Morgan Fykes

Levine Music is a preeminent center for music education in Washington DC and a community where children and adults find lifelong inspiration and joy through learning, performing, listening to, and participating with others in music. Levine was founded in 1976 in memory of Selma M. Levine, a prominent Washington attorney and an amateur pianist who took particular delight in encouraging young musicians. Jeffery is the first African American President and CEO in Levine Music’s history. I’ve know...

In the spirit of this month’s theme of Intuition, we are shining light on some of our favorite Indigenous People in the Wellness Spaces. We are continuing to see some much needed diversification in who gets spotlighted in Wellness spaces and we are seeing more communities being highlighted that reflect the diversity of our country. But the work is far from over. Beyond the spotlight, we must continue as companies and as a society to push critical issues of protection, safety, and compensation...

I have been getting a lot of inquiries from loved ones on how I will be spending my New Years Eve and after my recent trip to NYC for our Smudge Wellness Pop Up, I finally know exactly what I will be doing.
Sidenote, Smudge had a sexy little holiday pop-up at Popup florist in East Village, you can see cute pictures on our Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/p/CXWVbsQpVub/ and make sure you follow so you know where Smudge will pop up next.
So as for NYE, I will be spending the evening in ref...

Family gatherings are an important part of the holiday season. They are a time for bonding, sharing traditions, and celebration. One thing that I’ve come to respect and appreciate is that it is also precious time with the elders in our family. Far too often I’ve learned the details of the lives of the elders in my family at their funerals. Reading fascinating too short stories of the snippets of their lives boiled down to a one-page description. One of the greatest gifts was getting to help m...

It seems like we often categorize people into either morning people or night owls. For much of my life, I was a night owl. As an avid reader when I was young, I often read with a flashlight until late. I declared myself a night owl and hater of mornings, and that was my identity for a while. Over the years, a few of my apartments have been below ground level with limited sunlight.
When I moved into the first apartment, where bright morning sunlight filled my bedroom, I started rising almost a...

One of my favorite phrases of recent years has been “gratitude is the attitude”, because I really do feel that a spirit of gratitude can make just about anything better. And there is a science to support that gratitude can act as a natural antidepressant.
Positivity Psychology explains that “When we express gratitude and receive the same, our brain releases dopamine and serotonin, the two crucial neurotransmitters responsible for our emotions, and they make us feel ‘good’. They enhance our mo...

Avi8ted House is a globally focused incubator/think-tank offering members’ a place to bring their Avi8ted Thoughts to fruition. Leveraging content, community, and capital for the sake of culture, Avi8ted is actively building a global business ecosystem, while fostering a local startup community first in our home city of Washington, D.C. It is a labor of love and increased economics to contribute to the local and global economy. There is power in community and connections and the Avi8ted Sunda...

I love events because they combine two of my favorite things: doing new things and meeting new people. I have been covering festivals, pop-ups, fashion shows, and other events for years and one of the questions I get asked the most is, “How did you hear about that?” Large-scale events can often afford much splashier advertising like billboards, television, and radio, but sometimes smaller events need to be found. These are tips that you can use to find the events and adventures for yourself, ...

School is the great maze that most of us have to navigate at some point in life, and it’s a wonderful learning environment for both academic and social skills. We often take for granted how easy it can be to find your people when you are all being regularly brought together under one roof.
Many people in their 20s and 30s complain that they don’t know how to make new friends, or that they feel abandoned by old ones.

Every December as the temperature drops and we move through our varied holidays and acquired traditions, we all approach the pending new year with different attitudes. Some of us are excited, some are scared, some ignore it like the markers of passing time hold no significance and some roll through the seasons like seasoned elders. I used to stress out about the approaching new year. I used to worry about making resolutions and then judging if they were resolute enough, big enough, achievable...

We often talk about the importance of education, and we can see historically how education has been used to both empower and disempower groups throughout time. Despite the power of information, people have often looked down their nose at certain information, specifically the self-help space. We act as if reflecting on ourselves shows weakness, but personal growth and development is beneficial for everyone. It is so important to love yourself, but that does not mean to stay stagnant. Love your...

I studied Psychology at Cornell College but when I was in school, there was not a class for positivity — “positivity psychology” was a new term for me. It’s currently one of the most popular classes at Harvard, and I learned about it from Cleo Wade, the author of Heart Talk: Poetic Wisdom for a Better Life, at a panel I moderated at the Women Empower Expo where she was the keynote speaker. I picked up her book after hearing her speak and was already finished reading it by the time I went to h...

I have always disliked the term “high maintenance,” but it took me a really long time to understand why. According to Urban Dictionary, high maintenance is defined as:
“1. Require (ing) a lot of work/attention to maintain. 2. Require (ing) a lot of money or attention to appearance. Or 3. Require (ing) a high emotional investment or en excessive amount of money.”
As human beings, we all require a lot of work or attention to thrive. We require sleep, food, water, and exercise, just to name a fe...

Fear is something that we all experience, but what is most important is how we respond to it. Fear is a necessary evolutionary response to either physical or emotional danger; it helps us to survive and protect ourselves from real threats that exist in this world. While fear is there to protect us, it can also hold us back, because sometimes we fear things that aren’t actually a threat.
Fear has three primary responses: fight, take flight, or freeze. Each of these reactions can have moments o...