Wisdom from the Wanderer

Trust Before Influence

The Wanderer: Entering with Humility

The deeper feeling running through this whole hexagram is really about how we enter life itself. The Wanderer carries this energy of curiosity, humility, observation, and presence. Not rushing in assuming we already understand everything, but allowing ourselves to learn the rhythms of a place, a person, a relationship, a community before trying to shape it. There’s wisdom in slowing down enough to listen first.

Participation Instead of Domination

I’ve seen this so clearly living in Peru. The people who arrive trying to immediately fix, improve, or impose their worldview onto everything around them often create friction, even when their intentions are good. Meanwhile, the people who arrive open-hearted, observant, and genuinely grateful tend to receive so much more. They build relationships first. They take time to understand the history, the culture, the pacing, the deeper reasons things are done the way they are done. They participate instead of dominate.

That same lesson showed up years ago when I worked at a restaurant as a teenager. A new manager came in from outside the company with genuinely strong ideas, but she entered trying to prove herself before building trust. She didn’t ask enough questions or take time to understand the team dynamic before pushing changes. People resisted her, not necessarily because the ideas were bad, but because the foundation underneath them hadn’t been built yet.

Later she came to me crying, asking why no one liked her or listened to her ideas. And honestly, I think that happens to so many people. We mistake force for confidence, when often true confidence is quiet enough to observe first.

Trust Before Influence

That’s what this hexagram keeps returning to: trust before influence. Relationship before instruction. Listening before explaining. The most secure people don’t need to immediately establish dominance in every room they enter. They can sit back, learn, notice patterns, and stay open-minded long enough to understand the landscape around them. There’s always something to learn from other people, even when we disagree with them.

And this doesn’t just apply to travel or work environments. It’s about how we move through conflict, relationships, new beginnings, abundance, and life itself. We can get defensive and slip into survival mode very quickly, especially when disappointed or misunderstood. But this sign asks us to stay open-hearted instead of immediately armoring up.

To say, “I hear where you’re coming from,” before trying to prove our point. To remain curious enough to recognize that people usually have reasons for why they think the way they do.

Moving Through Life Like a Traveler

There’s also a beautiful reminder in this hexagram: here that conflict becomes a prison when we drag it out too long. Clean up misunderstandings. Be honest with your agreements. Don’t let resentment calcify. Staying rooted in humility, generosity, modesty, and right conduct keeps us connected to that deeper current moving through everything.

And maybe that’s the real abundance being spoken about here. Not just material success or opportunity, but the ability to move through life with openness instead of domination. To inspire instead of overpower. To collaborate instead of control. To carry yourself like a traveler in a sacred place—aware, curious, respectful, present, and grateful to be learning at all.

A photo of life as the wanderer from 2013

We are entering a new reality and it was important I share this hexagram that helps establish this foundational idea when starting something new.

✨ Become an ongoing supporter on Substack

✨ Send a one-time gift via PayPal (most helpful, low fee option) ✨

✨ Buy Me a Coffee

✨ Recommend my page (this one is free and so powerful and helpful!)

✨ Restack with your favorite part.