Shop Arielle

I became a Godmother and a land steward in the same month. The roles seem related. I feel very seen, very honored to be entrusted with the responsibilities. Especially because I’m not conventional. I often feel like I don’t fit into this world, but it is finally making space for me. Now I can say for sure that the work works. That every trial and tribulation is necessary. That the universe is intelligent - always watching, listening, mirroring. I’ve never felt so hopeful.

My youngest brother is an ag/bio engineer at UF and he recently told me that seeds which are bred for select traits reach a genetic pinnacle that can only be maintained for one life cycle, and every subsequent seed they produce will be less fruitful. At first I was surprised to learn there is a cap on evolution, but then I realized it’s just the same with humanity - we’ve reached the point of diminishing return. For all our obsession with progress, we aren’t getting better. I’m not glorifying the old days, or condemning technology, but there has to be a balance, and that nuance still eludes us. We don’t know when to stop. If we play it out, we can see where this insatiable race takes us - to our own destruction. Well that’s pretty fu***ng stupid. Maybe I’m extreme to pull out and go off grid, grow my own food, live plastic free, build my own world out of natural materials, build a tribe of likeminded folk, but it feels so fu***ng right and every single day I laugh and sweat my ass off, swim in the river, sleep like a rock and wake up smiling with the sunrise, so I’m gonna keep going like this with no plan b. I know some of y’all are with me and I salute you!

(dress sewn by me, dyed with local plants & bugs)

The magnitude and altitude of Machu Picchu is mind blowing. I kinda cried the whole time. Maybe I thought it would be overplayed with 10,000 tourists a day, but now I know, you just have to see it for yourself. Gotta download the code firsthand. Like going to Burning Man, or reading Harry Potter, or living in NYC - there’s a reason why so many people do it. Because it’s worth it!

Land ho! In one month I move into a tipi and kiss this little cabin goodbye, with a ranch hand residency under my belt and a new frontier on the horizon. I'll be building my permanent homestead, ranch & retreat from the ground up, based on natural building, off-grid systems, permaculture, recreation, education, community, collaboration, manual labor & the magic of circularity!