This week, we are thrilled to be introducing a new addition to the Smudge Wellness team, Morgan Fykes. Morgan is joining us as our Content Manager, coming aboard to make sure we are delivering quality spiritual wellness articles, videos, and more to our community. We knew we wanted somebody who is brilliant, proactive, and personifies what personal power is all about. And well, we'll let her tell the rest of the story of how she demonstrated she was exactly what we were looking for...
My name is Morgan Fykes and I live in Washington, DC. I am a storyteller with words and pictures who loves to create experiences and to help people connect. I am also a teacher of yoga, a lover of life and a constant cheerleader. If I had to point to a moment, my journey to meet Luigi and Lara and join Smudge Wellness started a few years ago in my best friend’s jewelry store called She’s Unique. I was helping her with an event and I fell in love with a crystal necklace from a new line she was introducing. A customer expressed interest in the necklace and when she tried it on, the chain just broke almost instantly. I later learned more about crystals and realized that quartz picked me. It knew I was ready for a change and it was as drawn to me as I was to it. Shortly after I connected with my crystal, the best way to describe it was it felt like my life started falling into place in different ways.
The next step on my journey came when I did a Whole 30 that turned up the communication between my body and my mind. I stopped drinking for almost a year. Some relationships got deeper and others fizzled out. I got more centered in my yoga practice and decided to take the next step and get my yoga teacher certification. Someone gave me my first tarot deck and I started hearing the universe more. I started teaching yoga at retreats and events and connecting with other like minded humans. I started leaning into my intuition and the signs and symbols that were appearing all around me and it was really beautiful but it was also kind of scary. It forced me to rethink a lot of what I thought I knew, what I thought was right and what I believed worked. So I did what I do best, I started reading and studying. I started learning more about crystals, I started studying the cards, I continued growing my yoga practice. I also started noticing that when you start talking about crystals and Tarot or energy and intuition, some people start to look at you funny. Many of these practices have gotten appropriated, a bad rap or been misrepresented. It can be hard when getting started to discern what’s true and what’s right for each of us. So how did I get here you may be asking?
I can’t tell you the exact date I started following Smudge Wellness online but I can tell you that it was love at first sight. I remember really focusing on them when they relaunched their website and started sharing the stories of others. I loved their laughing photo, their energy jumping off the page and I was really drawn to the Three Pillars of Smudge Wellness: Practical Magic, Wellness (and Life) is Messy; Spiritual Wellness is as one-of-a-kind as you are. I read that post a little over a week before my 35 birthday and I remember thinking, “these are my people” but I didn’t really understand what that meant yet. Their social posts felt like messages written just for me and I knew I couldn’t be the only one feeling this magic also I did not WANT to be the only one feeling this magic because magic is meant to be shared.
For my birthday, one of my favorite people in the world read my cards and basically told me to stop ignoring what I was being told and to lean into my intuition. The next morning the first thing I saw was “Don’t fight the forces. Use them”. So I listened. I kept watching Smudge and to be honest, I don’t even know that I knew what I was looking for but I kept coming back to their page. When they introduced the Smudge Power Rangers (I mean the fact that they named them that screamed these are my people to me again) and did an awesome 6 days of giveaways centered around Courage, Love, Intuition, Purpose, Opportunity, and Calm. So I trusted my gut and spoke from my heart and I tapped into moments that aligned with each of those themes. And that’s when it happened. Smudge Wellness sent me a Direct Message (DM) on Instagram. Sliding into the DMs can be a bit controversial. Some people are all for it and others find it offensive. If it’s a brand, I say go for it, but if it’s a person, I air on the side of asking first. On November 18th, 2020 (the day before my birthday), Smudge slid into my DMs. Here’s what happened.
Smudge: Hi! Loving all your messages on our posts. So heartfelt and beautiful.
Morgan: Thank you!! I just had a really awesome reading and am trying to lean more into my intuition and than saw your post this morning which spoke directly to that which was really dope
Smudge: So cool! What kind of reading?
Morgan: Two deck tarot reading.
She hit me with all the stuff i needed but didnt want to hear, that wake up call, and then this morning I've been flooded with messaging some from your page that affirmed everything she said in dope ways
Smudge: We Love to hear it!
Let’s connect. We are looking for contributors to our blog and would love to see some of your work.
Morgan: How fortuitous, as I am looking for more places to contribute and love your brand!! You can see some of my work here - https://morganfykes.contently.com/
Smudge: Love it! Gonna take a look and will email you. What’s the best address?
Morgan: *Removed so ya’ll don’t flood my inbox lol*
Smudge: Mentioned you in their story
November 19, 2020 7:31 am
Morgan: You mentioned smudgewellness in your story *I woke up on my birthday to learn that I had won the Love Giveaway, and before you claim it was rigged…*
Smudge: Morgan! Congrats! So crazy that happened by chance after our exchange
Meant to be
And it really was, shortly after we started emailing and then we all got on a call together and it just clicked. I had such a great time chatting with them and we were speaking each other’s language. It was like discovering that someone speaks that same foreign original language as you and geeking out together because of the joy of someone understanding you. That’s when they asked if they could share their vision with me, which I know is a leap of faith to a stranger from the internet but I wanted to hear all about it and it was like someone was describing the perfect role for me. So I took the leap with them and told them more about what I’ve done and what I want to do and it fit together. So we kept talking and I checked with my cards, talked to family, pushed my fear to the side and asked for what I want and deserve and I don’t know how else to describe our courting process except we just kept saying the right things to each other and kept talking until we figured out where to start and what everyone needed. At some point during this exchange, I shared a video of Lizzo cause, it’s Lizzo, and got another DM:
Smudge: This is how I know we’re going to work well together. We have to tell you about the time we gifted Smudge to Lizzo!
Morgan: Omg yassss I love Lizzo, I could totally see her being a smudge fan
Cant wait to hear the story
We had our first team meeting this month and once again, I knew I was on the right path when Luigi started the meeting by pulling a Mystic Monday Tarot card for each of us. I won’t share theirs because it’s not my story to tell but a line from mine that got me together was to stop with the imposter syndrome. It was exactly what I needed to hear, it gave me space to speak my truth and it was one of the best launch meetings I’ve ever had. So now Smudge Wellness and I are going steady so I’m proud to introduce myself as Smudge Wellness’ new Content Manager. So what does that mean? Well it means that together with Lara and Luigi, we are going to hold space for others who want to learn, to grow, to adopt new practices. We won’t be doing it alone though. One of my favorite teachers taught multiculturalism in my masters program and part of what made her so special was she did not try to do it all alone. When we talked about religion she brought in a Rabbi, and a Priest and a Pastor (no they did not walk into a bar), to talk with us. When we talked about the experiences of people with disabilities, she held space for people in the community to talk with us so we could speak to and learn from people with disabilities. So yes I will be writing stories and sharing my journey of continuing to grow and learning and trying new practices but I will also respect that I do not know everything and instead of giving you the wrong information, we will bring people to the table who can speak to and teach different practices. I am here to be a resource and a vessel because as they say, a rising tide lifts all boats. Come get lifted with us.
