Oh dear, what a tangle of banners and cries,
Of “My truth is truer!” and “Mine’s far more wise!”
Of temples and doctrines and sacred decrees,
All wrapped up in “holiness”. . . if you please.

They march and they shout and they thump and they pound,
With righteousness ringing (a very loud sound).
But peek past the noise, past the flags that they wave,
You’ll find it’s not holiness anyone gave.

There’s no such thing as a holy war drum,
No saint ever whispers, “Blow them to kingdom come”
For war, in its marrow, in bone and in breath,
Is ego in costume, all dressed up as “faith.”

Histories ache from lands far and near,
Where each side is certain their side’s the most dear.
From deserts to cities, from green fields to stone,
Each claims they’re heaven stamped as “the only throne.”

“Oh, we are the chosen!” each chorus proclaims,
While lighting the fuses and fanning the flames.
“But surely,” says wisdom, with eyebrow well raised,
“Would heaven applaud how your anger is phrased?”

For God (any God), of whatever fine name—
Is not in your battles, your blame, or your shame.
No deity whispers, “Go conquer, go win—
And prove you are better by striking them thin.”

No, dear friends, the source is much closer than skies—
It lives in the heart that compares and that tries
To measure, to master, to stand at the top,
To prove “I am greater!” (and never quite stop).

It’s ego that frets, “If I don’t take the lead,
Then someone will grab it!” (ah yes, that old creed).
And so it keeps pushing and pulling the strings,
Till whole world reflections mirror such things.

For thoughts, like small ripples, don’t stay where they start—
They circle the globe from each singular heart.
A whisper of “better,” a murmur of “mine,”
Can grow to a roar that redraws every line.

But what if—just what if—you paused for a beat,
And loosened the need to compete and defeat?
What if you released that old urge to be right,
And stepped into something a bit more . . . light?

Imagine a vision you hold every day.
Just five seconds’ worth in a quiet, kind way.
A world where acceptance replaces the fight,
Where wrong isn’t vanquished—but softened by sight.

For each soul you meet (this is tricky, but true),
Is not “them” alone—they’re a mirror of you.
Their sorrow, their joy, their confusion, their grace,
All echo reflections you’re choosing to face.

So what kind of world would you truly design?
One harsh and divided—or gentle, aligned?
The brush is within you, the canvas is wide.
You paint every moment from deep down inside.

Begin as a ripple—so small, yet so strong—
Extend gentle peace where it’s been needed so long.
Then ripple to ripple, as circles expand,
A more gentle world will be shaped by your hand.

Let’s Have a Conversation:

If you could design a world of your own, what would it look like? What would you add to it, and what would you remove?

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Originally posted at: Ciara Miller’s Black Oversized Sunglasses

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“I bent over to pick up a pen and my back went out!” was a lament I heard many times from clients during my years as a personal trainer.

Here’s the thing: sudden back pain has most likely been simmering under the surface for months – maybe years – before it makes itself known. Like any “overnight success,” it’s almost never sudden.

You just never paid attention until now.

While weak back and core muscles seem like the obvious culprits behind your pain, it might instead stem from other, surprising causes.

It makes more sense when you consider that our bodies are composed of a kinetic chain – meaning all body segments are interconnected. Bones, joints, muscles, and nerves are linked together. One joint’s movements influences another, like pulling on a single thread in a piece of fabric.

Any disruption in one part creates a ripple effect through the rest.

Your spine isn’t acting on its own. It has accomplices.

When you acknowledge this, you’ll see how pain from picking up a pencil was actually backstage waiting for its spotlight.

It Starts at Your Feet

Back pain often starts from the ground up. Your spine compensates for foot instability all day long. Keeping in the kinetic chain concept in mind, it’s easy to see how, if your shoes lack support and cause your foot to pronate (roll inward) or supinate (roll outward), you’re more likely to feel it in your back.

The culprit: Wearing old shoes with compressed soles – or minimalistic shoes your body hasn’t adapted to can put your spine at risk with every step. Replace them every 300 to 500 miles or when they show signs of wear or unevenness.

Old Injuries

Injuries from spraining your ankle while playing sports or stepping off a curb in your 30s may be haunting you in your 60s. It may have unknowingly changed your gait to compensate. That compensation pattern could carry over into your 60s and cause back pain.

An appointment with a physical therapist may help correct imbalances with targeted exercises.

Weak Glutes

Long hours spent sitting can result in a syndrome known as (I am not kidding) dead butt syndrome – also known as gluteal amnesia. Too much time sitting can cause your glute muscles to stop firing on time, so hamstrings and your lower back pick up the slack. This common runner’s injury often causes pain during walking or standing.

Try this simple test to see if it may be behind your discomfort.

