Over the past few weeks and months, I’ve been bombarded with one business principle that just keeps popping up over and over… know your why.

It’s simple, right? Know why you started your business, why you love the work you do, why you work so hard to make it work even on days that seem impossible.

I had never written my “why” down on paper before. It was abstract, floating around in my mind with twenty million other things. Twenty million other things like this morning’s Tim Horton’s order of a large dark roast with two creams, or the fact that these high-end athletic pants I’m wearing today were the BEST gift a girl could have asked for from her in-laws. Those things are trivial. The Why that pushes my business is vital.

So I did it— I wrote out my Why. I expected to write a list, so in my notebook, the first sentence has a bullet point next to it, as though it would be one of many unrelated thoughts. But the more I wrote, the faster I went, until suddenly there it was, a long paragraph filled with run-ons and punctuated by one final phrase… Joyful Moments Remembered. I’ve re-copied it into this blog post if you’re curious enough to read on.

“Why I Am A Wedding Photographer”

I love capturing moments… the precious ones that only happen once. Joyful moments, precious memories… captured. Preserved forever. I love that with the push of a button, I can freeze time. A smile, a glance, a touch that would have been forgotten… is now imprinted. They can look at the image and remember, be transported back in time to that. first. moment. She will feel the eruption of fluttering joy she experienced when she put on her dress and gazed into the mirror. The moment she became not just a girl getting married, but a bride! They will remember how they felt when they locked eyes from the opposite ends of the aisle, ready to embark on the biggest adventure of their lives, when it seemed like every guest in the room disappeared and it was just the two of them. The moment of the first kiss, the spark and warm feeling that told her she was no longer just a bride, but a wife to the man she loves most of all! They will see the images, remember the moments… and feel. An artistic representation of their love, a breathtaking window through time that will remind them of love during their darkest trials and brightest days, so that when they are old and their grandchildren are grown and wondering what Love is… they. will. remember.

Michelle Joy Photography 2016

“Joyful moments remembered.”