It hit me this morning, after a sweaty capoeira session, as I walked back with the rhythm of my steps syncing to the beat of my thoughts—there’s something about smallness, about constraint, that keeps showing up in my life. The white markings on the floor during training, delineating a tight space as Mestre Bico Duro instructed us to adapt and move with versatility even when cornered, felt like a metaphor. And then, as if on cue, the oracle casting for the day echoed it: Preponderance of the Small and The Wanderer. Success through smallness. Perseverance in tight spaces. I couldn’t help but smirk at the alignment.
I’ve been mulling over this while sipping my cup of cacao, letting the warmth ground me. The capoeira circle, with its rhythmic dance of attack and evasion, feels like an extension of my daily sitting and walking meditation. It’s about tuning in—body, environment, interactions—while staying present, balanced. I think of it as being a blade of grass: firmly rooted yet swaying with the wind, no resistance. And isn’t that what the oracle is pointing to? Small, deliberate moves in constrained spaces, leading to something greater.
Then there’s the synchronicity of the day. The first person to greet me with Lunar New Year wishes this morning was a monk clearing out trash. Just a small, fleeting moment, but it landed heavy as I reflected on my practice and this reading. Small encounters, big resonance.
Miracles in the Small: A Family Thread
This idea of smallness weaving into something profound keeps surfacing in my family’s stories too. Recently, visiting my late aunt’s place, my uncle shared something I hadn’t heard before. When my mom was pregnant with me, she was terrified—she kept having her menstruation throughout the pregnancy. Doctors were convinced my brother would be her last child. She visited temple after temple, seeking reassurance, until a medium told her I’d be safe, watched over by Kanzeon. Defying all odds, I arrived—a small miracle.I see the same thread with my daughter’s birth. My ex-partner had a cyst in her womb, complicating the pregnancy. Her mother, who only ever bore her, feared she’d never have a child. But after a successful surgery to remove the cyst, my daughter came into this world—another small, improbable miracle. These stories, separated by generations, feel like quiet reminders: the smallest openings can lead to the biggest outcomes.
Wandering with Purpose: A Decade of Movement
My uncle also pointed out another thread of synchronicity—how I stumbled upon the Heart Sutra in 2008, at the end of an unexpected journey along the Silk Road from Singapore to London. What started as a casual trip with a friend to China turned into a restless spiritual quest. In Cappadocia, Turkey, a Sufi mystic gifted me the sutra, a moment so small yet so pivotal. Years later, I began reciting it daily, and then transitioned to offering cacao—medicine of the heart—as part of my practice. My cousin jokingly said I’ve pivoted from e-commerce to overlanding, visiting apothecaries, and offering cacao in spaces often marked by a Buddha statue. Small acts, small spaces, weaving into a larger journey.And the small keeps carrying me forward. Last year, when I mentally checked out of the Agroverse Cacao project after disruptions from tariffs, an invitation to Vivi’s farm, Jesus Do Deus, came out of nowhere—just when I needed it. This year, as I gear up to expand the cacao distribution network and worry about gasoline costs, a $10,000 SGD injection lands. It’s not a huge sum in the grand scheme, but it’s exactly what’s needed for this phase, getting cacao from Brazil to San Francisco. My cousin calls this a pilgrimage. My uncle calls it fate. I’m not sure what to call it, but I feel it—small, unexpected occurrences breaking through every impasse.
The Ten-Year Cycle: Transformation in Motion
I’ve been reflecting on my Bazi chart lately, noticing this ten-year cycle from 2019 to 2029. With the Owl Seal in the sky, Yang Water, and Direct Seal on Earth with the Rat, it’s marked a strange, restless transition. I’ve been moving nonstop, place to place, propelled by unexpected interventions. It’s as if I’ve been forced to confront the dark night of the soul—something I’d held off for years. Seven years in, though, I’m starting to feel a shift. The movement, once erratic, is becoming more calibrated, centering around projects like Agroverse Cacao that align with my inclination to roam and my core values of living in harmony with nature.Key observation: Smallness isn’t weakness. It’s precision. It’s adaptability. The oracle’s message of Preponderance of the Small and The Wanderer feels like a nudge to keep going, to trust the tight spaces and the winding paths. Whether it’s a capoeira circle, a family miracle, or a timely financial boost, the small steps are what build the journey.
So, what about you—where in your life are you finding strength in the small? Are you wandering, or are you rooted, swaying like that blade of grass? I’d love to hear how the small is showing up for you.
- Spirituality
- Personal Growth
- Travel