Suvi Savolainen used to study art history in the University of Helsinki. After pursuing a successful artist’s career and enjoying a wealthy lifestyle in the United States with her former husband, she discovered a connection with the voice of her soul and changed direction. Nowadays an entrepreneur and a spiritual mentor among other things, she leads an intuitive way of life with her family in a spiritual center called Soul School in the beautiful island of Gotland in Sweden.
So Suvi, tell us something about yourself.
My name is Suvi Savolainen. I’m an artist, an art historian and an entrepreneur. We live on the island of Gotland in the middle of the Baltic sea. We have two daughters, a dog, two cats and multiple chickens and ducks.
Photo © Johanna Kumpulainen
You have many occupations, how would you best define yourself?
I believe the word ‘entrepreneur’ defines me the most. I love the fact that I can renew myself frequently. This year I can be an artist and a business consultant the next; I have several different hats I can wear.
Photo © Suvi Savolainen
What is your connection with the University of Helsinki?
I studied art history, aesthetics and museum studies during the years 1997-2000. I was in a hurry to graduate since I was offered a permanent job during my last year, but I managed to finish my MA.
You are also an intuitive energy healer. Can you tell us more about that?
My whole life is intuitive. Healing is just one part of it, but a very important one. After my museum career I was pursuing an artist’s path and practising my intuitive skills for some years. The intuitive path eventually led me to learn the art of healing and channeling, which I call ‘conversation with the soul’. It changed everything and made it easier to get over the fears towards being an entrepreneur.
Photo © Noora Putkonen
You live in Gotland. How did you end up there?
I met my now husband, Ville, in 2008. We got married quite quickly since it felt really right. We were on a vacation and driving around Öland and Gotland and sleeping in our car. Not just because we didn’t have that much money, but mainly because it was giving us the chance to drive around as we felt like. We stumbled upon an old school building in Rute village and saw the possibilities – one could do so many things with it! Since I was working on my own and my husband had already quit his job, it was a fast decision we made to move here in 2010. I could pursue my mentoring and consulting career via the internet and visit Finland about once a month.
Would you tell us something about Soul School?
The house we found in Rute is huge for just a family, so it most definitely needed bigger usage and plans. I had already started my mentoring & teaching path in Finland, so it was upgraded with the move here. Soul School became much more than what my company used to be in Finland – it offers accomodation, courses, as well as my husband’s music business. My family lives upstairs and the first floor is at Soul School’s use. The old class rooms offer great possibility for groups – meditations, dance, workshops, yoga. Plus, I dedicated one of the large class rooms to arts! So the old school building got a new purpose as Soul School.
Photo © Noora Putkonen
What is the best part about your way of life? Would you like to change something?
I love the freedom. I am free to be whatever I want to be, live where I want to and choose to experience life as an ever growing and evolving piece of art. If I want to change something, I most probably am already planning it! I call them dreams and I am going after them on a regular basis.
What is important for you in life? What do you enjoy?
That is a relevant question I am pondering now, because it keeps changing all the time. The things I wanted 5 years ago are very different to what I feel now. Variation is a very important thing, but one has to be more specific to get what you want. When I wanted to experience the active city life, I was living on a high-rise in Chicago downtown. Now I want peace and quiet around me, nature and purity. I want to breathe clean air, drink water from my own well and eat biodynamic vegetables. I turned to the small and simple things in life. I also enjoy developing our estate, right now we are planning to put two cabins on the east end of our property, which could generate passive income during the tourist seasons. I am also dreaming about generating our own electricity with a modern wind mill. It would be great to be as independent and self-sufficient as possible.
I love everything about Gotland! The people are hospitable, it is very unique and offers the possibility to see new things all the time, no matter how long one has lived here. There are historical Viking era monuments and sites, and fossil stone beaches. You can just sit there and go through the stones that used to be a coral reef millions of years ago, and listen to the ocean for hours! I love the bakeries, cafés and road side signs that sell local produce – honey, potatoes, asparagus, truffles, lamb meat and skins, bread – and multiple flee markets! I really can not think of anything I don’t like. I love it here!
Any last words for our readers?
I would just maybe remind people that going after your dreams doesn’t have to be a cliché. It is a choice – and a great one, I might add. You can never down-grade again once you’ve gone down that rabbit hole. And of course I want to welcome everyone to Gotland, since it is just wonderful here.
Check out Soul School’s website www.soulschoolgotland.info so you’ll find your way!