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Israel Smith

Writer. Speaker. Nice Guy.

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dreams

The quality of a father can be seen

The quality of a father can be seen

by Israel · Sep 7, 2014

ISIQ-0587

“The quality of a father can be seen in the goals, dreams and aspirations he sets not only for himself, but for his family.” – Reed Markham

Happy Father’s Day to all the fathers out there :)

I’m dedicating this IQ to you. May you have a fabulous day, may you acknowledge the role you play in your family’s life, in your children’s life. May you strive to be the father you know you can be, in your best moments.

I’m also dedicating this IQ to me. In the spirit of personal acknowledgement, I think I do a pretty good job of being a Dad, so here’s a big “Woohoo” to me too.

And lastly, I also dedicate this IQ to my two fathers – my biological and awesome Dad Tony, and my Stepdad and awesome bonus Dad Pete – I love you both immeasurably, and am utterly grateful for your guidance, your love, and your example.

Happy Father’s Day.

With love,
Israel. xo

 

Filed Under: Inspirational Quotographs Tagged With: aspirations, colour, dreams, Father, father's day, goals, Happy Father's Day, Heffron Park, himself, his family, inspiration, inspirational, Inspirational quotes, leaves, life, nature, Pagewood, quality, quote, quotes, quotographs, Reed Markham, sets, sky, sunset, trees

I have spread my dreams beneath your feet

I have spread my dreams beneath your feet

by Israel · Aug 15, 2014

ISIQ-0565

“I have spread my dreams beneath your feet; Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.” – William Butler Yeats

I discovered the collected poems of Yeats on my Kindle last night. I love Yeats. Look him up. Today’s quote comes from this poem.

I love holidays.

With love,
Israel. xo

 

Filed Under: Inspirational Quotographs Tagged With: beneath, clouds, colour, dreams, Great Barrier Reef, inspiration, inspirational, Inspirational quotes, my dreams, quote, quotes, quotographs, spread, tread, tread softly, William Butler Yeats, your feet

Chase your dreams

Chase your dreams

by Israel · Mar 24, 2014

ISIQ-0421

“Chase your dreams until you catch them… and then dream, catch, and dream again!” – Dee Marie

Today’s IQ goes out to my little sister Bree, the youngest of my siblings. She’s just started a new business called Dream Abreeze making handcrafted Dream Catchers, and together we created a logo/brand and a new website Bree can use to sell her amazing artworks.

Her creativity is extraordinary, and her commitment to her new dream of being an artist-entrepreneur making her artworks for a living, is utterly inspiring. (And something I can completely relate to!)

Bree hasn’t had the easiest time of things recently, but this new project is giving her something beautiful to direct her creative energy, and she makes me so proud.

I love you, Bree.

Please go over to her new website dreamabreeze.com and check out her work. If her story resonates with you, or if you love some of her art Dream Catcher pieces, please place an order.

In the meantime, do what Bree is doing – chase your dreams!

With love,
Israel. xo

 

 

Filed Under: Inspirational Quotographs Tagged With: beach, catch, chase, colour, Coogee, Coogee Beach, Dee Marie, dream, dream again, dreams, inspiration, inspirational, Inspirational quotes, ocean, quote, quotes, quotographs, sand, sunshine, until, water, waves

If your dreams don’t scare you

If your dreams don’t scare you

by Israel · Mar 23, 2014

ISIQ-0420

“If your dreams don’t scare you they are not big enough.” – Ellen Johnson Sirleaf

I’ve seen this quote in two separate café’s in two separate suburbs within the last two weeks. Clearly the Universe is trying to tell me something.

Last night, for the first time since we concocted the idea to buy a bus, convert it to a motorhome, pack up and travel Australia for 18 months, work on the road, educate our kids, educate families about better lifestyle and food choices, and all of the in-between steps I’m omitting due to space… last night I got scared.

I had a moment of “Oh crap. This is HUGE. How are we ever going to do this?”

Perhaps it was the first time I’d fully appreciated the scope of what we’re looking to do, without the burden of my cocky ego interfering with my perceptions.

Perhaps it was due to the fact that today we’ll be attending a conference to see Joshua Rosenthal – founder of the Institute of Integrative Nutrition, and all-round inspirational guy – and potentially (hopefully!) get up and share our plans with him and the whole audience.

Either way, I got scared. And I instantly thought of this quote. And it put me at ease.

I searched for this quote’s author when making this IQ, and it turns out the line I see most commonly is the second part of a slightly longer attribution to Ellen Johnson Sirleaf:

The size of your dreams must always exceed your current capacity to achieve them. If your dreams do not scare you they are not big enough.

I would say categorically that my dreams exceed my current capacity to achieve them! But that’s OK. That’s what I’m here to work on, and share with you.

Have an amazing day!

With love,
Israel. xo

 

Filed Under: Inspirational Quotographs Tagged With: big enough, colour, Coogee, don't, dreams, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, if your dreams don't scare you, inspiration, inspirational, Inspirational quotes, nature, ocean, quote, quotes, quotographs, scare, sky, sunrise, they aren't big enough, trees, water

I like the dreams of the future

I like the dreams of the future

by Israel · Oct 5, 2013

ISIQ-0269

“I like the dreams of the future better than the history of the past.”- Thomas Jefferson

A few of you might be thinking: What on EARTH does history and/or Thomas Jefferson have to do with this beautiful photo of an early morning at Coogee Beach?

I’ll tell you. This image was taken at precisely 7:29:26AM on 9th February 2010 (thank you EXIF data). It is exactly the third photo I ever shot with an iPhone. I also love the fact that this image is dreamy – which ties in with the first half of Tommy’s quote. (Yep, I grant you, that link is pretty tenuous.)

