Okay, let’s talk about Hexagram 60 from the I Ching, the one called Limitation, or Jie. My journey with this one wasn’t exactly planned, it sort of just happened when I really needed it.
I remember feeling completely swamped. Everything felt like too much – work, personal stuff, just the sheer volume of things demanding my attention. I was scattered, trying to do everything, and honestly, doing none of it very well. Felt like I was running on empty, you know? Just spinning my wheels.
So, one evening, feeling particularly stuck, I pulled out the I Ching coins. I don’t do it all the time, just when things feel really tangled. I did the whole routine – focused on my feeling of being overwhelmed, tossed the coins six times, marked down the lines. And bam, up came Hexagram 60. Limitation.
My first thought was, “Great. Just what I need. More limits.” It felt almost like a sick joke. I wanted freedom, expansion, less restriction, and here the book was telling me about boundaries and measure. Didn’t make sense initially.
Digging In
But I sat with it. Read the text associated with it. It talked about setting measures, creating structure, like the joints in bamboo that give it strength. It wasn’t about being trapped, necessarily, but about creating a framework so things didn’t just spill out everywhere.
So, I decided to try it out. What did I have to lose, right? I started small.
- Time: I got really strict with my schedule. Instead of just reacting to whatever popped up, I started blocking out specific times for specific tasks. Like, 9 AM to 11 AM is only for this project, no emails, no calls. Then, a definite break. It felt unnatural at first, very rigid.
- Resources: I looked at my energy, my money. Where was it all going? I started tracking things more carefully. Saying ‘no’ became a big one. No to extra projects I couldn’t handle, no to social things when I was drained, even no to certain expenses that weren’t really necessary. This was tough, felt like I was disappointing people or missing out.
- Mental Space: Tried to limit the constant barrage of information. Less news scrolling, less social media checking. Tried to create pockets of quiet in my day.
What Happened
It wasn’t an overnight fix. The first week or two felt forced, like wearing shoes that were too tight. I resisted it. Part of me still wanted that illusion of ‘doing it all’. Saying no was particularly hard work.
But then, something shifted. Slowly. By setting those limits, by creating those ‘joints’ like the bamboo, I actually started to feel… freer? It sounds weird, I know. But by limiting the chaos, I created space. Space to focus, space to breathe, space to actually do things properly instead of half-doing a million things.
The energy drain started to slow down. I wasn’t constantly fighting fires because I had put some basic firebreaks in place. The I Ching text mentioned something about how overly severe limitation is also bad, and that resonated too. It wasn’t about building a prison, but a functional structure. Finding that balance was key.
So, yeah. That was my practical wrestle with Hexagram 60. It wasn’t some mystical lightning bolt. It was about taking an old idea and trying, clumsily at first, to apply it to my messy modern life. It taught me that sometimes, the way out of feeling trapped is actually to define the boundaries of your space more clearly. Still working on it, always will be I guess, but it definitely changed how I approach things when they start to feel overwhelming.
