56.1.4>22 New Job

[galatea11]

Greetings,

I have worked in the same industry for 30 years and just took an entry level job doing something completely different. Yesterday I attended an optional training session where I think I may have done something that offended others but I'm not sure. Feeling highly emotional on the ride home I pulled over and did an impromptu reading in the car:

"Please give me a picture of how my training session with XYZ went today."
I Ching responded with hexagram 56.1.4>22.

Possible interpretation: during this transitional period (56) I am hindering my progress by fixating on trivial matters (56.1) even though I have everything I really need to succeed (56.4) and have been trying as hard as I can to behave with grace (22).

Is this a self-serving interpretation? How do others see 56.1.4>22? I have received great advice here before and welcome any viewpoints. Honestly, I felt shattered yesterday and I'm having trouble thinking rationally about this subject. The new job potentially represents a huge transition and it has triggered a lot of self-doubt and emotion. Thanks for any input!

 

[equinox]

You seem to be quite strict with yourself, as you already suggested, you are worrying very much about details (56.1). Perfectionism has its up- and downsides, the advantage is that you are a reliable and good workmate, I believe. The disadvantage is, as I assume you already know, that too much perfectionism can be harmful for your wellbeing, which is reflected by 56.4, saying that you don't feel comfortable with yourself. Hex 22 in my opinion indicates that your performance was altogether graceful. I think it all went way better than you think.

Edit: Maybe hex 22 also hints that you should have trust that your true character will shine through your actions instead of being afraid of your appearance, hence concentrating too much on your 'persona' and agonizing over it. --> you also suggested that, saying "trying as hard as I can to behave with grace".

 

[Trojina]

Greetings,

I have worked in the same industry for 30 years and just took an entry level job doing something completely different. Yesterday I attended an optional training session where I think I may have done something that offended others but I'm not sure. Feeling highly emotional on the ride home I pulled over and did an impromptu reading in the car:

"Please give me a picture of how my training session with XYZ went today."
I Ching responded with hexagram 56.1.4>22.

Possible interpretation: during this transitional period (56) I am hindering my progress by fixating on trivial matters (56.1) even though I have everything I really need to succeed (56.4) and have been trying as hard as I can to behave with grace (22).

Is this a self-serving interpretation? How do others see 56.1.4>22? I have received great advice here before and welcome any viewpoints. Honestly, I felt shattered yesterday and I'm having trouble thinking rationally about this subject. The new job potentially represents a huge transition and it has triggered a lot of self-doubt and emotion. Thanks for any input!

Well Yi can be blunt and not always reassuring. I remember being in a play where I didn't do so well. On going home I asked Yi how I did, hoping to get some reassurance.....but no Yi was quite upfront in saying it wasn't my finest hour. I think I got 18.3.

So Yi doesn't always answer as a supportive friend might. It is truthful. I don't mind at all now that it was truthful although at the time I wished it could be more like a supportive friend and say nice things.

So what about this reading ? I think there could be a number of ways to see it. One most obvious one is Yi is saying well yes you did offend/annoy others in a minor way because perhaps as a newcomer you overstepped the mark in trying to correct things or point out faults. Clearly the 56 shows this is not somewhere that is home for you, you are passing through. If you are passing through a place you don't want to annoy the locals by telling them how they should run their town.

Of course you may not have done anything like this, and what is more even if you did well it's not the end of the world I don't think. The cast as whole doesn't look like anything serious happened. Let's face it we probably all mildly annoy other people all the time but it doesn't matter because the next day that's often forgotten or overcome. I find 22 can refer to those everyday events, scenarios that make up the theatre of life. This cast looks very much like a transitory uncomfortable event so you might have annoyed them but it doesn't matter much, doesn't have a lasting impact, not with the 22 as relating

I think line 4 shows you aren't happy and you kind of think you ought to be. Be honest with yourself, is this place really somewhere you can be happy ? The traveller rests and he has his axe and a place to stay yet he's just not very happy. Why ? Because he needs to be moving on not making a home here. He has somewhere else to get to, this isn't a destination it's a stopping point. However sometimes we have to live line 4, we have to spend time feeling like a traveller yet being 'resident' some place we have to be for that period.

I think even if you think this may be a place to settle it isn't. I mean you may be there for years yet for you it's still a stopping point on your life journey. Now if it's a stopping point don't get too invested in rectifying things there or get too caught up in how things are done. Take it a bit easier, a bit more lightly. Also maybe recognise you aren't terribly happy with being there and it's not a destination it's a stopping place.

The other way to see the cast is more along the lines of what equinox said, that you are fretting too much over your perceived mistakes etc. That could be the case too. Maybe you didn't offend these people at all and the cast is asking you not to waste time focusing on the minutiae of your behaviour.

I think there could be truth in both ways of interpreting it, there's no way I can be certain of what it means for you. What do you think ?

I realise you did only ask about the training session not the entire job which is what I have interpreted as being about yet even small questions/answers can sometimes reflect the bigger picture.

 

[equinox]

Well, a more pessimistic interpretation would be then that galatea11 was a bit too pedantic in her behaviour? But pendantry is something people in the job world seldom regard as ill will or as a real weakness in character, I think. Depending on the kind of business of course.

 

[Trojina]

I don't know about pedantic, the line only says

The sojourner: fragments and bits,
Splits off from her place and seizes calamity.

