life decisions: to beat or not to beat? 64.2.6 to 16

[blender]

hi, I understand I'm just one of those people who lurk a lot on here but never really contribute to the site - mainly cause I'm an eternal i-ching noob - but it would be nice and I'd be grateful if someone could help me out with this one reading.

my question was: should I really keep trying to find a band locally? or better put it aside and focus on moving out?

the answer: 64.2.6 - 16

a bit of background: I posted a music-related question already a while ago, and the outcome was something like 'if you really wanna do that, just do that'. well. fast forward one year or so, I finally found some people to play with. thing is, in 3 months of activity I still feel like we've accomplished nothing, as they don't seem very driven nor show any signs of willingness to progress (we haven't been able to finish one single song in all this time, not to mention our jams are becoming more and more sparse as time passes by). in a word, I feel like we're going nowhere and they just wanna play to 'kill time'. they even admitted they don't consider themselves 'a band', and more often than not the drummer doesn't even show up. of course I've tried anything to push things forward, with no luck. after more than 2 weeks of inactivity, another band contacts me and asks me to join, but in all honesty that doesn't seem to be an ideal situation either: they're much older than me (and I'm well past my 30s..), with many family/work ties and little time, they stated they play 'as a hobby' and they've been mainly doing covers so far - you know, that kind of 'sunday band'. we're trying to arrange a first jam but they're quite far from where I live and ah jeez I feel like givin up already. I've got absolutely nothing against all that, but it doesn't seem to be the type of situation where one could think about making music a tad more 'seriously', with long-term projects. I've been in bands before, and despite lots of things we managed to pull together entire albums in a couple of months, or at least we jammed once or twice a week regularly. since I've moved back here in my hometown, I've just felt like a huge barrier has been put between me and this whole making-music-affair. I struggle to find the right people, and when I do find someone, they've got this self-defeating/depressing/resigned attitude which has always belonged to this town as I remembered it from when I was a teenager - and it's probably slowly getting at me. I'm just fighting everyday not to let it in, but to be fairly honest I've never liked it here. I 'had' to move back as a consequence of many events - altho I was somewhat tired of the previous place as well, which I tolerated only thanks to the music we were making. but I can't see here the same enthusiasm I shared with other band members. conclusion, I've been seriously thinking about moving abroad lately, for a variety of reasons. and by 'lately' I mean a couple of years, even if that's always been in the back of my mind.

now, I'm not sure if the reading is saying that my 'wheels' are 'dragged back' for a reason, so that if I apply 'constancy' to my search and if I can endure all this, in the end there will be 'good fortune'.. just 'drinking wine', having fun and 'losing grip' on my goals will ease the situation?
to try and get a more specific answer, I also asked:

Q. what if I keep searching locally?
A. 42.6 to 3

(which is quite obviously daunting)

and:

Q. what if I just forget about it and focus on moving?
A. 39.6 to 53

now I'm confused.
'Going on, limping; coming back, mastery. Good fortune. Fruitful to see a great person.'
going on in this helpless research would be hampering me? or what? about the 'great person' it would be fruitful to see.. maybe it's a hint at seeing this new older & hopefully wiser people at least once for measure? I don't personally know anyone who could have been through something similar, I wouldn't even know whom to ask for this kind of advice in general to be honest.. I guess that's why I'm asking here.

 

[radiofreewill]

Hi blender,

“Should I really keep trying to find a band locally? or better put it aside and focus on moving out?”
64.2.6 to 16 ~ Starting over brings relief and Joy ~ it’s the turnaround in the 12-bar blues.

64 is about renewal and starting over. For ‘drag the wheel’ in line 2, I use the image of spinning ~ the thread has broken, and the brake is placed on the wheel, in order to re-thread it ~ a natural time for the weaver to think about the big picture.

Line 6 is a caution against “spinning out” while making the change ~ as in Led Zep’s “Since I’ve Been Loving You” ~ the blues are so heavy that the entire song is a struggle to make the turnaround…which ultimately fails in utter sadness…brilliantly, of course.

So, I see the advice as: Making the decision to move ~ well-planned and executed ~ brings relief and a successful turnaround.

“What if I keep searching locally?”
42.6 to 3 ~ It will take the same amount of energy as starting over.

“What if I just forget about it and focus on moving?”
39.6 to 53 ~ While you are waiting to leave (53) ~ take a Master Class from one of your musical heroes (see the great man in line 6).

