Fresh perspective on going back to school - Hexagram 63 uc

[yinwithjim]

Greetings community!

I have been silent for a while. I was OBSESSED with figuring out if I should go back to school - a Phd program - where - which one - was it right for me?

I was so tied up in it I had to let it go.

and so I did

I found this paragraph in a kindle book which I felt was fitting for me:

When Tao cultivators consult the I Ching, their approach is different. Rather than to look into the future, they use it as a way together a better handle on the present. in its passages, they can find fresh perspectives on a particular situation, or additional insights that may otherwise elude them

Lin, Derek. The Tao of Wisdom: Ancient Stories Bringing the Tao Te Ching to Life (p. 19). Kindle Edition.

I will turn 60 this year and have been considering a nursing degree - something that I can complete in 2 years and stay here in PA to be close to my aging parents. If I pursued this path I would do so to acquire a good solid job here where I live with a decent salary and something I could do for 5 or maybe even 10 years to save money and maybe gain a small employer based retirement fund.

I have been specifically not asking the I Ching anything - but - it's a new year and my thoughts were that I might begin the RN nursing program this Fall (2022).

My question: me going to PCT for RN program in August 2022
Resultant Hexagram: 63 Unchanging

I am (now at end of January 2022) finishing something quite large - a 2 year project of sorts and I have done so successfully.

If I am interpreting correctly and gaining perspective on my situation - I have completed something, it makes sense that i have crossed the river so to speak...and now what is important is to maintain (harvest is constancy).

So, the future (with or without school or anything else) - I worry about the "decline". Maintenance of my spiritual self and keeping fire and water balanced and not boiling over is my goal.

Any help with this would be greatly appreciated. I will admit that even though I have included the quote form The Tao of Wisdom clearly saying that looking into the future is NOT what to do - I in fact am asking Yi a question about the future.

 

[Liselle]

Sometimes 63 seems to mean you've already made the decision, whether you realize it or not.

If I am interpreting correctly and gaining perspective on my situation - I have completed something, it makes sense that i have crossed the river so to speak...and now what is important is to maintain (harvest is constancy).

So, the future (with or without school or anything else) - I worry about the "decline".

Yes, that's part of 63 -
'Beginnings, good fortune,
Endings, chaos.'

 

[my_key]

Hex 63 also carries a meaning of 'setting things right' and carries for you the challenge held in the nuclear hexagram (64) to 'discriminate carefully the nature of things and keep each of them in their proper position'.

Hex 63 in the image offers you insights into the best way to achieve this as being 'to contemplate the law of waxing and waning and to take preventative measures against possible decline' (A Huang)

So, your question about going to PCT for RN program in August 2022 seems to need careful consideration about what it is that will be 'set right' if you go or what you will be 'set right' by not going. Plus, what do you need to prepare for or do in advance of August 22 to counter any possible decline.

... or it might mean nothing at all like this for you.

Good Luck

 

[Trojina]

I will turn 60 this year and have been considering a nursing degree - something that I can complete in 2 years and stay here in PA to be close to my aging parents. If I pursued this path I would do so to acquire a good solid job here where I live with a decent salary and something I could do for 5 or maybe even 10 years to save money and maybe gain a small employer based retirement fund.

Non Yi related reaction which I hope you don't find rude, but I'm 61 myself and the idea of retraining to do do nursing at this age doesn't seem realistic to me. Is it worth them spending the money on your training when you will be 62 when it's finished and how many more years will they get out of you. Most people do want to retire or do what they enjoy after 65. Also surely they are going to be more interested in training 25 year olds so you'd have stiff competition.

Maybe there's a cultural difference here but to me it seems mad! You'd do a nursing degree so when you are 62 or 63 you'll be looking for a job as a nurse?

Don't get me wrong people should have interesting and fulfilling lives contributing to society as long as they want to, I'm all for that but no one goes into nursing for the first time at 62 years old do they?

If you were doing any kind of degree or Phd well good for you I just don't understand the plan to become a nurse and then get a retirement fund?? Surely there wouldn't be much after working 4 or 5 years..

My question: me going to PCT for RN program in August 2022
Resultant Hexagram: 63 Unchanging

This is the nursing ? 63uc is IMO quite a settled answer, things in the right place and also things already attained. I guess you could take this as a 'yes' you could also take it that you already have what you need anyway. You could possibly just start working in some capacity at a hospital without doing a 2 year training for a job you'll be doing for a couple of years.

