FOREST MAGIC

No one knows exactly what will happen to it the following day.

I was living quietly in my wonderful world in Kiev. On the last day before the war, I selected electricity sockets in the style of the 60s to refurbish my apartment. When the first explosions started in the city,  I immediately left the country with Masha. I thought that I had left Ukraine for two weeks, then for a month ... and suddenly I realised that I had been living in Brussels for a year and a half. Having lived in Belgium for over a year, I realised that getting a job as a fashion designer without knowing any of the national languages is like fiction. In Belgium, there are three official languages: French, Dutch and German.



Therefore, I followed an online landscape design course in Kiev and then volunteered to work at the botanical garden of Meise. It is a bold and unexpected experience for me. I had never worked physically before. The heaviest tools in my life were sartorial scissors and a pencil.


 
The Botanical Garden hypnotised me with its beauty and quiet energy. I immediately fell into its warm and friendly embrace.

I have to say honestly, it is not easy for me to work physically. Fatigue accumulates imperceptibly. In the first few months, I couldn get out of bed at all the next day. Still today, I feel tired the day after the day at the Botanical Garden, but not as much as I used to be.



One day I woke up with an itch in my leg. It was a small harmful mite that had got so drunk on my blood that it couldn get back out. I pulled that insect out of my skin, poured vinegar on the wound, and took an antibiotic. Now, I use a repellent against ticks, which has such a strong smell that it would make one faint upon approaching me. It saves me from these tenacious insects.



Creating beautiful fashion collections and working in a botanical garden are two completely different experiences. I suppose I need this experience for something.



The garden has helped me to calm down, and to reboot. Nature inspires me and gives me the strength to move forward.



This magical place is beautiful in any weather type, whether it is pouring rain or scorching sun. It remains magnificent at any time of day. I love wandering around the garden and finding beautiful new spots. It is like I am in one of Charles Perot fairy tales.



Miracles do happen in life, however, for them to happen you need to believe in them.