Introducing Joy Journey

Happy Thursday! It has been a whirlwind of a week but I am stopping to share my heart for Bethany J. Photography and this blog! First of all, I should introduce myself. My name is Bethany, I am a photographer in Maryland. I am a new mom and wife and an artist! I am creative and passionate about small business. I love my husband and am not an extrovert. Welcome to my world!

If you haven’t realized it by now my middle name is JOY. Growing up I always found this ironic. I struggled with anxiety in my thinking. My brain always found a way to think of the worst-case scenario. I thought why is my name JOY when I find it so hard to see the good in life and often find it hard to feel happy? Well, time and time again I have learned that joy is not always me feeling happy. Sometimes I am choosing to believe that things will go well, that there is hope and that God is good whether I feel it or not. This attitude has helped me continue to push forward and overcome situations where I wanted to give up.  It has helped me to start new things when I didn’t believe I was the best. 

Can I let you in on a secret? Choosing joy is not an instant cure-all. The second part of choosing joy is walking in what I know is true. For example, I may not feel like I can ever develop a consistent workout schedule because of my ADHD brain. Choosing joy means that even with the voice of “I can’t” I push myself to go anyway and every second I am telling myself “You can do this!” Even writing this blog is a challenge for me. I wonder ” Who cares about what I have to say?” and you know what? I am gonna write anyway. Me choosing joy means telling myself that one person gaining value from this blog is better than not sharing at all out of fear of failure. I know I am not the only one who struggles. I know choosing to be joyful and filled with hope when life goes sideways is not easy. So I want to make this blog about sharing my Joy Journey good and bad with you. I want to also hear you and connect with you!  To meet this goal I have started a group that I call the Joy Journeyers. This group is for those who follow this blog, those who have been a client of Bethany J. Photography, and those who participate in my monthly nature walk! These exclusive groups have 3 simple goals. 1. to encourage you to choose joy by being surrounded by others with the same focus. 2. Pursue your goals, practice choosing joy by going after your purpose, even when it is hard! 3. Finally, instead of comparing yourself to others, I want to encourage you to compete against you of yesterday. You have ONE life and I believe in the power of unity and accountability. Hopefully, you got a little more understanding about me , Bethany, and why I choose Joy! Keep in touch and share why you share the joy!  Sharing your story is powerful and important. I can’t wait to see how this grows and thank you for journeying with me!

When you read this blog you can expect to get to know me through my journey to choose joy. If you want to be a part of the FB group leave a comment below or message Bethany J. Photography on FB. Our next event is April 26th we are taking a nature walk at Lake Roland off of Falls road at 6:30 pm! Check the link in the blog header for more information!