Ira grew up in Crimea – the sea, steppe meadows, salty air. She has lived near Kyiv for a long time, and her forest (a few kilometres from home) became her main place of strength when the war began.
A dog appeared in her life with the war. Before that she had never walked so much – now she goes out every day, in rain and snow, in any weather. The dog brought her to this forest. And she stayed.
Every time before entering she pours salt into her palm. Not as a ritual – as a sign of respect. You come as a guest, she says, you need to bring something. Bread, nuts, sincere gratitude. The forest doesn’t let everyone in. But if you come with an open heart – it takes everything you carry.
“YOU COME AND SAY: I CAN’T COPE, I CAN’T CARRY THIS. I SURRENDER. AND YOU HAVE THIS FEELING THAT SOME KIND OF GRACE SIMPLY TAKES FROM YOU WHAT YOU CANNOT BEAR.”
She gets up with the last of her strength, gets in the car and drives. Sometimes she rants along the way – at someone, at something, at everything. That’s part of it too. The main thing is to get there. There is a spot in the forest where she always feels release. She doesn’t even know why that exact place. It just is.
The forest will take you in any state, she says. It doesn’t matter how you look, what you smell like, how old you are. Just come and give.
“It’s even more than a mother or a home. It’s what accepts you completely. No matter what state you’re in.”
Project: Healing Land.Voices Voice: Ira Location: Vyshhorod, Ukraine