Clarity,
Office 17622,
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London.
W1A 6US
United Kingdom
Phone/ Voicemail:
+44 (0)20 3287 3053 (UK)
+1 (561) 459-4758 (US).
So the title is a pun, I couldn't resist.
For some months, I've been in a romantic relationship - my first - with someone I adore more than I thought possible. Today, he told me that he's not in love with me anymore. Needless to say, the emotional agony is unbearable, especially given that I'm already receiving psychotherapy for suspected dysthymia/moderate depression. Seeking guidance, I looked to the I Ching. Unsure what to ask, I asked the thing I most wanted to know - "How can I recover from this agony?"
The answer came as hexagram 31 changing to hexagram 39. I read this as "influence", which I understand as working both ways - 31 means both being open to influence and being able to influence, right? - changing to, or resulting in, difficulty in proceeding. I can't quite understand the course of action that it's suggesting. Initially, I reacted by asking another question - this time, I asked why, whenever I ask about my emotional wellbeing, it suggests that there will be difficulty proceeding in the future. It answered with 11 changing to 16. I took this to mean that it answered the way it did because the "difficulty" it spoke of was the loss of the "little things that seem big" - the sort that flow away in hexagram 11 to make way for things of real significance; and that overcoming this difficulty would result in the vast potential for creative energy suggested by hexagram 16 - the enthusiasm that seems to be the opposite of depression. I could only assume that it meant that the relationship wasn't as big as it seemed, and it's been telling me all along that it had to go, that I had to focus on other things to recognise the greatness in them, or to make myself open to something better.
(Gosh, I've rambled much more than I intended to - sorry.)
Now, in light of this, I looked at my first reading again. Do you think I'm right in interpreting the "difficulty" of hexagram 39 as the loss of the so-called "small things" (I still can't think of that relationship as being insignificant)? Is the I Ching suggesting that I have to open myself up to external influences and attempt to direct things myself? I'm not sure quite what to make of this reading, but there seems to be something in it. Is there something I'm missing? Can anyone provide some insight? I'm fairly new to this, if it wasn't obvious from the above.
Thanks.
For some months, I've been in a romantic relationship - my first - with someone I adore more than I thought possible. Today, he told me that he's not in love with me anymore. Needless to say, the emotional agony is unbearable, especially given that I'm already receiving psychotherapy for suspected dysthymia/moderate depression. Seeking guidance, I looked to the I Ching. Unsure what to ask, I asked the thing I most wanted to know - "How can I recover from this agony?"
The answer came as hexagram 31 changing to hexagram 39. I read this as "influence", which I understand as working both ways - 31 means both being open to influence and being able to influence, right? - changing to, or resulting in, difficulty in proceeding. I can't quite understand the course of action that it's suggesting. Initially, I reacted by asking another question - this time, I asked why, whenever I ask about my emotional wellbeing, it suggests that there will be difficulty proceeding in the future. It answered with 11 changing to 16. I took this to mean that it answered the way it did because the "difficulty" it spoke of was the loss of the "little things that seem big" - the sort that flow away in hexagram 11 to make way for things of real significance; and that overcoming this difficulty would result in the vast potential for creative energy suggested by hexagram 16 - the enthusiasm that seems to be the opposite of depression. I could only assume that it meant that the relationship wasn't as big as it seemed, and it's been telling me all along that it had to go, that I had to focus on other things to recognise the greatness in them, or to make myself open to something better.
(Gosh, I've rambled much more than I intended to - sorry.)
Now, in light of this, I looked at my first reading again. Do you think I'm right in interpreting the "difficulty" of hexagram 39 as the loss of the so-called "small things" (I still can't think of that relationship as being insignificant)? Is the I Ching suggesting that I have to open myself up to external influences and attempt to direct things myself? I'm not sure quite what to make of this reading, but there seems to be something in it. Is there something I'm missing? Can anyone provide some insight? I'm fairly new to this, if it wasn't obvious from the above.
Thanks.