The Inner Ring is a reference to C.S. Lewis’s lecture/essay about the hidden desire to be in the inner ring of groups—where the formal power structures breakdown and an informal, organic structure is created. Lewis describes the desire to enter these inner rings as some of the most pernicious desires to human beings which can result in individuals completely changing their personalities and forgoing their values to become part of the in-crowd.

Lewis is clear that inner rings by themselves are neutral (neither good nor bad), but the desires and our actions to gain access to inner rings can be good or bad.

Choosing The Inner Ring as the name for my blog was three-fold: one, by creating a home for my thoughts on the publicly-accessible Internet, the barrier to my inner ring is—mostly—flattened, thereby removing any necessity to change yourself to gain access; two, I prefer things that are informal and organic rather than rule-based; and three, I wanted a place to share thoughts and insights with my friends and family (a.k.a., my inner ring).

So welcome to The Inner Ring, please make yourself at home.