This reference to history – and iPhone history, specifically – reminds me that I never got around to sharing my long-form blog post from earlier this week with you. It was about Living Life Through a Viewfinder, and discusses the monumental shift in our culture that occurred on 29th June 2007. (Check it out. It had a few positive reviews and likes and stuff.)

In the meantime, it’s Saturday night. My kids are in bed, and I have had a HUGE week. I’ll be off now.

Enjoy your Saturday/Sunday (depending on where in the world you are) and I’ll see you again tomorrow. :)

With LOTS and LOTS and LOTS of LOVE*,
Israel. xo

 

* Excessive love may be caused by tonight’s intake of champagne. Just sayin’.

 

 

Filed Under: Inspirational Quotographs Tagged With: better, clouds, Coogee Beach, dreams, future, History, I like, morning, ocean, past, sky, sunrise, sunshine, Thomas Jefferson, trees

If you take responsibility for yourself

If you take responsibility for yourself

by Israel · Jul 23, 2013

ISIQ-0203

“If you take responsibility for yourself you will develop a hunger to accomplish your dreams.” – Les Brown.

Funny thing, responsibility. I’ve had a very up and down relationship with it. At once empowering and terrifying, responsibility has given me some of my biggest challenges and delivered some of my biggest triumphs.

Marriage. Children. Business. Health. Love.

All of these have given me increasing exposure to responsibility, and sometimes that scares the hell out of me. Mostly, I get this feeling that I want to curl up in a ball and hide from the world. So I sleep, or immerse myself in books, or fiddle with computer stuff like website design and social media.

Interestingly, those actions simply take me further from resolving anything, and deeper into fear and paralysis.

Fortunately, I don’t always feel this way. The majority of the time, I love the freedom and excitement that responsibility brings. I am literally my own boss, and I lead a flexible, healthy lifestyle that I enjoy very much. I am able to be a great father to my children, and a terrific husband to my wife, as a result of that freedom.

By taking responsibility for myself, I make my own destiny through life. I choose what I do, how I do it, and with whom. I am not subject to very many obligations, unlike so many people with corporate jobs who “have to stay late at work” instead of spending their time with family, or on their hobbies.

I am incredibly fortunate.

My experience is in direct agreement with today’s quote; by taking responsibility for myself, I have opened up a world of opportunity and freedom, and now find myself continually looking to ever-broadening horizons. I have a thirst for adventure and experiences that is exactly like a hunger within.

Dreaming is no longer the challenge – dreaming big enough, is.

And what about you? Have you taken responsibility for yourself? Do you have a hunger to accomplish your dreams? This can be, I know, a very confronting question. Do me a favour. Whatever your answer, just sit with it for a while, and look at it from all sides. Taste it. Feel it. Really be with your answer.

What would change in your life if you took responsibility for yourself? (Or, took even more for yourself?) What doors would open? What opportunities would arise? What growth could you experience, and who would you know yourself to be, once you were on the other side of the choice?

I’d love to hear from you about this. Please drop me a line, comment, email, or phone call.

With love,
Israel. xo

 

P.S. Today’s post was written in the post-funk haze of a day where I took very little responsibility for myself. The day felt bland and insipid as a result, and I felt as though I’d let myself and my family down. I wrote it as much for myself as for you. Thanks for helping to bring out the positive in me, once again. I am so deeply grateful to you, my dear reader.

 

Filed Under: Inspirational Quotographs Tagged With: accomplish, buddhist, colour, develop, dreams, hunger, inspiration, inspirational, Les Brown, Nan Tien Temple, quote, quotographs, responsibility, temple, yourself

29 March 2013

29 March 2013

by Israel · Mar 28, 2013

ISIQ-0098

 

Two guesses as to who I just saw in concert. Led Zeppelin? Nope. Robert Plant, the lead-singer and co-songwriter of aforementioned Led Zeppelin? Yep. Got it in two.

Amazing, inspiring, touching, emotionally charged and very moving. I cried during “Going To California” – one of my all-time favourites, and I nearly cried again during “What Is And What Should Never Be” – the song from which I drew the quote of today’s Quotograph.

(The image of this Quotograph, as with all the rest of the IQ’s, was taken by me. I shoot all of these images myself, and most of them come from my iPhone. The rest come from a DSLR of some description. It just goes to show that you don’t need a rockin camera to take stunning images – just a clear vision and the skills to use the tool in your hand to express that vision.)

The most amazing part of the entire Robert Plant show tonight was how much he still clearly loves what he does and feels it right through his bones. This was not a “greatest hits” show, it was a fresh performance of a singer with his new band. He not only sang some of his oldest and most well-known songs, but he re-interpreted them with the new musicians, a new creative and artistic aesthetic, and a fresh perspective on life stemming from being in his mid-sixties as opposed to his mid-twenties when he wrote the songs.

There’s something in that, right there.

Are your dreams intact? Is the sun shining? Do you yet still seek happiness? The answer lies with you.

All my very best to you, as always, and with love,
Israel. xo

Filed Under: Inspirational Quotographs Tagged With: beach, clouds, colour, Crescent Head, dreams, happiness, inspiration, inspirational, Led Zeppelin, need so bad, ocean, quote, quotographs, Robert Plant, still as new, sunrise, the answer lies with you, wake up

11 March 2013

11 March 2013

by Israel · Mar 11, 2013

ISIQ-0080

Filed Under: Inspirational Quotographs Tagged With: be open, beach, clouds, colour, David Assael, distant shore, dreams, embrace, inspiration, inspirational, Maroubra, mortal journey, ocean, over, people, quote, quotographs, too soon, waves

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