Olga

For many years, I was always rushing somewhere, working towards the next goal and keeping everything under control. Perhaps that was what I needed at that stage of my life. These days, though, I’m learning to enjoy a different pace: making time to simply live, notice the beauty around me, enjoy everyday pleasures and give myself permission to just be. I’m hardworking and willing to put in the effort. I’m also patient and open to compromise. I try to truly listen to the other person and find common ground. I’ve never been good at hiding my feelings and I don’t particularly want to. People often tell me that everything I feel is written all over my face. I’m straightforward and open about what I think and feel.

Lately, I’ve felt a renewed curiosity about life and everything it has to offer. I love exploring new places, admiring beautiful architecture, cycling, practising ballet and yoga, strength training, meditating, drawing, meeting people and learning languages. My mother was a seamstress and she passed her love of sewing on to me. I enjoy making things with my own hands and seeing what I can create. At the moment, I’m making handbags. I first started dancing when I was still living in Kyiv. I wanted to learn to trust a partner, let a man take the lead and enjoy feeling feminine without always having to be the one who figures everything out. These days, I dance salsa and bachata and I’ve even started teaching salsa myself. I also spent six years horse riding and I’d love to take it up again.

Family means a great deal to me and I really miss having mine. I long for those lively family gatherings where everyone is preparing food together, children are running around, someone is laughing and someone else is sharing their news. Everyone talks over one another because it’s been so long, and they’re finally together again. To me, a family begins with two people choosing each other. Falling in love and feeling that initial chemistry are part of it, but what matters most is enjoying each other’s company, staying curious about one another and both wanting to share the journey ahead. It’s a mutual choice: we want to wake up beside each other, be there for one another and build a life together.