Laozi's metaphor for returning to simplicity and wholeness, countering the fragmented self created by endless digital consumption and comparison.
The uncarved block (pu) represents original wholeness before division and specialization. In our digital age, you're constantly being carved into pieces—a professional on LinkedIn, a curated self on Instagram, a reactive commenter elsewhere. Each platform demands a different version of you, fragmenting your sense of integrated identity. FOMO thrives in this fragmentation; you fear missing moments that might prove one version of you incomplete. Laozi suggests returning to pu—a less carved, more unified self. This doesn't mean abandoning platforms, but rather refusing the compulsion to maintain elaborate, differentiated personas. When you reduce digital presence to fewer, simpler spaces, you recover wholeness. The anxiety of maintaining contradictory versions of yourself dissolves. You become the uncarved block again: simpler, more coherent, less anxious about which 'you' might be missing what.
Peri can explain this concept, give practical examples, help you decide whether it applies to your situation, or recommend a journey if appropriate.
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