Tending the Roots of Wisdom
Keep the skill out of sight
Not all of what you have has to be on display
Tending the Roots of Wisdom: hide skill in clumsiness, be bright by seeming dim
Afraid of being found out, and unable to stop proving yourself. This asks what the book offers as somewhere to stand.
What actually happened?
The entry runs: hide skill in clumsiness, be bright by seeming dim, keep what is clean inside what is muddy, bend in order to stretch. The reason given is not modesty. In his own words these are the three burrows a man hides in, a place to survive in among other people. Which sets the purpose: the point of keeping something out of sight is being able to stay, not looking humble.
Show all of it and you are standing in the open
Once the whole of your capacity has been displayed, other people's expectations settle at that height, and every occasion afterwards has to reach the line, with anything under it counted as a failure. Holding some back is not deceit. It is leaving room for a bad day.
Do not put your best single performance on show as the normal one. Keep something in reserve for ordinary days.
The fear of being found out comes from overdisplay
Being afraid of exposure means more has been put out than is actually held. What wants treating is not the fear but the gap. Either fill in what you have or take back some of what you showed. Both are easier than holding up a front that must never be tested.
When you are afraid of being caught out, measure the gap between what you showed and what you hold, then go and close it.
Hiding skill is not playing dumb
He is describing a choice of occasions, not a permanent retreat. Bring it out when it is wanted and put it away afterwards. Someone who has to prove himself in every room spends the year on contests that decide nothing, and the real work goes slack.
Ask one question first: is this room worth the effort? If not, let it go past.
How do I use it today?
Where you are: braced in front of people, afraid they will see you are not that good, and proving yourself anyway.
Ask first: how far apart are what I showed and what I hold? Is this room worth the effort? Have I left myself room for a bad day?
Where it goes wrong: reading it as never show anything — he said choose the occasion, and not drawing when it is time is the other error; and manufactured clumsiness is heavier to carry than plain skill.
Lines to keep
Hide skill in clumsiness; be bright by seeming dim.
Three burrows to hide in, not a display of modesty.
Fear of exposure means you showed more than you hold.
Same situation, other people are asking
I'm in this seat and I feel hollow in it.The fight I'm afraid of is inside me.What I actually want is for someone to say "you were right."I need to hold my nerve and there's nothing underneath it.They'll find out I can't do this · all 7 questions →If this one named what you are going through,
send it to someone who needs it, or keep it somewhere you will find it again.