Hi!
I'm new here and feeling inspired by everyone's thoughtfulness.

I'd appreciate any insights about my current reading. I have my own thoughts, and will post them in a comment on this thread next – it's quite lengthy, but I want to include my own interpretations and places I'm getting hung up on, so as to show my openness with you all... and in case it helps you help me! But, anyway, I'm starting with just the basics in case it keeps this more clear/ less muddy in some way.

I'd LOVE your interpretations!! Thank you so much in advance!

A bit about my situation:

What I asked:

What I got:

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After all this, I feel better about pursuing music only (no side-job), but I don't feel any more peace about my financial situation or about what (if any) actions I could be taking.

To try to clarify, I asked 1 follow-up.
What I asked:

What I got:

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I plan to take the advice from the second reading to contemplate and observe/ be observed as much as I can creatively think to do so. And I want to follow the advice from hexagram 22 to contemplate the forms existing in the heavens to understand time and its changing demands – because I'm feeling some upset about "when" "how long" and "waiting." I'd like to better understand time/ gain wisdom about timing. Can anyone offer advise on tools to help me contemplate these forms?

I'll do my best in the coming weeks to update you on anything that develops with this!

Thanks so much!

What I asked:
How do I get to be vocationally fulfilled from where I'm currently at?
What I got:
22.2.4.5 > 1
Very appropriate Hex for the question.
Line 2: Image of something trivial that precedes what is really important. That doesn't mean it is not necessary, but it must be taken for what it is.
Line 4: Sometimes keeping it simple is what's best (the horse with only plain white adornments still runs swiftly)
Line 6: Again, keep it simple.
Looking at all these lines together I have the feeling that for now you shouldn't aim at particularly grand enterprises, but focus on what is simpler. You say you are in debt: maybe being in a financial constraint and the worries that come from it are preventing you from reaching "the creative" and feeling actually fulfilled, so you need to fix that first and then focus on the other. The emphasis on a "simpler" approach might have to do with maybe getting a job, a gig or something like that, that might not be exactly what you are looking for, but will provide you with access to money that will help you ease your financial constraints and therefore allow you later to focus on what you really want to do, without having that additional worry.
Timing wise, Hex 22 is August, according to some sources and Hex 1 is May, but then again I've never gotten really into timing readings.

With regards to your second question "What can I do to make the most positive change in my life the soonest", what I can see is that the Yi is maybe telling you that you have been a little narrow-minded and you need to get the big picture, before doing anything: what are ALL your real options, what are ALL the posibilities? (The good, the bad and the boring) After that, decide the best course of action. Hex 49 here is giving you context: you are in a process of change, but in order to achieve it you must first get your ideas down to earth. I got the feeling of the concept of "operationalization", in which you take an abstract concept and turn it into something you can manage, weigh and measure.

Thank you for such a fast reply, lysithea! I love to hear your perspective. I see you commented on line 6 but it was actually line 5 that was the final changing line – is "keep it simple" your line 5 thought as well?

So, the thing is, I feel like I've been doing the "trivial" thing for a long time already. The job I recently had to had to quit for physical reasons was extremely trivial. The gigs I've played in the last year were pretty trivial as well. (Prior to that I was working with pretty major artists on bigger projects, but this has been a rough year.)

Although I'm still feeling resistance to the idea that I have to keep doing the trivial, I do feel I'm nonetheless open to it! But when I go looking for job opportunities in the English language where I live, it's all stuff I'm not qualified for, not by a long shot. I truly cannot tell you how many hours I've spent looking for jobs... any jobs... So, I really feel that my only options now are opportunities I create for myself.

This is where the narrow-mindedness comes in that you mentioned. I've tried offering things that seem stripped down and "boring" (for me) like music lessons, for just one example (it's really, really not my thing but I'm capable and willing to do it). But there must be more I'm not thinking of out of some kind of narrow mindedness, which I find frustrating. I'm not sure how one can become un-narrowminded when that's what they are. Yikes! A bit scary feeling. It's hard for me to see what all my other options (trivial or not) really are from this cramped space!

I got the feeling of the concept of "operationalization", in which you take an abstract concept and turn it into something you can manage, weigh and measure.

Click to expand...

This intrigues the heck out of me but I have no idea what to do with it What's the abstract concept I should be turning into something I can manage/ weigh/ measure, you think?

Sorry Flying fish! I misread the line and confused it with your second question. Line five of Hex. 22 talks about a small sacrifice, so the idea still seems to be the same.
Regarding the operationalization comment, it's an example of how sometimes we need to take the abstract and bring it down to "operational" terms. I was refering to how when we have big dreams, we need to bring them down to earth for "execution": do our research, establish a game plan. As for what you have to "operationalize", I have no idea because that's up to you. But think of what you want to do and start making a game plan for it to happen, with a time line, pros and cons, steps, etc.

Crazy story. After I read your post, I started down the path of "operationalizing" the side-job search, when I suddenly began experiencing heart palpitations. Serious ones. After a few min, I'd lost feeling in my hand and could barely breath– was I having a heart attack?! I called 911, something I would never, ever do unless I was completely sure that I might die if I didn't get help. The ambulance came and when they got me inside and laid me down, I began improving. After some tests in their truck (didn't go to hospital) it was clear I'd actually experienced an extremely severe panic attack.

I've never had one. In the moments leading up to it, I had not had any thoughts or fears any more extreme than my (unfortunate) usual persistent level of anxiety. So, after recuperating a bit when I got home, I was like, "What the heck was that all about?!" So...

What did that panic attack mean for me?
29.2.4 > 45

I'm thinking the building up of tensions (re: the vocational concerns) behind a "dam" reached a breaking point. Line 2 says going forward through danger is the only way not to perish through "tarrying" (staying longer than intended; delay leaving a place). It's time to stop dwelling, I assume that means on the emotional drama I allow to prevent me from just taking actions/ trying stuff in my job situation/ and, not so much "going with the flow" but LETTING the flow... flow! I've been preventing the flow from going. What onlineclarity says about hexagram 45 is helpful, too:

... how essential it is to have a well-defined shared vision and goal to gather around ... If you receive [45] with reference just to yourself, try thinking of your life as a similar 'gathering' of talents, motivations, roles and resources. It can mean 'collecting yourself' or 'getting yourself together': somehow you have to unite all your varied experience from moment to moment through a single, central purpose.

Click to expand...

(http://www.onlineclarity.co.uk/learn/gua/hexagrams/hexagram45.php)

Today I'm going to make a list of all my talents, motivations, roles, and resources, and try to define my life's single, central purpose.

Sound like a good plan?

Sounds like an excellent plan. Good luck Fish