The earth is the source of life. In one of my workshops with a group of rural parents, a mother told me about her college freshman. While at home, he contributed tremendously to working the soil and harvesting the family's crops. When he went to school, his parents insisted he stay at the university on the weekends to be a part of the university life, to make friends and become involved in university organizations. The son, however, insisted on coming home on the weekends, to help out with the farming. The parents continued to push for him staying, insisting that family business was well in hand. His help was appreciated, but not necessary.

Before going out into the fields one early morning, the parents again tried to convince their son to stay at the university. He interrupted their comments with a loud slap on the table while saying, Now MOTHER! I REMEMBER THE LITTLE RED HEN! The mother had to chuckle. That story was his favorite during his early childhood. He felt obligated to give something back to the family he loved and appreciated. He had learned the lesson of the Earth well.

Earth can have its own excesses. Nurturing and giving can overwhelm us at times. We may sacrifice until there is nothing left to give, so much so that our own lives become barren, no longer capable of nurturing. Our love can also overwhelm our children, suffocating them, overwhelming them as though smothered by the earth.

The oppressing tendencies of earth have to be moderated by the liberating force of the Sky. Nurturing held in check with letting go. Each holds the other in balance. Earth's complement, Water, can engender greater nurturance. Acceptance and patience are a part of love and care. But there also needs to be a letting go, a releasing of the other to take his or her own initiative, to pursue his or her own ambition. The act of caring, of possessing has to occur within the framework of freedom or else it becomes oppressive.

How is the experience of earth (metaphorically speaking) important in your life? In your relationships with children?