Beware being attracted to training because you feel at home in education and training. That's me not Yi saying that.

I don't see the 'setting things right' as Mykey does, I don't think that's the primary meaning of the hexagram. A river has been crossed, completion has been achieved. The warning such as it is can be way over egged IMO. It's not saying you have to set things right it's saying all is in place and okay and as it should be. The caution is that of course nothing remains completed/stays the same and so there's always the next leg of the journey, there's always another story to come, so a slight caution not to rest totally on one's laurels and bear in mind nothing is forever.

So, the future (with or without school or anything else) - I worry about the "decline". Maintenance of my spiritual self and keeping fire and water balanced and not boiling over is my goal.

There is no need at all to worry about decline with 63. If you do you miss the point I think. It's not a threat of a downward spiral only the reminder nothing remains completed in a certain state forever. That applies to our sun too and yet we don't worry about the sun falling out of the sky each day. However as I said you aren't 25, there's many rivers you have already crossed. How easy do you think it will be to work as a nurse when there are 25 year olds applying too. They will pick younger people who are fitter and who will be in the job longer.

 

[my_key]

I don't see the 'setting things right' as Mykey does, I don't think that's the primary meaning of the hexagram. A river has been crossed, completion has been achieved.........

.........There is no need at all to worry about decline with 63.

Hi Trojina
I don't think we are a million miles away from each other on the 63 front, so to expand a little on my previous post, as I think I may not have been fully clear around the meaning in what I wrote:

Certainly, Hex 63 carries a theme of already crossing the river. I agree that the portent is one of being well on your way to having completed a project, however the 'best guidance' given in the image is

‘Stream dwells above fire: Already across.
A noble one reflects on distress and prepares to defend against it.’ (Hilary)

Things are mostly in place now: they are certainly more calm and settled than they ever were. However, there still remains a need to focus and to keep on keeping on. It is important to maintain an acute awareness and not to allow changing circumstances or inner or external influences (waxing and waning) to cause you to drift downstream and not reach / achieve your original crossing objectives.

I agree there is no need to worry specifically about anything being majorly in decline, but I think that deep in the bowels of Hex 63 are the nuclear energies of Hex 64 (Not Yet Crossing) which urges you to make that one last push and to ensure that the i's are dotted and the t's crossed such that you are able to 'set things right' and actually complete the crossing that you set out to do.

Hope that clarifies things for everyone.

 

[yinwithjim]

Non Yi related reaction which I hope you don't find rude, but I'm 61 myself and the idea of retraining to do do nursing at this age doesn't seem realistic to me. Is it worth them spending the money on your training when you will be 62 when it's finished and how many more years will they get out of you. Most people do want to retire or do what they enjoy after 65. Also surely they are going to be more interested in training 25 year olds so you'd have stiff competition.

Maybe there's a cultural difference here but to me it seems mad! You'd do a nursing degree so when you are 62 or 63 you'll be looking for a job as a nurse?

Don't get me wrong people should have interesting and fulfilling lives contributing to society as long as they want to, I'm all for that but no one goes into nursing for the first time at 62 years old do they?

If you were doing any kind of degree or Phd well good for you I just don't understand the plan to become a nurse and then get a retirement fund?? Surely there wouldn't be much after working 4 or 5 years..


This is the nursing ? 63uc is IMO quite a settled answer, things in the right place and also things already attained. I guess you could take this as a 'yes' you could also take it that you already have what you need anyway. You could possibly just start working in some capacity at a hospital without doing a 2 year training for a job you'll be doing for a couple of years.

Beware being attracted to training because you feel at home in education and training. That's me not Yi saying that.

I don't see the 'setting things right' as Mykey does, I don't think that's the primary meaning of the hexagram. A river has been crossed, completion has been achieved. The warning such as it is can be way over egged IMO. It's not saying you have to set things right it's saying all is in place and okay and as it should be. The caution is that of course nothing remains completed/stays the same and so there's always the next leg of the journey, there's always another story to come, so a slight caution not to rest totally on one's laurels and bear in mind nothing is forever.

There is no need at all to worry about decline with 63. If you do you miss the point I think. It's not a threat of a downward spiral only the reminder nothing remains completed in a certain state forever. That applies to our sun too and yet we don't worry about the sun falling out of the sky each day. However as I said you aren't 25, there's many rivers you have already crossed. How easy do you think it will be to work as a nurse when there are 25 year olds applying too. They will pick younger people who are fitter and who will be in the job longer.

