Figure Skater, Artist, Dancer and Lawyer

July 20, 2023

     Surely, she couldn’t have just shown up by coincidence. It was the algorithm. It had to be. I read her bio. I felt immediate empathy for her and the victims. But mostly her, because there was a face I could attach the feeling to. I was looking at it and she was smiling. I knew why she was smiling; she was no longer doing what she was trained to do. She needed happiness and doing this brought it to her. She confirmed it to me later on.

     The YouTube ‘video’ below is the smile I seen looking back at me as I read her bio in awe. 

Her BIO reads as such:

     I clicked the follow button on Instagram and wrote her. That was last Wednesday and typed “I give you a lot of credit! Kudos to your achievements. War crimes have been sickening against the Ukrainian people and your strength as a people is refreshing.” 

     However, I was mistaken. I had assumed (you know what happens when you do that) she was a former prosecutor in the battles that are ongoing between her native Ukraine and Russia. I was wrong.

     She replied, “Thank you for your support ❤️ I did war crimes in Bosnia, and it was very hard for me, that’s when I started painting to manage with stress, but all the difficult experiences made me treasure every little thing in life that brings a smile no matter how insignificant that thing is for others.  Those little things are the most important.”  

     ‘The Little Things’ rang a bell. One of my latest blogs and an Instagram Story prequel. It hit home, as I had that piece already in the works. Fate had brought us together. Not any algorithm nor coincidence. I was to tell her story. And this is it. She agreed.

– Rick

MEET: Natalia Kessler

     Born and raised in Kyiv, Ukraine, Natalia moved to the states in 2016 with husband, Steven, also an attorney. They were married in 2007, per a New York Times article and had met in Sarajevo. 

     I had drawn up a handful of questions readers are generally interested in and sent them off to her. And much to my surprise, she responded with her answers via audio. Now putting a voice to her article, a bit more interesting. 

     Her voice is soft in nature. Not direct as coming from a lawyer but open like a friend. It has a calmness to it. Maybe more somber best describes it with no tone of urgency. Peaceful. Content. At ease with herself.

     As a child Natalia, she says, she always “liked to do creative arts and dance as a kid and went to music school. I was drawing, and those things were easy for me. I never skated as a child. But always watched figure skating and really, really enjoyed it.”

     Above is Natalia’s ‘Free Style’ skate in a competition where she finished in ‘First Place’ at an ‘Ice Factory of Central Florida’ event. Truly amazing considering she hadn’t started skating seriously until she was forty-three years old and hadn’t worked with a coach until 2019. Just three years prior, at forty, had she even begun to skate a couple times a month.

Below, Natalia is skating at Chelsea Piers Sky Rink in New York City where she, again, finished first in her event. 

From the Ice to the Canvas: Natalia’s Artwork

While she was working in Bosnia, Natalia candidly opens up; “it was hard for me to deal with all that information from witnesses and victims. Someone advised I go and take some painting lessons with an art professor there. Which I did and that brought me back to art, I’ve been painting maybe ten years for multiple hours a day. That’s how that happened and probably took me away from law, as I realized how much I like art. And maybe law isn’t something I want to do in the long term.”

     I hadn’t seen any of Natalia’s artwork prior to starting this piece. She had friended me on her Facebook ‘Art of Natalia’ page as well as her personal page, but I had taken just a quick glimpse of it until this morning. Then I became mesmerized. Every painting in such detail. 

     Especially the one of her niece, Tatyana, below. So lifelike, precise and picturesque. 

     The coloring alone is incredible, and the details so eloquently shown. I’m definitely no artist or critic but this, in my opinion, is superbly done.

     From the Canvas to the Dance Floor: Natalia’s Moves

     When asked about her workout routine, Natalia offered this, “I skate a lot and I train three or four hours a day. I stretch every evening from an hour to hour and a half depending on how tired I am. I do condition once a week and I started doing ‘ballroom dancing’ that’s a lot of physical activities. 

I asked her what her favorite activity is, and she replied, “I don’t think I’ve been that passionate about anything else as skating. Dance is something new. I was doing dance as a kid on and off. Folk dance. And when I worked in some other places, they had some Salsa lessons. I’ve always enjoyed it and felt good to dance. I didn’t realize in a way dance is easy for me, that I could just follow the lead. Right now, it seems much less effort than I do for skating.

“Which in a way interesting because I didn’t expect it to be so easy,” Natalia continued, while adding. “Slightly disappointing because I’m thinking I wish skating was like that. Skating requires a lot of work.”

Diet, Cats and Homelife

     “I try to eat healthy. I try to eat fish and chicken when it comes to meat. Salads and fruits. Lots of bananas. One coffee a day with lots of milk in the morning. I don’t eat much sweet stuff. I think all the activities I do distracts me from the urge to get something I shouldn’t be getting. If I want something like that, I’d rather have fruit, banana or a bunch of nuts.

     In her spare time, Natalia is a cat mom of five and says. “I like to spend time with my cats. 

     “They miss me a lot when I’m not home,” she adds. “I guess this is my time, besides my activities. The best times spent with my cats.” 

     On her favorite vacation spot, Natalia said, “I like a lot of places. Think it depends on who you are with. You can have the perfect vacation on your couch if you have a person next to you that you like. You know share with someone and have a good time. Talk and enjoy it.”

     “My husband is great,” she replied to my final question, when asked how her husband keeps up with her. “He’s keeping up just fine. He has a very interesting personality. He’s very supportive of all my activities which I really appreciate. He understands me sometimes I think more than I understand myself. Sometimes he knows what I want before I know myself. I am happy to have such a man in my life.”

Just the Beginning of the Story 

     Many of you know I sometimes end with Paul Harvey’s famous ending, that’s ‘The Rest of the Story.’ Today in honor of not only him but Natalia as well, I’m signing off with ‘That’s just the Beginning of the Story,’ as I believe Natalia is destined to concur more activities and adventures in the future! Afterall, look how far she’s come in such a short time.

     Added with Natalia’s permission, I offer smiles back, that her video had given me, by giving her a ‘Happy Barbie the Movie Day’ treat. 

     THE LITTLE THINGS

EPILOGUE:

I’d like to thank both Natalia and Steven for allowing me to write this article. It’s been truly an honor doing so for such an accomplished person. I opened with ‘The Little Things’ reference because life does offer up obstacles during our journey, and we tend to forget about the good that is still out there until it’s too late. This is my means of trying to never forget again and make someone smile. Thank You!

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