I’ve been thinking a lot lately about timing and trust. The older I get, the more I believe things happen for a reason – and that if I just allow it to – things will work themselves out. (That isn’t to say don’t try or work hard. It’s more to say – don’t stress the things that don’t end up how you envisioned or hoped they would go.)
Last year I chatted with a few lovely couples about shooting their weddings on September 20, 2014. I thought the meetings and emails went well. I thought we were a good fit.
But the potential clients did not.
They went other routes… booked other photographers.
In this business I have gotten used to hearing “no” more than I have ever gotten used to hearing “yes.” I think people assume because you are running a functioning business, appear busy, and are able to pay your bills – that everybody must say “yes” to you.
That, my friends, is most definitely not the case.
We hear “no” more than we ever hear “yes.”
But the thing I’ve learned over the course of running this business (and life in general), is that you hear a lot of “no’s” to get you to the right “yes.”
If we hadn’t heard so many “no’s” we never would have gotten to where we are, worked with the people we’ve worked with, and had our lives play out the way they have.
If we had heard “yes” all the times we had hoped to, our lives would look distinctly different.
This all crossed my mind as I was sitting in the back seat of my groom’s parents’ car on Saturday afternoon. Connie, Sam’s mom, was driving myself and the lovely bride, Maggie, to Cuneo Mansion from the hotel where they had started their preparations. Maggie was in the passenger seat practicing the vows she had written for Sam – reciting them aloud to make sure she had them memorized. As I listened to her words… each carefully thought out and placed into these beautiful vows she had written… big, fat tears started to roll down my cheeks silently in the back seat.
I was moved partially because so much of what she said in her vows rings so true for marriage. She saw the commitment she was making, and knew it wouldn’t be easy. She recognized how blessed she was to have found Sam, and was willing to fight for this with him forever. Another part of my tears was recognition of how blessed I am to meet these beautiful souls that we call ‘clients,’ who unknowingly change our lives forever. They inspire us and humble us. Each one meant to cross our paths at this specific moment for a reason.
I’m so thankful for these people – for sharing their stories with us, opening their hearts up to us, and wrapping us up in their families.
I couldn’t help but think of this on Saturday, as I was brought back to all the couples who said “no thanks” to us shooting their September 20, 2014 wedding… and to the couple that eventually said “yes.” The couple whose story… whose families… and whose love was perfectly meant for us during this specific time in our lives.
Early on, I let all the “no’s” get to me. But now… now, I realize the right “yes” is just waiting somewhere down the road… I just have to keep walking towards it.
