Starting a new venture is a messy business. No matter how carefully you lay your plans, problems are sure to appear in the most unexpected of places. This is the warning given by Hexagram 3 (屯/zhūn), signifying a difficult birth of a baby from her mother or sprouting of a plant from below the ground.
Water over lake: I’ve been here before with Hexagram 60 (節/jié). Signifying a notch on a bamboo pole for measuring water levels on a stream or river, it calls for regulation, moderation, or limitation of your behavior. In other words, stick to a middle path rather than go to extremes.
Earth over quake: Hexagram 24 (復/fù) marks a turning point. The cold and darkness of winter is nearly over. The solstice is here. You can begin to prepare for the approaching spring. Best not to push too hard, though. Make sure that you get plenty of rest so that you have plenty of strength for the hard labor of planting that lies ahead.
Line 6, the changing line, warns that you’re still not on the right track with your preparations. Take time to reflect once again so that you can get back in sync with the rhythm of the seasons. Any attempt you make to force the pace of things will inevitably fail.
Mountain over quake: Hexagram 27 (頤/yí) looks like the four corners of a mouth with its four broken lines capped by two firm lines at the bottom and top. Make sure that you’re getting the right nourishment of both the physical and spiritual kinds to build up your strength.
Eat healthy foods in moderation. Don’t eat or drink to excess. Clear the crap out of your mind through deep self-reflection, and remain calm in your thoughts, speech, and actions. When the right time comes, you’ll be ready to make your move.
One of the very few downsides of living in Taiwan is the frequency of the earthquakes that hit the island. When one comes, you can do little more than try to stay calm and wait for the tremors to halt while silently hoping that your number hasn’t come up.
Fire over Heaven: Hexagram 14 (大有/dà yǒu) literally means “big have” or in more formal English “great measure”. It marks a time of great power and clarity – not to mention wealth and success.
Hexagram 57 (巽/xùn) represents a gentle wind that patiently disperses the storm clouds on the horizon and leaves the sky clear and calm. If you adopt a similar low-key approach to achieving your goals, you’ll accomplish much more effective long-term results than with dramatic gestures or aggressive moves.
Joy: This was the prognosis of my I Ching reading this morning in the form of Hexagram 58 (兌/duì). This is comprised of two lake trigrams, the idea being that when they come together there is much less chance of the water in them drying out and the future of the land and community that depend on them is assured.
Earth over Fire; Sun swallowed by Earth; perhaps even a solar eclipse. Darkness descends with the arrival of hexagram 36 (明夷/míng yí), snuffing out the light.
It’s great to be back in Taipei enjoying the glorious sunny weather. I just wish that my resistance to jet lag would increase with the more miles I fly. Unfortunately, the reverse seems to be the case.
Continue reading Trip notes: which country is forging ahead in AI and IoT?
When you identify a promising opportunity, it can be very tempting to rush in to make sure that you’re first to market. But if you move too fast, the chances are that you’ll lose out on it. The history of the tech industry is full of examples of companies that were so far ahead their time that the infrastructure and market weren’t ready for their offering. Facebook wasn’t the first social media platform; no matter whether it was out of dumb luck or great strategy, the company initiated the rollout of its service at exactly the right moment.