Today we’d like to introduce you to Arielle Crook.
Hi Arielle, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
Thank you, Voyage ATL, for the invitation to share a piece of my journey with your readers. Growing up in Marietta, a seed was sown in my heart to “make a difference” in a way that cares for the health and lives of the people in my community through medicine. In 2018, I enrolled at Xavier University of Louisiana (XULA) as a biology/pre-medical student where I was reminded of our collective duty to serve humanity as global citizens. In other words, we are one and we are here to serve one another in love. While studying at Xavier, I was immersed in studying medical systems, languages, and cultures in Cuba, Ayiti, and Costa Rica. <font face=”Times New Roman, sans-serif”>Along the way, learning languages felt like an invitation for connection rather than a barrier– I also realized the universal threads of our African derived dances, songs, and rituals of celebration within the African Diaspora. Traveling and studying abroad</font> transformed my eye for medicine — medicine no longer was just about prescriptions or prevention methods, but rather an opportunity to create meaningful, healing relationships, especially with Mother Earth and with one another. Medicine also gained a new social and political meaning to me — one that I believe is a right to all, for all. Soon I began journeying as a student researcher of ethnobotany (which is the study of the relationship between people and plants) at Tulane University. This time was also the beginning of my herbalism studies, healing with the support of medicinal plants, and creating artwork inspired by these findings and experiences through my business, Light and Ariee. At the beginning of 2020, I began to truly redefine my lifestyle to reflect the changes I knew were inside and to actualize the ones I wanted to see. Starting by mindfully taking in more fruits, drinking herbal teas, exercising, and taking herbal supplements, I noticed an immediate shift in my physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual being. Everything felt natural, new, and true! Today, I continue to live and cultivate a wholistic lifestyle, study herbalism, and travel the globe. In the spirit of global citizenship and healing, I am inspired to share this knowledge on this journey to make a difference in the minds, hearts, and lives of my global community, family members, and loved ones. You are invited to check out the nourishing recipes, travel stories, and visual art housed on my blog on lightandariee.com.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
When I decided that I no longer desired to follow the traditional Western medical model, I felt uncertain about next steps, yet very trusting that everything would unfold beautifully. Gratefully and thankfully each step has been guided and provided while being on a path of healing in a unique, natural way. One of the blog posts on my site titled “Nourishing the Creative Spirit Within” shares a testimony about healing from the inside out, focusing on the importance of nourishing the body on a cellular level. Here I describe the challenges of achieving a balance in my own health, then realizing that the remedy is in honoring our food as medicine. Part of achieving this balance is learning and sharing that true nourishment also means rethinking our relationship with “food.” That we are here to eat to live instead of living to eat. Much of what we consume satisfies appetite but not our cells, leading to imbalance and dis-ease. By consciously choosing herbs, fruits, greens, and pure water, we liberate our bodies at the cellular level. Living in Metro Atlanta there is access to fresh, locally grown produce, which also supports a healthy local economy. I know–making this sort of lifestyle commitment can be challenging. With the right support and the mindset to grow with it, anything is possible! What grounds me the most is when I remember that our bodies are more than 80% water, and water carries memory. We also have the ability and capability to change how we relate to food and to our thoughts. One mindfulness practice that is transforming my healing journey is speaking, even singing into my drinking water with words of love, truth, and affirmation! I believe that the tongue has the power to shape our reality. Transformation and healing also starts with what we feed ourselves: our words, our thoughts, and our food. So, I encourage you: speak life into your imagination. Speak light into your dreams. Speak only of what you desire because our words will ripple into the lives of generations to come.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
For work, I am currently immersed in the aviation industry where I share my passion for connecting with the hearts and minds of people. Since joining the organization almost 4 years ago during a pivotal moment in our world history, I’m learning and applying what it means to be not only resilient, but relentless in being of service and care. Every day is a lesson of humility, impeccable listening, and practicing presence. Being present is being open to the possibilities of change, being the embodiment of grace, and being a sound voice during moments of turbulence. Working in a fast-paced corporate environment requires the cultivation of discipline and devotion to the lifestyle that I am co-creating with God. One that prioritizes rest, recreation, and restoration. The effort is definitely worth it, not just because “health and well-being” are corporate hot topics, but because the quality of our lives depends on it. Our future generations are depending on us.