Overdoing Core Bracing

Bracing your core through exercises like planks helps protect your back. That’s a good thing. But like any healthy habit taken too far, it can backfire. Constantly pulling in your belly button and tightening your core muscles can be like over-tightening a screw – eventually it wears out.

Maintaining low-grade tension throughout the day can reduce the natural movement of your spine. It becomes fatigued, not stronger. Give it a rest, just as you would any other muscle group.

Poor Posture

Modern technology – sitting in front of computers and looking down at phones – has created a population of people with C-shaped spines. It’s worse if you wear progressive lenses that require you to constantly change your head position to see the screen.

Over time, this can cause back pain (and shoulder pain as well, which is a topic for another time). The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) suggests placing your monitor directly in front of you, at least 20 inches away, with the top of the screen at or slightly below eye level and perpendicular to a window.

This changes your sitting posture and can ease back pain.

Your pain may be relieved with a simple walking shoe upgrade, an adjustment of your computer height, or easing up on core bracing.

Let’s Have a Conversation:

What can you share about the state of your back? Do you think the pain culprit is elsewhere in your body? What solution have you discovered?

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Virginia once raced through the world like a woman with a personal vendetta against gravity.

Go-Go at Full Speed

In her Go-Go years, she was a force of high-stakes motion. Whether she was organizing a midnight rescue for a stray llama in the Andes or perfecting the art of “extreme gardening” by planting two hundred tulip bulbs in a single afternoon, Virginia lived at a relentless pace.

She believed a vacation was only successful if she returned with a passport stamp, a tan from a desert she couldn’t pronounce, and at least three new hobbies she intended to master by Tuesday. These were her years of full throttle, characterized by a seemingly inexhaustible vigor.

Slow-Go Downshifting

She then began to recognize the subtle change into what has been called the Slow-Go years, arriving as a natural downshift in her internal rhythm. It started with an exuberant appreciation for her new velvet ottoman. Soon, other small revelations followed.

She realized she preferred the rhythmic clicking of her knitting needles to the tactical nightmare of the annual block party, which she now recognized as a sport for the limber and the chronically caffeinated. She found herself opting for the audio tour (from a shaded bench) rather than the guided trek through the ruins. This stage felt like gentle coasting, the drive to excel outwardly loosening its grip.

She took up the leisurely art of the two-hour lunch. She traded her underwater camera for a set of professional watercolors, finding she could savor the curve of a single petal for longer than she used to spend navigating Paris’ Charles de Gaulle airport. She might still travel to a remote village in Provence, but instead of hiking to the castle at the top of the hill, she’d spend the afternoon interviewing a local baker about the existential properties of fougasse, the region’s sculpted sourdough. She was aging well by having invited time to settle into a humming resonance rather than trying to redline it.

No-Go Stillness

Eventually, the vibrant saunter of the slow years evolved into the No-Go stage. For Virginia, this was the most exotic chapter of all because it required the one thing she had spent a lifetime avoiding: stillness. She approached it with the same resolve she once brought to the peaks of Peru, and found it no less expansive.

She knew she had arrived when the perimeter of her world yielded to the size of her sunroom and back garden, yet felt larger than the Sierra Nevadas ever had. On the side table, a small woven textile from her Machu Picchu days sat near her tea, an endearing reminder of her earlier velocity. Aside from her beloved writing, music, cinema, and reading, an internal radiance would often grace her days, arising spontaneously or from reflections or memories. The stillness she had once feared had become her most faithful companion, a peaceful country she had finally learned to inhabit.

The Wisdom Carrier

Her spoken words and stories were becoming heirlooms now. Decades of family ritual lived inside her: the secret pinch of cardamom that saved the Sunday roast; the reasons behind the traditions no one else could quite explain; the long view of who her people were and where they had come from.

And it wasn’t only family who sought her out. Neighbors, friends, the younger people whose lives had brushed against hers over the years found their way to her home, drawn by something they couldn’t quite name. Virginia knew how to listen. When life presented them with its harder passages – the crossroads, the losses, the moments of doubt – she offered something steadier than advice: context. The assurance that things had been weathered before, that lives had bent and re-formed, that meaning often arrived after the fact.

She felt a curious anticipation for what lay beyond, and took heart in the wisdom of Italian film director Federico Fellini, who understood the surreal and beautiful flow of existence:

“There is no end. There is no beginning.

There is only the infinite passion of life.”

Virginia knew she would simply be moving through a gateway into the next mystery – and, characteristically, she was already tuned and ready for the ride.

Let’s Reflect Together:

Can you sum up your three stages: Go-Go, Slow-Go and No-Go? Which stage are you at right now and what do you love most about it? What is the reason to transition from one stage to another?

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