Thank you @Trojina - you are the voice of practical matters in a strange and changing world. Your words are also in my head - part of me thinking - "what!?! going back to school at your age?!?" and yes the reality that when finished, 1) competition for jobs from younger graduates and maybe more important because there is such a great shortage of nurses so the competition might not be that great, 2) how long do I actually think that I'm going to actually work at my age? I can tell you that unless I have some extreme luck and inherit from a long lost relative or win the powerball, I will not be retiring, nor be able to financially at age 65 or 67 (which I think the age is now).

All of my thoughts and questions to the I Ching over the last year have been primarily concerned with asking what can I do that would help me feel fulfilled? Sounds crazy maybe, and most likely based in existential angst about turning 60 and realizing that I don't have years and years and years anymore to waste (which I have in many ways) and me wanting to finally do something because I am at a place to make a decision that is good for me.

I don't want to be 70 and wish that I had done something that I could have when I was 60.

All of that said, I am very grateful for your words, I thought and said them and I'm sure many who have read my post have thought and said the same..."why the heck would you do that at your age?"

Maybe I'm asking the I Ching things that I shouldn't be asking - and yet - I see and read many posts here and wonder why some of the questions were even in need of an I Ching reading.

I'm a novice and probably will never be an expert.

 

[Liselle]

I see your point that if you'll be working longer anyway, may as well try to get as much out of it as possible. Also can see how the shortage could help, but do the better jobs have a shortage, or only the not-so-good ones? Is there any way to find out?

Have you ever asked a specific question about costs and benefits? A question, or even more than one, that leaves no doubt you'd like to know things like:

• How you'll come out financially if you do this, considering the costs of school?
• Your likelihood of getting the kind of nursing job you want, well-paid and with a pension?
• Your likelihood of being able to do the job for x years after school?
• Etc.

Those aren't meant to be questions! Just ideas about questions. Come up with something that makes sense to you. (Also, I've asked, "What are the chances of..." questions and gotten misled. In hindsight, you have to watch out for answers that mean something like, "Well, there's a chance if x/y/z happens...," but maybe x/y/z won't.)

 

[redoleander]

63 UC seems here to be saying that you’ve thought a lot about this already why not take the next step. Since you’re still seriously considering it, I think this reflects that. You’re interested and excited and so, in a way, you may already be across the decision. Beginnings, good fortune for 63.

You might need to just pursue the process. Apply and so forth. You’ll learn a lot about it all doing that too. And you’ll speak to people who are knowledgeable.

one thing I learned recently is how many different types of nursing there are. There is someone called The Corporate Nurse on Twitter, you may want to look at her account. She always talks about different types of nursing jobs. I say this just to mention that so many nurses are not bedside their whole careers. Some even end up working virtual from home managing patient care. Some work in outpatient settings and so forth. You probably know some of this but you really never know where you’ll end up is my point. Talk to people who are knowledgeable about the field, a variety of them.

It seems like you put so much into making your decisions and then doubt yourself; which I certainly relate to and I’m sure everyone does a bit. But what you’re saying about not wanting tk wonder ten years from now is really resonant. Maybe just take the next step?

 

[yinwithjim]

I see your point that if you'll be working longer anyway, may as well try to get as much out of it as possible. Also can see how the shortage could help, but do the better jobs have a shortage, or only the not-so-good ones? Is there any way to find out?

Have you ever asked a specific question about costs and benefits? A question, or even more than one, that leaves no doubt you'd like to know things like:

• How you'll come out financially if you do this, considering the costs of school?
• Your likelihood of getting the kind of nursing job you want, well-paid and with a pension?
• Your likelihood of being able to do the job for x years after school?
• Etc.

Those aren't meant to be questions! Just ideas about questions. Come up with something that makes sense to you. (Also, I've asked, "What are the chances of..." questions and gotten misled. In hindsight, you have to watch out for answers that mean something like, "Well, there's a chance if x/y/z happens...," but maybe x/y/z won't.)

Thank you @Liselle - and - after reading and thinking about your reply I decided to ask one of your questions that you said, "Those aren't meant to be questions" - I have found that getting to the meat of what I really am chewing on mentally/spiritually is important - so I asked - "how will I come out financially after nursing school" - which is similar to your first example question - I realize even know as I write this post that I might have asked it a little differently - however - my casting resulted in 36.1 changing to 15...hmmm...36 gives me the idea of clouded perception, and the idea of carrying on through tough times (indicative of the struggle of going to school perhaps? - with line 1 changing - I totally don't know how to interpret the whole idea of not eating for 3 days - other writers speak of drooping wings because of injury - am i to hold on through the struggle? The resultant hexagram 15? Well, I see this a continuation of the struggle - remaining modest, working hard, and carrying things through.

