48>49

[synthesis]

Hello and best wishes to everyone, including a happy healthy holiday.

I have an area of work frustration that has been with me for some time. This morning, I woke thinking about it, but without my usual self doubt that muddies the water a bit. For the last 10 years, I have consistently made creative contributions in several areas of my office that changed the way we do business....for the better, that is but I have not been given credit...when i tell relatively new workers about different projects that i did, they look at me surprised and say "oh, that was you?"This wouldn't bother me, except for the fact that now that I am lobbying for a pay raise after several years, I am finding it to be an uphill struggle.

I am beginning to reawaken to my creativity in other areas, and have started to think about buiding a new career....but it confuses me that I have such trouble getting acknowledged...and made me wonder what the lesson is.

The fact is, I also have a history of saying interesting things in conversation....and then later having that same thing said back to me by the person I said it to as if it were something new to me

I am extremely extroverted, so this is not about being unnoticed because i am shy.

In addition, I love to affirm other people....empowering others and making them feel good about themselves is a real high for me.

I asked "what is right focus for growth regarding my frustration over lack of acknowledgment at work?"

And I got 48>49

I know that 49 means upheaval of the established order...and since the focus of the question is on me, I guess that might mean internal order....but is the relating hex here about the future, or is it the context?

As for 48, I always find this hex confusing. A resource that is always there, as long as one knows how to reach it....?

Thanks in advance for any thoughts from others. I really do want to grow in this area.

Best,

Susan

 

[hans]

Hello, lets me try to interpret your hexagrams.

48.1.2.4 > 49

=== 48 Line 1 ===
"One does not drink the mud of the well.
No animals come to an old well."

I think its suggests you should do something. The well is there but it's muddy. The well represents resources. You have the resources/skills/talents, but it's not enough. Doesn't it good if we repair the muddy well and dig it deeper?

=== 48 Line 2 ===
"At the well hole one shoots fishes.
The jug is broken and leaks."

Here is the explanation I get from my I Ching book:
"The water itself is clear, but it is not being used. Thus the well is a place where only fish will stay, and whoever comes to it, comes only to catch fish. But the jug is broken, so that the fish cannot be kept in it."
"This describes the situation of a person who possesses good qualities but neglects them. No one bothers about him. As a result he deteriorates in mind. He associates with inferior men and can no longer accomplish anything worth while."

=== 48 Line 4 ===
The well is being lined. No blame.

The well is lined for repair, no one can come to get water from it but it's not a bad thing. It sounds you will have some down time, but at the end it will be better.

=== 49 ===
"REVOLUTION
On your own day you are believed.
Supreme success, furthering through perseverance. Remorse disappears."

Don't give up, you'll win someday.


It seems you'll get what you want but at the beginning it may have some difficulties. Perhaps you may need to consider the outsides finding other places to work, as it suggested in Line 2 - the people surrounding you aren't appreciate what you've done even your contributions are great.

 

[loulisnowdrop]

I'm new to this but I'd like to have a go at interpreting for you although my interpretation is inexperienced and hence comes with a health warning

line 1 suggests the well is disused as it has not been maintained, it has been neglected.
You speak of changes you have made and how you tell others about them... this is retrospective and leads me to ask: Do you still make an effective contribution or are you basking in past glory? I don't mean to sound harsh in this question but I'd be tempted to ask it of myself if I was in your situation.

Line 2 - The jug is worn out and it leaks. Are there any skills which you could improve/develop maybe you have neglected something and it has made you less attractive for promotion?

Line 4 -The well is being tiled. The source is being restored to make it useful again. Are there any changes you could make or courses you could go on to increase your value to the company. Or alternatively are there any changes you can make to the company now which would highlight your value and remind people how good you are?

49 is change and a foundation for progress. 49 speaks of aversion to changes dissappearing if you wait as it may take time to adjust.

Maybe somebody higher up is worried about changes that you may initiate or you are stuck in your ways at the moment and don't share management views of the direction of the company?

Anyway, I wish you all the best.

 

[synthesis]

Thank you for your response... I appreciate any and all who are willing to help give me perspective...

I don't think my glories are past...in fact my direct supervisor called a recent project I initiated to be "brilliant" in my own performance evaluation.

I am trying to understand a pattern in my life, which is that my contributions go unrecognized. It could be something to do with how I present myself and how that diverges with a management view. I certainly have a distaste for authority, especially authority which values status quo just for the sake of being safe. At the same time I work hard to be congenial and respectful of the chain of command...but there is a chance that I am threatening simply because I am passionate in an introverted and dispassionate work culture.

If I look at a larger arc, I wonder if this blatant refusal to acknowledge my worth is actually a reflection of my own self perception, which has been low self esteem. I am writing very openly about my value here but I have not thought of myself as valuable for most of my life. Having to fight for acknowledgment of my worth (because i want the money) may be pushing me to "see" it as real and valid.

Thanks again for your thoughts.

 

[tigerintheboat]

Radical Change to get Fixed Resources

I have an area of work frustration that has been with me for some time. .

I asked "what is right focus for growth regarding my frustration over lack of acknowledgment at work?"

And I got 48>49

I know that 49 means upheaval of the established order...and since the focus of the question is on me, I guess that might mean internal order....but is the relating hex here about the future, or is it the context?