(Hilary's translation)

....so that might manifest in any number of ways, I was just guessing

 

[galatea11]

Thank you sooo much, Equinox and Trojina, for your thoughts and interpretations. After reading your words a new interpretation occurred to me: maybe this new job will be more transient (56) than anticipated because they will just gracefully (22) fire me. Equinox, I'm not too pedantic but I think I can be way too eager to please even though I'm trying to curb that tendency. To make matters a little worse I tend not to blend into society well. In the US people really do seem to emulate the behavior they see on their television sets and I junked my last TV in 1996. Sounds silly but after all these years I feel like my brain is wired differently than most people I encounter. When I try to be "normal" the charade doesn't work all that well. This new job is very corporate (conformist) and maybe I should rethink my desire to pursue it.

Trojina, I noticed that you reopened an old thread in which I had posted a 5.4>43 reading and I will update that. Today I had intended to visit my assigned office for the new job and practice doing some work on the company computer. After the comments from you and Equinox I queried the I Ching as to whether or not I should proceed with my plan to visit the office today. Eerily, I just received 5.4>43 as my response! Thank you, Trojina, for both your insightful words and your spooky prescience in reopening the 5.4 thread

Going to get some fresh, cold air before I do any further writing this morning but I shall return. Thank you again, Equinox, and Trojina, for taking the time to respond.

 

[equinox]

Hey galatea11, sorry for being off the mark, in no way I want to insinuate that you are pedantic, see my first posting in this thread initially I had another interpretation then.
Maybe Trojina is right and -- you also already thought about it now -- questioning if this place is good for you is on the table.
I think it is not necessarily a flaw that you 'tend not to blend into society well', so what, but anyhow this society is very disfunctional in so many ways. Life may be more difficult if you don't fit the mold, but honestly I don't know who really does. Many people bend theirselves into it and pay a high price (health, very often)
I think that there is space for everybody's own way of being, in order to find that space we have to love ourselves enough to follow our own truths. Especially because life is very short as well. So it is really wise to think long and hard about where to spend our precious time and energy. I wish you all the best and that you find a fulfilling occupation.
Edit: What I said may be a commonplace, but I think it's always good to recall it when we tend to get sucked up by so many things, like jobs, for example.

 

[galatea11]

Hi Equinox, please don't apologize! I really appreciate your thought-provoking interpretations. Over the years I've noticed that people seem to think I'm judging them even though I'm not so I do project some type of weird energy that affects people that way. Maybe you picked up on it. For instance, recently I arrived for an optometrist appointment and no one was there. I stood by the front door enjoying the morning sunlight, thoroughly content, until the receptionist showed up about 5-10 minutes late. I didn't mind at all that she was late but she was extremely defensive and seemed to feel that I was judging her. Situations like that come up in my life a lot, really a lot. I've developed a terrible habit of constantly trying to reassure people and I think it just comes across as patronizing. Or maybe desperate. The past decade has been very challenging and this new job seems to represent some type of tipping point for me.

Totally agree with what you said about people harming themselves by trying to fit into a mold. Will I survive in corporate America after being a lone wolf for so long? Lol.. I don't know. Do believe, however, that 5-6 years with this company will give me enough experience to do freelance work within the same field so it's probably worth a shot.

 

[equinox]

Hi Equinox, please don't apologize! I really appreciate your thought-provoking interpretations. Over the years I've noticed that people seem to think I'm judging them even though I'm not so I do project some type of weird energy that affects people that way. Maybe you picked up on it. For instance, recently I arrived for an optometrist appointment and no one was there. I stood by the front door enjoying the morning sunlight, thoroughly content, until the receptionist showed up about 5-10 minutes late. I didn't mind at all that she was late but she was extremely defensive and seemed to feel that I was judging her. Situations like that come up in my life a lot, really a lot. I've developed a terrible habit of constantly trying to reassure people and I think it just comes across as patronizing. Or maybe desperate. The past decade has been very challenging and this new job seems to represent some type of tipping point for me.

No worries, I didn't feel judged or like I have to apologize I simply wanted.
You do not project any weird energy on me, you only stated that you are not pedantic, which is totally normal. Also I think that you are not responsible for the receptionist feeling defensive about showing up too late -- most probably she knows that the necessity of being in time is part of her job and felt bad because she failed here (a minor failure of course, but maybe she is a perfectionist )
And -- coming back to the original topic of this thread -- regarding the course of this discussion, I can't imagine that you did offend anybody in a relevant way, because you are obviously very considerate when it's about social interaction. I think you don't have to be so strict with yourself.
Btw, when will you get feedback?

 

[galatea11]

Thank you for your words, Equinox. As far as I know I have completed training for the new job and will officially start next week. I had intended to do some practice work on the office computer today but a 5.4 reading on the subject deterred me from that. In all likelihood I am waaaay overthinking this job as well as way over-preparing for it.

 

[equinox]

I had intended to do some practice work on the office computer today but a 5.4 reading on the subject deterred me from that. In all likelihood I am waaaay overthinking this job as well as way over-preparing for it.

Oh, but why? 5.4 can simply refer to your inner feelings and say that you should leave the attitude of tormenting yourself mercilessly.
Anyhow, good luck, fingers crossed and please keep us updated! I am really curious about the outcome.

 

[galatea11]

Hi Equinox,

I really have been tormenting myself mercilessly and 5.4 does seem to reflect that. As mentioned here I've had a lot of 5.4 experience in recent years. Yesterday I thought it was better just to stay home and calm down. Thank you for your continued help. I will indeed update this thread if anything of interest happens.

 

[galatea11]

Just a quick update..

The job referenced in this thread was a seasonal job and it went very, very well. In fact, my particular office handed in one of the best performances in the district by blowing through sales targets. Rather interestingly, I never worked with anyone from the original training group ever again. One had been assigned to my same office but transferred before the season began.

So.. it seems that everything that happened with the training group was merely transitional (56), a small fire at the foot of a mountain (22) which just kinda burnt out as I ascended a bit higher on the mountain.