT in your steps and daily practices. Volunteer- for something/someone else, something that you’re passionate about.
What do you day-to-day to maintain happiness in your life? i.e. what are your best practices?
I try to take/make at least an hour every day for just me and moving my body (stretching, yoga, back exercises).
I always try to take some moments for gratitude.
I try to exercise daily.
I practice yoga and/or meditation.
I eat healthy foods that are good for my body and daily regime.
I try to do one thing every day (see my dad’s advice) when things are slower paced.
I talk to my friends and family on a daily basis via phone or visit them in person (lots of family visits).
I strive to live in a clean, organized, neat and fresh home.
(Morgan exploring artificial reefs. Luker, A. 2017).
I see you as having a deep and meaningful connection to the 'more than human' world. Do you think that makes you 'more' happy? If so, how?
From my earliest memories, I have always been mostly outside. We (my brother and I) grew up in rural Southern Ontario with bikes, skis, toboggans and so on, and had rivers and ponds always in proximity (and on our minds). We grew up outside next 'the forest', and played there until the sun went down every day, all day. My earliest memory is of me riding my tricycle carrying my friends, little found earth worms, on the back step of the trike for a ride. Summers were spent either at the cottage with our grandparents on the lake receiving snorkeling and swim lessons from Granny, or in the Turks and Caicos diving, fishing and snorkeling with our Dad. When I was about 10, my brother and I would spend the half of the summers at camp in Muskoka (the same camp my father went to!) learning more about canoeing, camping, nature and adventures. My connection and appreciation for nature continued to evolve and grow and eventually led to a choice of majoring in Outdoor Recreation, Parks & Tourism at Lakehead University.
Once I graduated from university (2000), I immediately moved to the Turks and Caicos Islands to begin my next chapter there and have been here ever since. I have been so lucky to have worked directly in nature on and under the water as a kayak guide, scuba instructor, kids camp counselor, sea turtle specialist, naturalist and school teacher. All roles that have placed me directly back and in to nature. I began to develop a company that focused on offering eco-based adventures that fostered an appreciation for and better understanding of the natural world in TCI. I wanted people to have unique adventures but also develop a stronger connection with the ocean through their experiences to take home with them. So instead of taking back a starfish, for example, they would take back knowledge and a memory.
Just in reflecting now, I never realized how much of a role the outdoors and nature has played in my life, and into my happiness. I have always just been outside and in nature. I took it for granted. Recently, however, as a part of the steps that were taken in our country to help flatten the COVID-19 curve, recreating outdoors and access to the beach and ocean was made illegal by our government. This policy was in place for over 5 weeks in the country. There were so many emotions during that period, but I realized what a vital role the ocean plays in my life and my happiness during this time. I have always had the freedom to recreate and connect to nature, and not having that was one of the biggest challenges I have ever experienced. I realize, too, that I am a pretty lucky person, if that is all that I had to endure during those 5 weeks. It was incredible to get back in the ocean, snorkel with the turtles and re-explore the places that I took for granted before the lockdown. I actually cried when my toes finally touched the salty sea. I am fairly sure that the turtles missed us as well, as I had never seen so many out and about before in my 36 years of playing in the water here.
As I sit here in my home now, windows and doors open and listening to the ocean and the birds outside singing, I could only imagine my life literally immersed in nature. I am so grateful and fortunate to have been able to create a life alongside the things that make me the most happy...my family, the ocean, and the creatures and sounds the ocean and seaside have to offer.
(Morgan in her happy place. Luker, A. 2019).
*shared with full permissions from Ms. Morgan May Luker herself.
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