Olya plays the bandura and stayed in Kyiv from the beginning of the war. Before that, nature existed somewhere on the periphery of her life – beautiful, but not close, not felt as her own.
Her bandura is made from willow. The instrument senses everything – it sounds different depending on what is happening inside her. If she is disconnected from her feelings, it simply won’t sound right until contact with herself is restored. When she plays, her fingers carry her inner state – and people hear what she feels. Nature works the same way.
The war expanded her emotional range. New layers appeared – not just pain or joy, but something finer between them. One of them was quiet joy. Not a surge, not euphoria. A warm, steady feeling that doesn’t leave emptiness behind.
“NATURE IS HONEST. IT IS LIKE NO OTHER. WITH DAMAGED LEAVES OR YELLOW ONES – IT IS ALREADY PERFECT. AND A PERSON MUST GO TO NATURE TO LEARN THIS TRUTH.”
Now Olya runs in the forest every evening – without headphones, to hear herself in the space. Sometimes she takes off her shoes and stands barefoot on the earth. She asks it to take everything unnecessary. And the earth takes it – her feet grow warm, her body softens, and what felt unbearable releases.
Nature gave her what she was looking for inside – honesty. To be herself, even with damaged leaves.
“A person must go to nature and learn from its truth. Because the interaction with nature is honest – and the person becomes the same.”
Project: Healing Land.Voices Voice: Olya Location: Kyiv, Ukraine