So how does any or all of this then help me with the question of finances and going to nursing school?

In my humble and inexperienced opinion it reads as it will be a hard journey and I will have struggles but via temperance and modesty I will have success?

Your further input on this would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Liselle]

Well naturally when I suggest questions, the answer is a line I'm always confused by.

I suppose one possibility could be don't listen to me/us! Fly away, keep moving in your own direction, don't eat what other people feed you.

'Brightness hidden, flying away,
His wings hanging down.
The noble one is on the move,
For three days, eats nothing,
Has a direction to go.
Those in authority have something to say.'

If it's a direct answer... I don't know. It could be describing an outcome, or what it will take / what it will feel like to try to get where you want to be (very singleminded and determined, I guess). Maybe it'll take some time and work to convince "those in authority" to hire a 60+ year old novice RN.

Something else that occurrs to me - I wondered/worried if you'll be able to get a good nursing job or only a not-so-good one. I had in my head that some nursing jobs don't pay much more than minimum wage. But is that wrong? You'll be an RN, which is higher on the totem pole than what I'm probably thinking of. (I don't know much about the nursing profession, as you can probably tell).

Could it be that any RN job would be better than what you'd have otherwise? Even if you don't get the pick of the crop? I think that could fit the reading. 36 is about preserving/safeguarding a light, which implies there's actually a light there that's worth preserving.

15, too - balance, authenticity, something real. Even if you don't get absolutely everything out of it that you can imagine, maybe it'll still be enough. As the Image says:

'In the centre of the earth there is a mountain. Integrity.
A noble one reduces what is too much and increases what is diminished.
Weighing things up to even out their distribution.'

 

[Liselle]

After thinking about this some more (because I'm not very sure about 36.1), I think what I might want to do if it was me is (a) figure 36.1 might mean it won't be terribly easy to find a job, and, also, (b) try to find out what the low end of the range is in your area for an RN, and would that be okay or not if it's what you'd end up with.

 

[yinwithjim]

One last question related to this @Liselle - I've held off for a bit and found some help with question formation...and this morning asked "what if i try the rn program at pct this fall?" - which can either be seen the same as or different than my original question in this thread, "me going to PCT for RN program in August 2022"

Again as someone who lacks a long history and experience working with the I Ching I am unsure what to do with my reading of 14 uc for my question today of "what if I try the rn program at pct this fall?"

I asked this question because despite my age and the hurdles and the obvious difficulties someone my age will most likely face when completing a program - I am looking for "my calling", regardless of cost and difficulties. Asking Yi today was more of "what if I took this path?" or "what if I tried?" type of question.

Legge states "great progress & success" with Wilhelm using "supreme success".

Here is my constant difficulty...hexagram interpretation and making it "fit" my situation - as in this situation - a novice like myself might think "this is great! this is exactly what I'm supposed to do!"

Originally I receive 63 uc to the question "me going to pct for rn program..." and then I continued with, "how will i come out financially..." and received 36.1.


Have I stirred the pot incorrectly here? Was is valid to ask today's question?

 

[my_key]

Here is my constant difficulty...hexagram interpretation and making it "fit" my situation - as in this situation - a novice like myself might think "this is great! this is exactly what I'm supposed to do!"

Hi yinwithjim

There is nothing untoward about asking the question you did today. What can happen is that by asking too many questions you begin to confuse yourself; your mind becomes paralysed by all the analysis as it tries to keep too many balls in the air. Second guessing every second guess.

It can be helpful 'as a novice' to frame your questions so that a spoken answer flows out of the question. In that respect your question today is top of the class:

"what if I try the rn program at pct this fall?" 14 uc

Help yourself by starting to formulate your answer with " If I try the rn program at pct this fall then......."

With unchanging hexagrams I've always focused on the advice given in the Image. So one answer could be

"If I try the rn program at pct this fall then what is going to help me most with that is to stop focussing on the negative thoughts and emotions as they are not in any way supporting positive change or decision making for me".

The Response for 14 alludes to a time of Great Harvest as you make an offering in order to bring things together.

