Gate 16 · Skills

What it is like

You throw yourself into new things with enthusiasm before you know how to do anything, and for you that's the right order. After that usually comes a stretch of dull practice, and without it the spark doesn't turn into skill.

When someone close has it

New things light this person up quickly, and the excitement spreads. Back them up when the slow practice starts too.

A question for today

What do I want to learn today, and how much practice can I put into it?

The six lines of gate 16

1. Line 1 · Loud Zeal

   This line wants to master the basics before it starts boasting of its enthusiasm. You throw yourself into a new thing eagerly, and right after that look for a book, a teacher, solid knowledge on which to build your practice. On an ordinary day it shows in how you ask about the details of technique. Sometimes the joy of early success runs ahead of the skill, and it is easy to announce success to the world before it has really settled.

2. Line 2 · Sober Eye

   Skill comes to you almost casually, and with it a rare sense of when enthusiasm is real and when it is empty. You stand firm as stone and can see by morning that something has no future. Others call on you when they want their enthusiasm tested. When this sharp eye turns on everything, it is easy to put out someone else's zeal before it has a chance to show anything.

3. Line 3 · Looking Upward

   Here skill learns by looking to others. You wait for someone's approval before you start practising, or you delay until someone gives a sign, and every such wait costs something. From these attempts you learn when your own enthusiasm is enough and when support is needed. Sometimes disappointment with other people's judgement pushes you to the other extreme, and it is easy then to cut yourself off from every piece of advice.

4. Line 4 · Gathered Strands

   This line spreads enthusiasm to the people it knows and gathers them around a shared skill. Your eagerness to practise works like a clasp that holds scattered strands together, and friends want to do things with you. You influence those close to you by showing how learning something new brings joy. Sometimes, when the group relies on you, it is hard to admit that your eagerness is dropping, and you keep pulling beyond your strength.

5. Line 5 · Steady Strain

   Here others see you as someone who will keep the level up when everyone's eagerness drops. You bear long strain without losing skill, and that very persistence makes people count on you in hard periods. Your approach is practical and works in many places. When expectations do not ease, it is easy to dampen other people's joy with a cold remark, because there is no strength left for your own enthusiasm.

6. Line 6 · Change of Course

   This line looks at its own enthusiasm from a distance and learns to tell the zeal that leads from the zeal that blinds. Over the years you see more clearly when someone else's vision carries you away, and you can change direction without shame. Others learn from you by watching you leave a dead end and start again. Sometimes delight in something new blocks your view for so long that the change of course comes later than it is worth.

The centre of this gate

• Throat

Channels through gate 16

• 16–48 · Talent