Okay, let’s talk about my brush with I Ching hexagram 9, Xiao Chu, or “Small Taming” as some call it. Wasn’t some big spiritual quest, more like hitting a bump in the road and needing a different angle.
Getting Stuck
So, I was working on this little side project. Nothing huge, just something I wanted to get off the ground. But man, it felt like wading through mud. Every step forward seemed to hit some tiny snag. Not big disasters, just… annoyances. A piece of code wouldn’t quite work, a supplier was slow, communication got slightly muddled. Stuff like that. It was frustrating because nothing was fundamentally wrong, but progress felt stalled, like trying to push a car with the parking brake slightly on.
Turning to the Coins
I’ve messed around with the I Ching on and off for years. Don’t ask me about deep philosophy, I just use it sometimes when my brain is stuck in a loop. Felt like one of those times. So, I dug out my three old coins. Found a quiet spot, calmed my thoughts down a bit, focusing on this feeling of being subtly held back, this ‘stuckness’ with the project.
- I did the usual routine: shake the coins, toss them. Six times.
- Recorded the lines each time – heads or tails, noting if they were changing lines (didn’t get any changing lines this time, kept it simple).
- Built the hexagram from the bottom up based on the throws.
And there it was: Hexagram 9. Wind over Heaven.
What I Made of It
I looked up the reading. Xiao Chu – Small Taming. The image described was like clouds gathering, promising rain, but the wind isn’t strong enough yet to make it pour. It’s potential, but restrained. That clicked. It wasn’t saying “stop” or “failure”. It was saying, yeah, things are being held back by small stuff. The advice wasn’t to force it, break through, or make some grand gesture.
Instead, it felt like it was telling me: Be patient. Use gentle influence. Don’t try to bulldoze the small obstacles. Work with them, or gently around them. Accumulate small gains. Like taming something, not breaking it. Small, persistent effort was the way, not a big push.
Putting It Into Practice
So, I stepped back from trying to hit big milestones on the project. I stopped getting wound up about the overall slow pace. Instead, I just focused on the next tiny, manageable step.
- That bit of code? Okay, break it down smaller, test each part slowly.
- Slow supplier? Find a small workaround for now, gently nudge them without being demanding.
- Muddled communication? Send shorter, clearer messages, double-check understanding politely.
Basically, I stopped fighting the friction and just tried to be persistent and gentle. Addressed one small thing, then the next. No big dramatic push.
The Result?
Well, the project didn’t suddenly explode into success overnight. That wasn’t the point, and the reading didn’t promise that. But the feeling of frustration eased off. By focusing on those small, “taming” actions, progress actually started to happen again, slowly but steadily. It felt less like wading through mud and more like carefully navigating a path. It taught me that sometimes, you don’t need a sledgehammer; you just need consistent, gentle pressure. That reading, Hexagram 9, helped me shift my attitude, and that made the practical difference. It was a good reminder that not every problem needs a forceful solution.
