Dr. Tanya Harrison takes photos on the streets of Ottawa.Dave Chan/The Globe and Mail
Dr. Tanya Harrison, 39, was a planetary scientist working a high-profile job in the space industry when she decided to make a major life change. Between experiencing harassment on the job and working 12-hour days with no time for anything else, she realized it was time to try another path.
In 2023, Dr. Harrison left her job and moved back to her hometown of Seattle, and eventually Ottawa. This pivotal decision sparked a journey of self-discovery, during which she reconnected with her love for film photography and creative expression.
In this series, Reimagining Wealth, we explore the evolving definition of wealth in today’s world. Here, we talk to Dr. Harrison, now a consultant, author and science communicator, about her career shift and her journey to greater personal fulfilment.
Can you tell me about the moment when you realized that you needed to craft a different kind of life for yourself?
Space had been my entire identity. I absolutely loved what I was doing. I was working on stuff with a real, positive impact in the world. I had sacrificed everything for my career. I was regularly working 12 hours a day. I didn’t have time for my creative pursuits outside of work, photography and writing. I felt like my brain had atrophied, because all I could do was sit in these half-hour increments on Zoom. I didn’t want to spend my life like that.
I had a major identity crisis. I sat down and physically wrote on a piece of paper, ‘What are the other aspects of my identity that are not tied to my job?’ And I had to remind myself that they existed. I needed a priority shift. I realized it was time to hit pause and figure out, on the cusp of 40, what my priorities in life should be moving forward. And how do I balance those things in a way that is healthier than I had done before?
So, you took a year off and moved back to your hometown.
I grew up in Seattle, but I hadn’t lived there in 19 years. When I moved back, I was living near Pike Place Market, which I always had this romantic notion of, as a kid. I started walking through there every day, really early in the mornings, with my film camera. It brought me a lot of joy. I spent a lot of time going back to the same places. Every day I would notice something slightly different to photograph. I felt like I gained a whole new relationship with the city that I certainly had not had living there as a kid.
How did investing in that creative side enrich your life?
I think that old adage, you can’t buy happiness, is so true. In the job that I left, I was making more money than I ever thought I would make as a person with a PhD in Martian landslides. Part of why I stayed in my job for so long was because I was trying to convince myself to just suck it up and deal with it for the money. But eventually this was impacting my mental health so much, it wasn’t worth it.
If I can make enough to pay my bills but have the time and head space to do creative things that make me happy and spend time with my friends that I genuinely care about – that is so much more fulfilling and important at the end of the day.
You are now living in Ottawa and your current work includes consulting for space companies in Canada, the U.S. and Europe. You also wrote a children’s book and you are working on a memoir. What role does creativity play in your life now?
I think it’s the thing that makes me feel connected with the world and other people.
There was a line in my journal where I wrote, ‘I thought as a scientist that I needed to write a book about science, but I realize now that’s not the most important story that I have to tell.’
I needed to write a memoir of this time while it’s still fresh enough in my mind that I remember all the emotions. I want to make sure I don’t slide back into the unhappy life that I had before. There must be people having these thoughts in other fields – maybe my story will help give other people permission in their own minds to be able to do [what I did].
What advice would you give to other professionals feeling trapped by traditional definitions of success, but afraid to make a change?
The fear behind making that decision is completely understandable – but it’s worth pushing through.
While you’re in that situation, I think it is impossible to recognize how different and how much happier you can be on the other side. You’re too entrenched in it and you have to hit pause and think: What are your priorities in life? What makes life worth living? At the end of the day, it shouldn’t be your job title. It should be the people in your life that matter to you and the things that bring you joy.
