Clive Myrie on happiness, hope and the stories that shape us
Clive Myrie is an award-winning journalist, writer, TV personality and broadcaster, publishing hundreds of news stories to millions of people for over 37 years! He is also broadly recognised from his role as host on the quiz show Mastermind, which is a continuous British staple for families to enjoy. Recently, Clive visited our campus to deliver this year's edition of The Baggs Memorial Happiness Lecture.
What happiness means to Clive
Tasked with the topic of happiness, Clive’s lecture focused on the complexity of happiness and how ‘any sedition of happiness is subjective and can be influenced by many factors’. He hints that sometimes people’s search for happiness can lead to unhappiness, which he addresses in the story of his parents’ emigration to the UK. This was a powerful message that left audiences thinking about their own views on happiness and movement.
Clive’s ability to tell stories took all listeners along on the journey, allowing us to feel the emotions and environments he transported us to. Although we were firmly sat in the Aston Webb Great Hall, we could see the colour of the tropics and Jamaica where his family emigrated from. For Clive, happiness involves a series of moments of joy over a ‘sustained period of time’ which is what we should feel contented by.
The pursuit of happiness: Clive’s parents move from Jamaica to Northern England
Clive aimed to focus his talk on the movement of people, more specifically migration, and how it links to feelings of hope and happiness. Drawing on his family’s move from Jamaica in the Windrush (which refers to the arrival of Caribbean migrants in Britain between 1948 and 1973, who were invited to help rebuild the country after World War II), Clive told us how migrants were ‘invited’ to Britain and sold a tale of fortune, acceptance and happiness in the UK. This, however, differed from the reality.
Both his parents moved in the hope of providing for their family back home. This is an idea that Clive repeated throughout his lecture, saying that ‘hope burns bright inside any human looking to find happiness’. He tells us that the start of his parents’ journey was full of this hope and happiness, but over the years, , the feeling of unhappiness seeped in, especially for his father, as the mundaneness and greyness of British life took hold, and homesickness and the desire to be with family set in. His father especially longed for the sunny beaches and vibrant colours but instead found himself working tirelessly in Bolton where the weather is… not so good.
Implicitly, it shows us that movement can bring initial happiness, but if you forget to nurture other elements that bring you joy, it may lead to unhappiness.
Final thoughts
Clive Myrie is one of the influential journalists of our time, projecting the stories of those who don’t have a voice. That is what attracted him to the profession – the ability to tell stories and especially for groups that otherwise would not have a platform to share their truths. His experience in Ukraine while documenting the war is something he brought up as hugely impactful. Although Clive has experienced immense fame within his career and been present at hugely historical moments such as Barack Obama’s appointment as the President of the United States in 2009, he is extremely humble and cares deeply for people and their happiness, revels in storytelling, and also loves going to see the opera! This for him is what happiness means and we are all encouraged to find those moments of joy in everyday life.
Watch the full lecture from Clive.