So "If I try the rn program at pct this fall then it will be for me a time of Great Harvest."

A word of caution here. I have found over the years, though, with a reading like this the Great Harvest does not always turn out to be what I expected it to be. The Great Harvest has in the long run been of benefit, although it may not seem so at the time.

These words are only my reporting of my conversation with Yi with respect to your consultation. You will get the best results for you when you use your own words. You have to realise that the insights you get from your own conversation with Yi at any time are really the the best for you.

Yes, you might have missed a bit, or not seen the full depth of it all, but in most cases a good sense of what the reading is about can be gleaned from the Image and the Response of the Primary and Relating Hexagrams. Try not to overthink. Trust what comes from deep within you.

Knowing whether you got the reading interpretation right, in most cases, only comes through eagle-eyed hindsight.

So, maybe you ought to invite yourself to make this reading your own then step forward into it and then see how close your interpretation was.



Good Luck

 

[Liselle]

Well... a very wishy-washy response is if you really don't care about cost and difficulty, then what do you think otherwise? Do you think nursing really is your calling?

(From what else you've said, I'm not sure I believe cost/money is not a factor, but you know better than I do.)

Was that the spirit behind the 14uc reading, whether or not nursing would be fulfilling?

I can imagine various interpretations for 14uc.

• It's unchanging, which I think makes it trickier.
• For instance, it could mean this will be a great treasure for you, you'll like it, plain and simple.
• Unchanging readings also often seem to ask questions or present you with an idea to think about. Maybe "How could you find out if you'll like it?" or "Is money really not an issue?"
• It could mean something like "Great Treasure...but is there a way for you to relate to it?" (There's no relating hexagram.)
• Hilary once had 14uc where after the fact she concluded it had meant "You already possess everything you need." In your case I suppose that could be anything from it's too late in life to make changes like this, to further readings won't help because Yi's already told you what it can in the previous readings.
• I do not know how to sort any of this out. I'm not good with unchanging readings. You might want to look at the unchanging reading collection for both of them, 14 and 63. https://www.onlineclarity.co.uk/fri...s/list-of-unchanging-hexagrams-threads.16301/

Readings aside, I can certainly see not knowing whether you'd like something without trying it, which of course you can't really, which of course is why you're asking Yi...

Is there any way you could arrange to shadow nurses for a little while, maybe in more than one type of setting?

Are there things you could at least think about, to imagine it as best as possible? I feel silly saying this since surely you already know this much or you wouldn't even be considering it.

• How do you generally respond to being around sick people?
• How do you generally feel when in medical settings? (Hospitals, nursing homes, doctors' offices)
• Have you ever taken care of sick/injured beings, family members, even pets? How have you felt while doing that?
• How do you feel about being around people at their worst (which illness might bring out)?
• Imagine having to have "icky" conversations, or having to look at or handle "icky" things on people.
• How do you deal with pressure? Time pressure, pressure to be perfect (there's not much room for error in medicine). Do you think well on your feet when under stress?
• How would you feel about having to cause people pain in order to treat them? Even routine things like drawing blood can cause some people great distress, and can be very painful if they have to dig around for a vein.
• For that matter, are you a "people person"?
• Etc.

I mean, I've never worked in any sort of medical setting, I'm just making things up.

If I have any other ideas I'll come back.

 

[Liselle]

"what if i try the rn program at pct this fall?"

Okay, another thought after the word "try" sunk in better. Maybe trying it will be enough to decide it for you.

Starting doesn't require finishing. Or, maybe you'd really like it and it'd be enough to decide in that direction.

Also, 14's nuclear hexagram is 43, Deciding. Deciding is the core or potential of 14.

 

[yinwithjim]

Okay, another thought after the word "try" sunk in better. Maybe trying it will be enough to decide it for you.

Starting doesn't require finishing. Or, maybe you'd really like it and it'd be enough to decide in that direction.

Also, 14's nuclear hexagram is 43, Deciding. Deciding is the core or potential of 14.

 

[yinwithjim]

What I did not include was an additional question that I found in the same reading about how to form questions for the I Ching.

I got down to brass tacks and asked..."What is my calling?"

I received 12.1.3.5.6 => 55

I wasn't at all sure what any of it meant to be perfectly honest.