In my family and community, I am known as the dancer, tree hugger, and the “healthy one.” I am also known as the medicine woman one who creates healing oils, tea preparations, and recipes made with live ingredients. One of the ways that I document this journey with the healing arts is through Light and Ariee– a platform purposed to uplift, inform, and inspire readers to live wholistically and mindfully through travel blogging and recipe sharing. In recent travels, I am blessed to connect with the Rastafarian community and the “Ital” philosophy, one that prioritizes natural living, self-determination, and spiritual consciousness. As the expression goes “Ital is Vital”, meaning that food in its purest state connects us to our bodies and spiritual selves, serving as life force, or “Livity.”
I returned from this trip inspired to share a recipe with you that warmed my spirits, titled “High Vibrational Squash Recipe + Travel Sharing”, which speaks to being and living in oneness.
You may call me an Earth Steward, a visionary with patience of gold and a heart for humanity. The path is clear for reclaiming our minds and bodies through how we care for ourselves and one another. While on this journey, I hold a dream of establishing an educational space devoted to plant study, research, and the healing arts for our future generations. I believe that we will continue to access new insights and wisdom so that more of us activate our gifts to share with the world.
We’d love to hear about any fond memories you have from when you were growing up?
My favorite childhood memory is really a collection of memories of summers with my family in Sparta, Georgia. I recall how my grandfather, Obliee Rhodes Jr., managed to install a tire swing to the tallest tree in the yard with a backhoe. What a gift! We would spin and swing on this tire endlessly like little pendulums, endlessly tracing time with our squeals of delight. I vividly remember the beautiful garden of fruit and vegetables that he tended to. The juicy, warm, and delicious red tomatoes fresh off the vines, sprinkled with pepper. It was deliciously paired with whole okra. (Yes, boiled okra that is.) The round, ripe watermelons my grandmother, Margaret Rhodes, cut into beautiful triangle slices, or sometimes sliced in half and enjoyed with a spoon or fork (my favorite), filling our bellies to the brim. It was those times while sitting on the couch snapping peas with her while watching “The Bold and the Beautiful” or “The Young and the Restless.” I remember sitting on the top of the couch combing and styling her hair into braids.
One of my favorite rituals was also riding on the back of my grandfather’s tractor throughout the pasture–I can smell the diesel fuel as I type. He would even hand over the wheel and let me and my brother drive. We would test our driving skills even further in the family-famous pickup truck called “Lean Mean” as we drove in the pastures and sometimes on the roads. Summertime was for playing tag with the water hose and watching out for rare-looking bugs. It was learning ancient hand games and songs with my cousins in my Great Aunt Mary’s yard. It was learning how to righteously lose to my grandmother in games of Scrabble and how to write in Roman numerals. It was reaching into the freezer at Great Aunt Nuna’s house and knowing our favorite treats were inside waiting for us. It was playing with the rushing water from the water hose in the front yard and dodging mosquitos. It was arriving at the door and being greeted with pure L-O-V-E showing up as toothy grins, good smelling cologne and long, strong hugs. It was sitting on my grandfather’s lap, shrieking for joy as he “counted our ribs.” These summers were so innocent, so priceless, and pure.
Thank you for asking this question. I feel a rise of Love from my Ancestors and the smile of my inner-child as I write this. I feel rooted, proud and so grateful to carry out a beautiful lineage of love, connection and care. It is my heart’s desire to carry out the purpose of this life with the strength, humour, style, wisdom, courage and love as the ones who came before me. And so it is.
Contact Info:
- Website: lightandariee.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lightandariee/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lightandariee
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@lightandariee
Image Credits
Photos by Nisha Williams of FromNisha’sView (https://www.fromnishasview.com)
