Elements

Astrology aside, I think the idea of four elements is interesting: Earth, Fire, Wind, Water. The idea is that each element has its complement (that which "feeds" it) and its opposite and most people, if they thought about it, would be able to find one or two "elements" that they feel more of a pull towards than the others.

I consider myself to be a Water baby. I am soothed by the sound and feel of water. I crave the ocean. I can be content sitting with my feet in the water, listening to the babble of a brook or stream.

My friend Marie says that Sydney is an Earth child. I would have said Water for her, like myself, but Marie's arguments are compelling.

The Earth calls to Sydney, Marie says. Sydney is constantly either falling down or jumping to the ground.

Sydney loves the feel of the Earth. Left alone, she will rub clumps of dirt on her legs like a bar of soap.

Sydney loves the taste of the Earth. She will occasionally eat sand, dirt, and even leaves.

Mostly, though, I know she is an Earth child because of how much she hates its opposite, the Wind. She cannot stand the feeling of her hair being blown in a breeze. She will ask for a hat. She will yell at the trees, who she thinks are the source of the wind as they themselves are moving in the breeze. ("Trees, don't blow me!" she says.) She will ask to be held in the face of a stiff gust.

So yes, she likes the water and loves the sound of it, just like I do... but her favorite water activity is throwing rocks (Earth) in the water to see the splash.

I expect as she gets older that she will develop more of an affinity for all sorts of things. She may learn to love the wind when she flies her first kite, just like I learned to love the sound of a crackling fire in the fireplace, though the fire scared me as a child.

Mostly, though, I love that I was able to see a side of her I had not noticed before. I never would have said Earth... but now that I'm looking, it's so clear to me.

May I always have friends who can help me see my children through different, loving eyes. And may I never pigeon-hole my daughter.

For even as I agree with Marie that Sydney has a lot of "Earth-ness" to her, I still see the Water baby in her, I know the Fire in her eyes when she doesn't get her way, and though the Earth may call to her, she still wants to run like the Wind.