Hex 12 - Wilhelm/Baynes talk about STANDSTILL with Blofeld and Liu using STAGNATION.

heaven and earth for me in terms of my calling are not in communication? or a failure to unite?
makes sense

Line 1 - pulling up the grass along with the roots connected?
Line 3 - sharing/concealing shame? shame because the place is not the right one?
Line 5 - standstill/stagnation coming to a close - place is correct?
Line 6 - overthrow and removal of the condition of distress and obstruction?

Hex 55 Abundance (or is it more "expansion of awareness")



If anything this reading is a mirror to my insides (and outsides) I suppose - I'm stuck - and have been for so very long. the changing lines of hex 12 - do they show me that i am in a time of change which then results in Hex 55 Abundance?

I fear @Liselle that after the life I have led many times in search of my calling - that I've missed the boat. I'm too old. The ship of "my calling" has sailed.

Likewise, asking Yi about my calling or my thoughts and questions on what the path to that calling might be NOT what I should be asking.

Does it make sense to you that for me, a calling, no matter what it is, if I would ever find it, would, I feel, take me to ABUNDANCE - in my soul - regardless of type of job or level of job or good/crappy job or high/low salary.

I do appreciate you being a fellow traveler in the quest at least temporarily helping me make more sense of what i'm asking and what i'm receiving in my reading.s

thank you.

 

[Liselle]

Does it make sense to you that for me, a calling, no matter what it is, if I would ever find it, would, I feel, take me to ABUNDANCE - in my soul - regardless of type of job or level of job or good/crappy job or high/low salary.

Yes, that makes perfect sense. But still, you have to watch out for your finances, don't you? Or will you have enough money to live on no matter what?

I've been worried about a worst-case scenario like this: you love the nursing course (or something else, whatever you decide to pursue), you finish it, you're sure you'll be happy with it. But in the meantime, you've not been earning money for however long the course takes, and you also don't have the money you spent to pay for the course, or you have student loans to pay off. And then to your shock and dismay you find out that ends don't meet. You can't let that happen, right?

Up above I speculated that relating hexagram 15 might mean it'll be okay. Maybe not fabulous, but okay. But of course that's an interpretation of a reading, not a fact. That's why I wondered if you could find out what your pay might be, and do a rough budget including any school debt. If there are any free career counselling services in your area, they might be able to help you with pay scales. (Emphasis on might because I'm guessing.) Maybe check at the public library or call the city or county to find out about job counselling services in your area.

You might not have to settle for a low-end job () but I figure it'd be reassuring to know you'll be okay if you do. (Maybe you're already sure, in which case - wonderful, and please ignore me!)


Meanwhile I think the 12 to 55 reading sounds pretty good, although again I'm guessing and could very well be wrong about all of this.

I agree 12, Blocked, sounds like where you are now and have been. It could be moving in the direction of 55. 55 is about a peak moment, when the Zhou defeated the Shang. It's a good thing, but it can also feel overwhelming. It also involved ignoring traditional mourning rites - the king died, and his son had to decide to observe the mourning period, or go defeat the Shang. He knew he had to seize the moment to march on them, so he did, never mind tradition, and was successful. (Maybe the parallel there could be ignoring the traditional "proper age to do things"? Again, that's a guess.)

As an answer to "What is my calling?," it could be saying that is your calling: to do "12-ness moving in the direction of 55-ness," stagnation moving in the direction of a peak moment and mandate. It might describe the quality of it more than a specific profession, unless you know of a profession that sounds like that.

Line 1: ‘Pulling up thatch grass, roots entangled, With more of its kind. Constancy, good fortune. Creating success.’
Line 3: ‘Embracing shame.’
Line 5: ‘Resting when blocked. Great person, good fortune. It is lost, it is lost! Tie it to the bushy mulberry.’
Line 6: ‘Overturning the block. Before, blocked. Afterwards, rejoicing.’

Line 1 sounds to me like what you've been doing - sorting out the tangled mess of what you want to do. PhD program, nursing, or what?
Line 3 might mean your feelings of shame or inadequacy for having gotten to the age of 60 with this tangle still existing. It says embrace it, don't run away from it.
Line 5 - find something that's alive and growing to grab onto.
Line 6 sounds very promising, but note that it changes to hexagram 45, which is a big effort. Overturning something that's blocked isn't easy.

 

[Liselle]

I just Googled "mulberry" and one thing it says is that mulberry trees are fast-growing. So that (and other characteristics of mulberry trees, you might want to read about them) are part of the reading.

That probably points you more in the direction of something you could get into relatively quickly, rather than, for instance, the PhD program (which you seem not to be thinking about anymore anyway).