Susan, my experience with this reading in the business world is that H48 represent large business organizations, their intractability, and the ways in which they are dysfunctional.

So, Yi, like a good and wise old uncle, is describing the facts of the situation to you in the reading. It is not saying you are dysfunctional; it is talking about your environment and why the water is not flowing. It appears that the facts are that your many rational and unselfish actions are taking place in an irrational and selfish environment.

My guess is that you are working for a large dysfunctional entity. It could be a corporation, NGO or government entity . It doesn't have to be very large, but the larger they are, the more dysfunctional. The entity is supposed to bring something to the community (its workers and vendors as well as the people who use its products or services), but it is failing.

If it were functional, the water would flow from the well, bringing profit and praise to you as well as water to the community. But by the choice of lines, Yi says it is dysfunctional.

Line 1: The well itself has dried up; there is no life here anymore for you.

Line 2: People are doing stupid things for self profit and not working cooperatively in the venture.

Line 4: There is some attempt to re-tile the well (this may be a later stage), but in the meantime, the well is out of service.

More or less, the meaning of the reading is "It will take a Radical Change (H49) before this Fixed Resource (H48) produces for you"

Put another way, I think the advice is to change jobs. If a well is not producing, then you have to change locations. And this well is not in service, and not likely to be any time soon. The only hope here is Line 4, that at some point this well will produce again. But in the immediate present, we have Line 1 (no water) and Line 2 (people doing stupid things).

Hope this helps; it is always difficult to move on after so many years, but it is also difficult to stay where no water is flowing.

 

[synthesis]

Wow, that is a very different take, Tiger in the Boat. I appreciate your taking the time to share, as this perspective would not have occured to me.

It is painful to think that what you are saying is true. Not so much because it means I have to move on to something else. I have been in this job for 10 years which is the longest I've ever done a job, and I have always believed that variety is the spice of life. But it is the federal government that I work for...what a depressing thing it would be to think that change is that unlikely. However, my gut tells me that much of what you are saying is true.

I don't really work for money generally, I just got upset when I saw people literally come in and take over projects that I had built up from the ground, and get more money paid to do it than me to boot. What is even more frustrating, though, is that this new leadership has so little imagination. And so the systems I wanted to complete will flatline into something very mediocre indeed.

I will stay where I am until I am finished with my latest project, as it represents something that can truly take flight on a national level, if I can reinforce the foundations a bit ...I would feel like a hypocrite to leave before it is done.

I am beginning to grow in courage to seriously pursue what I have loved since I was a child, which is graphic design, both geometric and naturalistic...i want to build a portfolio online through a website, where I can sell my designs through stationary and textiles. This is something that I can do while working in the government and finishing my project in the next year.

I did a cast of what it would mean to put some serious energy and time in to pursuing this dream of making income through art, and I drew hex 58 unchanging. So lovely...Hilary's interpretation of this hexagram is as follows:

Opening brings people together and begins a lively creative process of sharing and exchange. It liberates human energies, motivates people to overcome hardship and encourages perseverance.

As I read this, I felt the irony that, in fact, this is what I seek to do in my government work...to empower creativity by sharing information that could be used to shed light on what works and what doesn't.

Thank you again for your contribution to my reflective process ...
:bows:

 

[tigerintheboat]

I will stay where I am until I am finished with my latest project, as it represents something that can truly take flight on a national level, if I can reinforce the foundations a bit ...I would feel like a hypocrite to leave before it is done.

I am beginning to grow in courage to seriously pursue what I have loved since I was a child, which is graphic design, both geometric and naturalistic...i want to build a portfolio online through a website, where I can sell my designs through stationary and textiles. This is something that I can do while working in the government and finishing my project in the next year.

Thanks for writing back and providing your feedback. Assuming you are talking about the United States federal government, it certainly seems (from the outside) to fit the description.

Yi is of course not saying to you to quit your job immediately, or at all. Depending on your age and situation and the number of years you have in the job, that may not be advisable. But if you stay, you need to bring a realistic view about the environment within which you work.

My feeling is that people in general in the United States right now are at an all time low in terms of cooperativeness and willingness to put their shoulder to the wheel and work for something in common. Class warfare is a fact of life today. Everyone wants either their benefits or their wealth, and there seems to be no intelligent discussion or middle ground.

Your plan for maintaining your job and working on your own interests outside work seems like an excellent one. Many great creative works have been accomplished in the evenings and weekends while a worker toiled at a government (or other unrewarding) job during the day.

While I do think change is unlikely, it is not impossible. I think Yi is reflecting the current environment. Sometime, the well will be relined and available for use. A reading is not forever.

But one thing is for certain; one single person can't determine whether the well produces or whether it is in good repair. So be realistic about what to expect in the near term.

I wish you the best of luck.

 

[synthesis]

Thanks Tiger! I won't be leaving gov't tomorrow...Pursuing art especially is a soul connection that makes me feel more like "me"....Who knows what is down the road? The important thing is that I no longer let my fear of failing stop me from doing what I love.

And in terms of my current professional corner of the world, there are a few of us with fire in the belly, and many more that could be inspired with a real sense of vision and leadership....so cliche, but so true. We are all secretly hoping to be the best we can be...it's just a shame we sell ourselves the lie that taking risks to be that best is something we cannot afford to be.