I am a Ukrainian woman, writer, and survivor of war.

My family and I lived through the war in Ukraine—through the heartbreak of leaving our homeland, the uncertainty of life in Europe, and the long journey that eventually brought us to America.

This story is not only about the full-scale invasion that shattered our lives in 2022; it also reaches back to 2014, when conflict first crept into our world, quietly but irrevocably altering the course of everything we knew.

What followed was a journey through fear, loss, displacement, and resilience—an odyssey I never imagined surviving, let alone having the strength to write about.

My memoir, Life Beyond Fear, was born out of a need to tell the truth. Not just the geopolitical truth, but the human truth—the small, fragile moments of love, survival, and pain that define war from the inside. I wrote it to preserve memory. To honor the voices of women, children, and ordinary families whose lives were shattered in silence. And to say: we were here. We mattered. We remember.

Before the war, I was a mother, a dreamer, and a psychologist. After the war began, I became a refugee, a fighter, and a storyteller. Writing became my lifeline. It gave shape to grief and a name to things that felt unspeakable. I wrote during sleepless nights, after long days at work, in a foreign country I would slowly learn to call home.

Today, I live in safety, but I carry Ukraine in everything I do.

I continue to write about the emotional weight of war, the invisible wounds of immigration, and the inner battles we all face when the world breaks apart. I believe in stories that bridge silence. I believe in truth without filters. And I believe that even after the deepest fear, we can rebuild something beautiful—starting with words.

Life Beyond Fear is my first published book.

It will be released worldwide on March 1, 2026 and is already available for pre-order in 20+ countries.

Thank you for being here.

Thank you for listening.

And if you’ve lived through fear—you’re not alone anymore.

With heart,

Natalie Oceanheart