I wish you the best, and hope that you’ll keep us updated on your progression?

 

[Liselle]

Probably set your first question aside for now. What you've done here, just with your questions, is first you asked two questions in one - "should I do this, or that?" The problem with two questions in one is it's hard to know which one Yi's answering, or maybe it's not answering either and giving a broader response instead? Point being it's much harder to decipher this way.

Then you wisely asked each question separately. "What if I keep searching locally?" 42.6 > 3. I think the line text is a perfect echo of what you already said.

'Absolutely no increase in this,
Maybe someone strikes this one.
The heart’s foundation is not lasting.
Pitfall.'

There's "no increase" in continuing to search locally. "The heart's foundation is not lasting" - "lasting" means things like persevering, exactly what potential band mates have been unwilling to do. "Maybe someone strikes this one" - possibly means that if you keep searching locally, you'll continue feeling beaten down by it - depressed, defeated, exactly what you said.

Hexagram 3, Sprouting, as the relating hexagram - possibly if you keep searching locally, you'll keep being in "sprouting" mode? Continually trying to get started? What you say you want is to move past sprouting mode.

“What if I just forget about it and focus on moving?” 39.6 to 53

'Going on, limping; coming back, mastery.
Good fortune.
Fruitful to see a great person.'

Hexagram 39 is about how, when you're limping, it's best to make a turnaround (which Radiofreewill mentioned several times, though I'm not sure he was talking about 39 - ?), find a better route, get help.

My guess (only a guess) is that "going on, limping" might describe what would happen if you stick to your current path of trying to make this work where you are. "Coming back" might mean coming back to a place where you have an option? Not sure, but I'm visualizing climbing a mountain on path A. Path A becomes increasingly difficult, if not impossible. You'd like a different route. But to find one, you might have to walk back down path A until it intersects with, say, path B - and then you can try path B.

The "great person" - could be an actual person, could be your own wise self...

Disclaimer: Do not read this as "Liselle on the forum told me to move!" I am NOT saying "Yi's telling you to move." For one, there might be more involved in that decision than just the music prospects, which is all you asked Yi about. And so forth.



What you could maybe do with the first reading - after you think you understand the second two, look again at the first one and see if there's any hints, clues, additional information that might go along with the others. I mean, it's still a comment Yi made on this subject, so it's still worthwhile. I just don't think it should be first on the list, even though you asked it first. (Which is not the usual advice. Usually, I think, most people here would advise giving most importance to the first question. It's just that your first question was problematic.)

 

[blender]

@radiofreewill:

first of all, thank you very much for the reply - quite on point! not to mention the bonus track, that's exactly what me and my worried mind needed..
thinking back about the reading, I can see how the result of my first (messy) question was 16 indeed - enthusiasm, joy. which is after all what I was going after in my desperate research for band mates but couldn't find right here, right now. it's also funny how the i-ching seems to throw some patience/wait card in the answers, as I often tend to ask questions right when I'm exhausted by frustration. being a fire sign, I sometimes don't know what 'patience' or 'waiting' mean - had to learn the hard way. jeez after all it's been 'only' after one year of searching (and a whole previous year of asking myself if it was worth it) that I finally managed to get some results.. the fact I don't particularly like the outcome is more harsh reality I now need to (sensibly) make something with, even if it's just lemonade.
well I'd really much like to keep you updated in another year or so, possibly from a foreign IP this time around..!

many thanks again.

 

[blender]

@Liselle:

I do really appreciate you took the time to read the wall of text. very detailed answer as well, I can't be more grateful for what I've read today on here. I do agree the first question was a bit rushed, but it's been interesting to see how the iching reacted to that with a sound 'hey chillax, calm down'. I'm quite amazed to see how my gut feelings about the readings were overall correct, all forms of divinations are after all just an expressions of our inner thoughts, a sort of 'meditation'. yeah I admit I'm still a bit chaotic at that but I'm getting there, lol. I also indirectly interpreted it as an invite to trust my gut feelings a bit more, as I ended up asking here for confirmation of something I didn't want to 'believe' could be a reasonable answer. your take also seems to go deeper and further into what radiofreewill already mentioned, you basically nicely broke it down for me. and yeah such a decision wouldn't be solely based on music prospects, altho that's probably the catalyst I 'prefer' to use to make a final call. there are many other more practical factors for sure, but there's always that last 'straw that breaks the camel', as they say.

many, many thanks.