 

[Trojina]

Are there things you could at least think about, to imagine it as best as possible? I feel silly saying this since surely you already know this much or you wouldn't even be considering it.

• How do you generally respond to being around sick people?
• How do you generally feel when in medical settings? (Hospitals, nursing homes, doctors' offices)
• Have you ever taken care of sick/injured beings, family members, even pets? How have you felt while doing that?
• How do you feel about being around people at their worst (which illness might bring out)?
• Imagine having to have "icky" conversations, or having to look at or handle "icky" things on people.
• How do you deal with pressure? Time pressure, pressure to be perfect (there's not much room for error in medicine). Do you think well on your feet when under stress?
• How would you feel about having to cause people pain in order to treat them? Even routine things like drawing blood can cause some people great distress, and can be very painful if they have to dig around for a vein.
• For that matter, are you a "people person"?
• Etc.

I mean, I've never worked in any sort of medical setting, I'm just making things up.

These are good questions. They are good questions because being a nurse is an intensely visceral experience so the idea of being a hospital nurse and the reality can be quite shockingly far apart. As part of training for another kind of nursing I worked as a hospital nurse very briefly when I was young and looking at that list I would have thought Liselle had too though she says she says she never has. There'd be more to add to the list such as being willing to work in a very strictly hierarchical environment (although perhaps that's not so much the case these days but of necessity it's quite a strict environment you can't mind rules) being on your feet for many hours, dealing with death and hopelessness. My first day was at the bedside of someone vomiting blood and I was horrified being so inexperienced whilst the regular nurses took it in their stride. And then there was being asked to go and wash people and I recall being apprehensive about washing men. You have to think about things like this, you have to think about these questions Liselle has written out.

You could do any number of Yi casts and not engage with the reality of what nursing is like. Pardon me if you have already spent time working in a hospital or medical environment, have nursed the sick, have had conversations with experienced nurses or nurses in the field you want to specialise in. It's just you aren't telling us about your practical experience so I don't know.

Again as someone who lacks a long history and experience working with the I Ching I am unsure what to do with my reading of 14 uc for my question today of "what if I try the rn program at pct this fall?"

Again as someone who lacks a long history and experience working with the I Ching I am unsure what to do with my reading of 14 uc for my question today of "what if I try the rn program at pct this fall?"

I asked this question because despite my age and the hurdles and the obvious difficulties someone my age will most likely face when completing a program - I am looking for "my calling", regardless of cost and difficulties. Asking Yi today was more of "what if I took this path?" or "what if I tried?" type of question.

Legge states "great progress & success" with Wilhelm using "supreme success".

Here is my constant difficulty...hexagram interpretation and making it "fit" my situation - as in this situation - a novice like myself might think "this is great! this is exactly what I'm supposed to do!"

No one ever really needs a 'long history and experience of working with the I Ching' to have a meaningful conversation with the I Ching. But what's going on with you for this question and answer isn't totally about understanding the answer of 14uc. One cannot just cast a really nice looking answer and think 'ah I will do that then' if you haven't thought about all those things Liselle listed above. You haven't said that you have thought about them.

Also this is the same question as for the original one

My question: me going to PCT for RN program in August 2022
Resultant Hexagram: 63 Unchanging

One last question related to this @Liselle - I've held off for a bit and found some help with question formation...and this morning asked "what if i try the rn program at pct this fall?" - which can either be seen the same as or different than my original question in this thread, "me going to PCT for RN program in August 2022"

Again as someone who lacks a long history and experience working with the I Ching I am unsure what to do with my reading of 14 uc for my question today of "what if I try the rn program at pct this fall?"

Aren't these the same question and wouldn't it help you more in making your decision at this point to address the questions to yourself that Liselle posted in post 14 than ask Yi more questions? You had 63uc already for the question, now you have 14, it could mean simply that you would be accepted on to the training?

I got down to brass tacks and asked..."What is my calling?"

I received 12.1.3.5.6 => 55

I wasn't at all sure what any of it meant to be perfectly honest.

Does your calling have to have an official job title to be a bona fide calling? I wonder if you have fallen prey to the idea your life just isn't worth enough without a specific calling, with a job title, to call your own? I see the 12 in this. In 12 one isn't seen for who one is but for one's use and I just wondered if you saw yourself that way, if you were imposing criteria on yourself that are not really your own criteria? I also feel you have gone as far as you can go (55) with this idea you have had about a 'calling'.

