Montreal Family Photography: The Ordinary things speak our love the loudest
You are the Visual Family-Tree Creator
MARU MORI means the HEARTBREAKING SIMPLICITY of ORDINARY THINGS
~John Koenig
Author John Koenig makes up words and phrases for feelings that we don’t have any or adequate words for. Maru Mori is one such phrase. When he refers to the simplicity of ordinary things as “heartbreaking,” I think it’s meant to to underline just how meaningful the ordinary things are to us, but that we often just don’t recognize it. You may think that it’s silly to invite a photographer into your home because you may not feel that anything that goes on on a daily basis is remarkable enough to warrant a professional service , but it is our ordinary things that speak our love the loudest.
99.999999% of what happens to us daily is ordinary - morning cuddles, comforting boo-boos, playing silly games, making meals. Will what we do matter 100 years from now? Does it matter today? I say yes.
We are the sum of our ordinary things, which makes them extraordinary
Each of us has a unique combination of millions of ordinary things, making us different from any other human and making us different from one day to the next. Even the big things — parties, events — they are combinations of even more ordinary things all smushed together. Your million ordinary things become your LIGHTNESS (the trifecta of your likeness, your inner light and physical light) and they become the producer of future nostalgia.
How often do we appreciate and enjoy the reverie of nostalgia when we flip through old photo albums and photographs? We must create today for our remembering tomorrow. Nostalgia increases our feelings of belonging and connectedness, and in an increasingly overly connected world we can actually feel more disconnected and lonely. We must nurture the art of family legacy-building as a counter measure to our technological advances. What happens when children are curious of their history but your hard drive corrupts? Will they be able to refer to a tangible album or do they have to scroll your iPhone memory reel?
We must create the time capsules today to be found tomorrow to ensure that our children can return home when the world feels too big.
You take care of your children every day, and you are also the one who must consider their memories and be the visionary and creator of their historical record. Those memories are being made while they grow, but they are too young to form or recall them. You see the first smile, the first crawl, the first toddle, the first run. We often document those moments on our phones of our children, but what of their interactions with you and others? Children cannot just see themselves in a frame, or with siblings/friends. Photographs need to show love, hugs, kisses, cuddles, nurturing with parents and other family members. For this, an outside time-capsule creator like me is needed.
I am your time-capsule creator.
Don’t let it pass by because you’re busy. Instead, take it from your plate and add it to mine. This is what I do; allow me to do it for you.
Your memories of feeding and comforting your newborn may also be fuzzy. Invest in your time-capsule creator to capture this moment for you.
There is nowhere more comforting than mom’s arms.
Being daddy’s little girl is common. Seeing it back is a flood of love and nostalgia.
How taken care of we feel when our strong and loving dads do for us. We cannot recall nor appreciate moments like this unless we can see them years later.
We may feel overwhelmed when the kids are small and pull us in a million ways. Photographs show us back those moments, with none of the frustration but all of the love which drove us.