Writer. Speaker. Nice Guy.
“Play.” It’s Sunday here, which is a family day of fun for us. My daughter is sick with either Rubella or Measles or Chicken Pox – she’s super spotty, and we will be seeing the doctor tomorrow – and despite this, I’ve spent some of this morning wrestling with my son on the loungeroom floor, […]
“Listen.” Today’s IQ is a video one, too. This was shot a few years back at Crescent Head, our summer holiday destination of choice for the past 5 years. I love the gentle clunking noise made by the stones on the beach, as each wave passes them by. It reminds me of the different sounds of […]
“Science is organized knowledge. Wisdom is organized life.” – Immanuel Kant I am feeling the need for some more organization. Today, that is all. With love, Israel. xo
“Stop making excuses.” Yep. You heard me. You know, the ones like: “I’m tired.” “Someone else let me down.” “I didn’t have time.” “It’s not my fault.” “It’s raining.” And so on. You know in your heart when you’re making an excuse, or when you are being genuine. Sometimes, rarely, there are reasons beyond our […]
“He was a dreamer, a thinker, a speculative philosopher… or, as his wife would have it, an idiot.” – Douglas Adams Today I’d like to pay homage to all the tolerant women out there, married to men who find themselves lost in thought more often than not. Wives who know their men inside and out. […]
About two years ago I photographed some beach family portraits for Rebecca’s sister at Coogee Beach. This post, however, is about Rebecca’s family, down at Wanda Beach near Cronulla. We met late in the day on what was a bit of a sketchy, cloudy day. I had my doubts that we’d even go ahead […]
A few years back we first met Nita and Damien’s family, and shot some great family portraits at Coogee Beach with their son when he was about a year old. I recently had the chance to catch up with them at Centennial Park for some updated family portraits with their one-year-old daughter! I could honestly say this was […]
“Get Up!” – out of bed. – off your butt. – and be counted. – stand up. – I gotta loosen this load. – and make a difference. – and move. Inspired by the You Am I song, which started buzzing through my head around 6:30am, today’s IQ is an ode to my action-taking, ass-kicking, strong/powerful/motivated […]
“Happiness can be found, even in the darkest of times, if one only remembers to turn on the light.” – Steven Kloves This quote was actually said by Albus Dumbledore in this scene, but the quote goes to the screenwriter of all seven Harry Potter films, Steven Kloves. Fair play, I guess. (Hah. See what I did […]
“When tempest tossed, embrace chaos.” – Dean Koontz This perfectly sums up the tail end of today. A tempest of gargantuan proportions possessed both my children, and the household disintegrated into madness. So Bel and I rode the chaos until the storm blew itself out. And the kids were in bed asleep before 7pm. Embrace […]
“Connect.” Occasionally we get opportunities to connect with others. Fortunately for me, in my work and in my personal life, I get these opportunities almost daily. And since connecting with other people gives me energy and vitalises me, I do my best to make it a regular habit. Sometimes, I want to withdraw. Sometimes we all do. […]
“Life is a travelling to the edge of knowledge, then a leap taken.” – D.H. Lawrence So it is. I’ve been blessed by a few soft landings from said leaps recently. Either way, it’s important to remember that we must, at some point, leap. We must move outside our comfort zones. We must get comfortable […]
“Wherever you go, there you are.” No attribution to this quote today, as it (according to google) was originally created by about 8,321 different people. It was sent to me by a reader, who reached out yesterday with an amazing email. I felt I had to share the quote with you straight away. It’s an interesting […]
“Meditate.” I’ve written about meditation before, here, here and here. What’s interesting about meditation, is that I know the value it can bring, yet I struggle to make it a regular part of my daily routine – like yoga, actually. While on holiday in Cairns (Far North Queensland in Australia, near the Great Barrier Reef), Bel and […]
“#savethereef” Today’s IQ is not actually an Inspirational Quotograph per se, but more a statement about a topic that hurts my heart. I am a highly sensitive person. I feel things very deeply, and get affected by things more than the average person. The state of the environment has been a deep concern of mine […]
“Let the rain kiss you. Let the rain beat upon your head with silver liquid drops. Let the rain sing you a lullaby.” – Langston Hughes After a week of summer-like weather in Cairns, I’ve returned to Sydney with my family to an intoxicating dose of rain. And I’m enjoying it. Thanks to Langston Hughes […]
“We have to be greater than what we suffer.” – Gwen Stacy This quote is taken from the speech given by Spiderman’s girlfriend in The Amazing Spider-Man 2. It is a cracking film, but it has left me utterly hollow after the death of Gwen Stacy in the last act. (No spoiler alert, cos it’s […]
