want what you have - by Isabel - Mind Mine

C.S. Lewis has this piece of writing called the Inner Ring that I think about often. The core concept is that in any arena of life, at any stage, you will always sense that there is some in-group you are not quite in—a slightly-higher-status, intangible upper tier that you feel just on the cusp of. We vie to belong to it, making significant sacrifices to get inside this Inner Ring. But as soon as we get in, a new one appears. It’s like the Russian dolls that multiply each time you crack one open, or in Lewis’ words: “it is like piercing through the skins of an onion.” To me, the Inner Ring is the ultimate symbol of desire: an encapsulation of all the little things that take us out of the moment. Our mind telling us that we are not good enough, hot enough, smart enough, cool enough to be where we are. Some voice in our head wondering if the people we’re around like us, if we should act differently, stand this way or that way, ask our question or stay quiet. This desperation to be inside

C.S. Lewis has this piece of writing called the Inner Ring that I think about often. The core concept is that in any arena of life, at any stage, you will always sense that there is some in-group you are not quite in—a slightly-higher-status, intangible upper tier that you feel just on the cusp of. We vie to belong to it, making significant sacrifices to get inside this Inner Ring. But as soon as we get in, a new one appears. It’s like the Russian dolls that multiply each time you crack one open, or in Lewis’ words: “it is like piercing through the skins of an onion.” To me, the Inner Ring is