Okay, so I’ve been messing around with the I Ching lately, and I wanted to share my experience with hexagram 18, which is all about fixing what’s broken. I’m no expert, just a regular guy trying to figure things out, so bear with me.
It all started when I felt this nagging sense of… stagnation. Like things in my life weren’t flowing right. Work felt blah, my apartment was a mess, and I just felt generally uninspired. I remembered reading a bit about the I Ching a while back and figured, why not? Might as well try something different.
So, I grabbed my three coins – just regular pennies, nothing fancy – and started the whole coin-tossing ritual. Six tosses, heads for 3, tails for 2, writing down the lines from bottom to top. It’s kind of meditative, actually. Forces you to slow down and focus.
My Coin Tosses
- First Toss: Heads, Heads, Tails (3 + 3 + 2 = 8, which is a changing Yin line)
- Second Toss: Tails, Tails, Tails (2 + 2 + 2 = 6, another changing Yin line)
- Third Toss: Heads, Heads, Heads (3 + 3 + 3 = 9, a changing Yang line)
- Fourth Toss: Heads, Tails, Tails (3+2+2=7, which is a yang line)
- Fifth Toss: Heads, Heads, Tails (3+3+2=8, which is a ying line)
- Sixth Toss: Heads, Tails, Tails(3+2+2=7, which is a yang line)
When I looked up the resulting hexagram, boom, number 18. The description was pretty spot-on. It talked about decay, corruption, and the need to take action to repair things. It wasn’t all doom and gloom, though. It emphasized that this is a time of opportunity to fix what’s been neglected.
The changing lines were interesting too. Those lines gave me some specific areas to focus on.
For me:
It means there are things I need to change at the root of the problem.
It means problems have been there for a long time and have grown.
It means I was too weak to fix and tackle things, maybe it is time to change.
I spent some time thinking about what “decay” meant in my own life. It wasn’t hard to see the parallels. My messy apartment was a physical manifestation of my mental clutter. My lack of motivation at work was a sign that I needed to shake things up. Even some of my relationships felt a little… stale.
So, I started small. I cleaned my apartment, like, really cleaned it. I organized my workspace, threw out a bunch of junk, and even bought a plant. Then, I tackled a project at work that I’d been putting off for ages. It wasn’t easy, but I pushed through, and it felt good to finally get it done. I’ve also been making an effort to connect with friends I haven’t seen in a while.
It’s not like everything magically transformed overnight. But I definitely feel like I’m moving in the right direction. The I Ching didn’t give me all the answers, but it gave me a framework, a way to think about my situation and take some concrete steps. I’m still working on it, it’s a process, but I’m feeling more… hopeful, I guess. Like I’m actively working to fix what’s broken, instead of just letting things slide.