“You’re only given one little spark of madness. You mustn’t lose it.” – Robin Williams You could be forgiven for thinking I’d lost a bit of my spark over the past few days. I’ve had a very difficult time putting IQs together in and around what has been a hectic family holiday. To me, holidays […]
“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
“STRIVE.” Defined as: verb make great efforts to achieve or obtain something struggle or fight vigorously I love this word. I chose it for this IQ because it perfectly describes what the tree in the picture is doing, and it perfectly describes what each of us do in our own way. We strive. […]
“You can’t climb until you’re ready to fall.” – Ben Lee I love this line. It’s from a song on “Awake is the New Sleep” – an album that is on high-rotation in our home whenever the kids need something soothing to help them sleep. This line is the ultimate in risk vs reward. You […]
“Love is our true destiny. We do not find the meaning of life by ourselves alone – we find it with another.” – Thomas Merton The difficult thing in creating these IQs is trying to find something beautiful, unique, and meaningful to share with you every day. The beautiful thing about creating these IQs is how often […]
“Sometimes our stop-doing list needs to be bigger than our to-do list.” – Patti Digh Yes. Absolutely. I’m off for a swim, and stopping looking at my computer. With love, Israel. xo
“How’s the serenity?” – Darryl Kerrigan There’s a delicious irony about this sentiment. I’m currently on holidays. The journey to get here was challenging, what with airports, shuttle buses, hire car companies, and an eleven-strong contingent of family – most of whom are so alike as to cause tensions and clashes with the slightest provocation. […]
“Take a break.” Exactly. That’s why I’m going on a week’s holiday to tropical Cairns, leaving in a few hours! (For my international readers, Cairns is here.) I’ll still be delivering daily IQs, although they may well be more philosophical, and more tropical-themed. Just so you know. And while I’m sure I’ve spent plenty of […]
“Givers gain.” – Dr Ivan Misner Today’s quote is by the guy that started Business Networking International – or BNI for short. The honest truth is I had a whole load of stuff I wanted to say about this IQ when I thought of it last night… but in the fresh (and busy/rushed) hours of […]
“Where words fail, music speaks.” – Hans Christian Andersen I’m sure you can relate. There are some times where I simply can’t express myself, and I have to retreat into the world of music to find the language for me. Like most teenage males, I had a very dark period of my teens where I […]
“Work hard, play hard, have fun.” Every Wednesday morning for most of the school year, Indrani has had band practice at 8am – a slightly earlier start than usual, and it has mostly been me that takes her to band each week. (Indrani is a drummer, just like her old man.) Today, the older kids […]
“Let every dawn be to you as the beginning of life, and every setting sun be to you as its close.” – John Ruskin Make every day count. Be kind to yourself and others, because each day is a new beginning. Close the day well, as though you’re wrapping up an important chapter of life. […]
“Put yourself first.” This isn’t being selfish. Instead, it’s knowing when you need to focus inward rather than outward. Making your own nourishment, success and health your number one priority, instead of everyone else’s nourishment, success and health. I needed some beach time today, so instead of waking up and firing up the computer, I […]
“Better keep yourself clean and bright; you are the window through which you must see the world.” – George Bernard Shaw I’m pretty mentally exhausted at the moment, so I don’t have anything to add to this IQ this morning. But know that I love you, value you being around, and appreciate all emails and contact […]
“Be calm today.” More of a reminder for me, than anything else. But I hope it helps you have a calm day, too. With love, and calmness, Israel. xo
“Get up early.” It might seem that I’m going all Sergeant Hulka on you (nod Bill Murray and Stripes) telling you to LOOK UP and GET UP EARLY and stuff like that… …but it’s all coming from LOVE. I have found getting up early to be such a delight, and such a peaceful, beautiful time […]
“Look up.” I walked to post a letter this afternoon. … The golden afternoon light wrapped itself tightly around the treetops, an absent lover making up for lost time. Tickled by the sweet breath of the West, the trees swayed in delight. A crescendo of white noise from nearby traffic masked the creaking and moaning […]
“To keep the body in good health is a duty… otherwise we shall not be able to keep our mind strong and clear.” – Buddha The https://store.theenergyblueprint.com/products/mito-broc have designed their service package to make it as easy for you as possible – and we’ll help you use our knowledge, brands and innovative approach to your best […]
“Between two worlds life hovers like a star, twixt night and morn, upon the horizon’s verge.” – Lord Byron A bit of poetry for your day, complemented beautifully by this shot of sunrise at Crescent Head. What does this quote say to you? With love, Israel. xo