It may be time to reexamine where this idea comes from that you have to have a calling especially as you have said

I asked this question because despite my age and the hurdles and the obvious difficulties someone my age will most likely face when completing a program - I am looking for "my calling", regardless of cost and difficulties. Asking Yi today was more of "what if I took this path?" or "what if I tried?" type of question.

So regardless of cost and difficulties you search for a calling that will validate your existence? It's perfectly understandable, everyone needs to feel a sense of purpose but could you find that sense of purpose outside this rather unhumanising demand of 'a calling'? 12 says do not throw your whole self into projects or people that will never recognise you in the fullness of who you are. 12 says your best intentions are no use now, it's time for the small people to prosper. So this isn't about flourishing and coming into the light of who you are it's much more about fitting in if you need to or leaving if you don't. Given the question I'd say the very demand you place on yourself that you have a specific calling is quite unhuman, it boxes you in, like you are trying to fit yourself inside a title. I don't think you can continue down that road, I think it's shifting even now looking at line 6.

For some time there was a plethora of new age books that said everyone had a calling and we all had to find it. There would always be examples which could leave one quite at a loss such as

'Jenny had no direction in life. She had always liked animals. After coaching sessions with me (only £200 an hour) she got a job at a vets . She did well got promoted and now runs her own veterinary practice making lots of money. You too can be like Jenny. Your only problem in not being like Jenny is you haven't found your calling.'

This is a pernicious myth IMO and produces a sense of inadequacy. There are Jennys of course but that isn't how it is for most people. Life is messier than that and purpose and calling are generally far more multi layered than that.


I'm saying it might be worth experimenting with the idea that as unsatisfactory as your life thus far has felt to be I'd warrant a great deal of it consisted of you working through all kinds of messy issues and difficulties and all this did have purpose. I just get the sense you are placing very high demands on yourself and may be slightly enslaved (12) to the idea of a calling where maybe purpose in life is nearer what you would truly like? I don't know of course what your idea of a calling is but the word brings to mind something quite defined and worthy in the eyes of the world.



If you do feel called to be a nurse that's fine but you didn't respond to Liselle's list of points to think about and so I'm left wondering if you had thought them all through. You won't be equipped to make this choice with Yi casts alone.

 

[Trojina]

Jut want to remind you also, you may have forgotten, you asked this exact same question back in November here. You asked the same question there as you did for the 63uc above.

new career possibility 35.1.2.4 changing to 41

I have been struggling with the idea of going back to school - where and what kind of program. Complicating matters is the care of my aging parents and my not so young age. One possibility is stay local and go to nursing school - a profession that suits me as it is caring for others. The...

www.onlineclarity.co.uk

Seems useful to link to the threads on the exact same topic to recall what was said before

 

[my_key]

I got down to brass tacks and asked..."What is my calling?"

I received 12.1.3.5.6 => 55

I wasn't at all sure what any of it meant to be perfectly honest.

12 meaning 'reversing the way' (of this hindrance).
55 meaning 'there are many previous grounds for sorrow'

12 advises that you are closed and cut off: 55 advises you are on the point of receiving a new mandate.
Putting all this together 12 <> 55.... the context holds wider ranging opportunities for a new world view - one where you can recognise your calling, however the way you see and conduct yourself based on all your previous life experiences is holding you up, obstructing , or disconnecting you from seeing what your calling is.

Hex 12 is powered in the depths by Hex 53 'Developing Gradually' from where you are challenged to wait patiently for the masculine to awaken in you while in the meantime remaining strong, upright and steadfast. Through standing fully in your power you will be able to help improve the lesser aspects inhabiting your world of change. Karcher denotes the quality of these lesser aspects as 'mean-spirited and grasping'.

Your comment that "this reading is a mirror to my insides (and outsides) I suppose - I'm stuck - and have been for so very long." really shows great insight into the nature of things because of your obstruction and into the length of time the energies of gradual development; development towards clearly recognising your truth, have been working diligently for you in the background.

Next steps for you to consider for further development is :

12.1 - be strong, truthful and upright
12.3 - embrace all aspects of the discomfort you are experiencing
12.5 - step up into the light
12.6 - recognise this obstruction has run it's course: all that remains is for you to acknowledge this and move beyond it.

Beyond 12.6 ? Well that could be where your real quest starts. How do I bring all this together?

... or it might mean nothing at all like this for you.

Good Luck