Man, life throws you curveballs, doesn’t it? I’ve been through my share of ups and downs, same as anyone. There was this one stretch, a few years back, where everything just felt… off. Like trying to walk through thick mud. Every plan I made, every move I tried to make, just hit a wall. It wasn’t just work, it was like across the board – personal stuff, even just trying to get simple things done around the house. Felt like the universe was just saying, “Nah, not today, pal.”
I was really starting to feel the pinch. My small design gig, which usually flowed pretty well, suddenly dried up. Pitches were getting ignored, clients were dragging their feet. And at home, it was just constant little frustrations. A leaky faucet turned into a major pipe issue. My old car decided that was the perfect time to give up the ghost. You know how it is when it rains, it pours? Yeah, it was a freaking monsoon.
I remember sitting there one evening, just staring at my screen, completely drained. I’d tried pushing harder, I’d tried brainstorming new angles, I’d even tried just taking a break, but nothing worked. It was like I was fighting against an invisible current. My usual go-to strategies were all failing me. I was getting pretty desperate for some kind of insight, some kind of sign, anything to just make sense of the chaos.
That’s when my old buddy, Mark, hit me up. We were just catching up, and I started spilling my guts about how stuck I felt. He’s always been into some of the more… esoteric stuff, let’s call it. And he casually mentioned the I Ching. I’d heard about it before, vaguely, as some ancient Chinese thing. Honestly, I was skeptical. But at that point, I figured, what’s the harm? I was out of ideas, so why not give it a shot?
He walked me through casting a hexagram. It felt a bit weird, throwing coins, but I followed his instructions. We laid them out, did the counts, and sure enough, a hexagram emerged. We looked it up, and it was Hexagram 11: “Tai” – Peace, or Prosperity. My first thought was, “Peace? Prosperity? Are you kidding me? My life is a dumpster fire right now!” It felt like a cruel joke.
But Mark told me to read the explanation carefully. And the more I read, the more it started to click. It talks about Heaven and Earth in communion. The small going out, and the great coming in. It spoke about things naturally flowing when there’s harmony. It emphasized not forcing, but cultivating the conditions for balance and flow. It’s like the earth receiving rain from heaven – not demanding it, but being receptive, allowing growth to happen naturally.
That’s when it hit me. I’d been trying to force things. I was pushing, struggling, demanding outcomes. I was trying to make the “great” come in by sheer will, instead of making space for it. The hexagram wasn’t saying I was already in a state of peace, but that the principles of peace and harmony were what I needed to embrace to get there. It was about aligning with the natural rhythm, rather than fighting it.
Applying the Lessons – The Hard Part
The real challenge, of course, was actually putting it into practice. My mind wanted to race, to strategize, to “do” something aggressive. But the I Ching was nudging me towards a different path. It was like, “Hey, maybe try being less of a bull in a china shop, and more like… fertile soil.”
I looked at my design work first. Instead of frantically chasing new clients or trying to force new concepts, I pulled back a bit. I started focusing on doing really solid work for the existing clients I had, even the small ones. I put more effort into clear communication, making sure I was listening to their needs, not just pushing my ideas. I focused on building good relationships, not just closing deals. It felt like “the small going out” – my individual effort, my humility, my attention to detail.
I also started spending more time just learning, reading, improving my skills, without an immediate project in mind. It was about tending to my own garden, making sure my internal resources were strong and ready. Instead of pushing for the “great” immediate payoff, I was cultivating the conditions for it.
And then there was the house stuff. Instead of getting frustrated about the car or the pipe, I took a breath. I called up a few different mechanics, got quotes, actually researched the issues instead of just fuming about them. For the pipe, I fixed the small leak properly myself first, then got a plumber in for the bigger job, realizing I couldn’t handle it all. It was about taking deliberate, calm steps, not getting overwhelmed by the entirety of the problem.
Slowly, things started to shift. It wasn’t overnight, mind you. But after a few weeks, an old client I hadn’t heard from in ages reached out with a significant project. Then another referral came in that was a really great fit. The car actually got fixed for a reasonable price, and the pipe issue was finally resolved. My finances started looking up. The constant little annoyances began to subside.
What I Actually Learned
It sounds simple, right? “Just be harmonious.” But it’s so much harder to live it. What Hexagram 11 hammered home for me was that sometimes, the best way to move forward isn’t to push harder, but to align better. It’s about:
- Receiving, not just demanding: Being open to opportunities and feedback, rather than always trying to dictate the terms.
- Cultivating the foundation: Focusing on the small, fundamental efforts that build long-term stability and success, even when you crave immediate big wins.
- Harmony over brute force: Realizing that when things are flowing smoothly and cooperatively, results often come with less struggle.
- Humility in action: Understanding that sometimes you need to step back, listen, and allow others or the situation itself to contribute to the solution.
It taught me that “peace” isn’t just about the absence of conflict; it’s an active state of dynamic balance that allows good things to flourish. It’s about creating the right environment, both internally and externally, for prosperity to naturally emerge. Ever since then, when I feel that familiar sense of resistance creeping in, I think about Hexagram 11. I ask myself, “Am I trying to force it, or am I creating the conditions for harmony?” And usually, that shift in perspective is enough to get things moving again, smoothly, like they were meant to be.
