Pär Säthil is the founder of The Brave Creative, a course using the latest techniques from psychotherapy, psychological research, and meditation to uncover the innate creativity that exists within all of us. As a former musician and a creative himself, Säthil knows the ins and outs of the creative process and all it might entail, ranging from anxious thoughts and procrastination to motivation and creative productivity.
“The Brave Creative can be seen as a formalization of methods that have helped me in my own creative journey,” Säthil says. “I started playing music as a young child and went on to play on and off professionally in my 20s. When I was younger, I did a lot of sports as well. In the world of sports, there’s a big focus on mental training that weaves into your performance. In the world of music, I didn’t really experience that at all,” he continues. “Instead, there’s this overwhelming focus on skill and artistic expression. You’re supposed to have a cool and insusceptible attitude, but during the first few years of being a musician, I had a lot of stage fright – and I didn’t know where I could find support to conquer it either. That’s when I decided to turn to psychology; and as soon as I started studying psychology, everything fell into place.”
Säthil explains that as creatives, we often find excuses to delay our creative action. In the world of psychology, there are several methods to help cope with behaviors that creatives might experience – procrastination, anxiety, stage fright, etc – under the umbrella of therapy. As creatives, we call it “writer’s block,” “being in a creative rut” – or the classic, “feeling uninspired.”
“As soon as I started studying psychology at university, I realized that a collision of psychology and creativity was more likely – and more needed – than I’d ever thought,” Säthil says. “It just all seemed so obvious. Psychologists knew something that creatives needed to know, and no one was talking about it,” he explains. “I recognized it in myself, too. As soon as I started using the psychological toolbox I was receiving and learning about through school, my own creative process became so much… lighter,” he continues. “What used to be a process filled with stress, anxiety, self-doubt, and perfectionism started turning into creative flow. It just seemed so easy, all of a sudden; like magic.”
The coalescence of psychology and creativity that Säthil practices today is a combination of psychotherapy, meditation, and embodied cognition, meaning your bodily condition influences your thoughts, beliefs, and behaviors.
“Your brain is constantly throwing out ideas that go in different directions. For example, during this interview it might be thinking ‘this interview is going awesome!’ or ‘this interview is going so badly, I’m saying the wrong stuff, I sound stupid,’ or whatever. My bodily sensations will help determine the likelihood of either answer being true. If I feel tense and my heart is rushing, I’ll be more likely to believe my own negative thoughts. If I feel relaxed and composed, I’m more likely not to believe my negative thoughts and feel positively about myself and the situation I’m in,” Säthil explains. “Throughout the years, I’ve compiled a lot of techniques in order to create conditions for positive affirmations to really reach through, which in turn has the power to unlock our creative productivity while making us be and feel happy.”
Not unfamiliar to us within the creative sectors is also the idea that creative ideas are generated through a “flash of inspiration,” or that we ought to be receivers of creativity rather than to prompt it ourselves, which shouldn’t necessarily be the case. Instead of waiting for inspiration to hit us, Säthil explains that we can turn to the use of behavioral psychology to zoom in and recognize the obstacles blocking our creative flow and placing us in a “creative rut.” With recognition and awareness, we can then get to the root of the problem and use a psychological toolbox to tackle it.
“I think the way our Western society teaches us to create is really limiting our creative capacities. We’re so susceptible to judging thoughts, and that’s something we pick up at an early age,” Säthil says. “Take the example of learning how to sing. For most people, it’ll sound awful at first. We’re taught, through our surroundings, that a voice is supposed to sound like this, and do that, and sing this, and if we don’t conform to that, we’re often quick to give up.”
According to Säthil, judging thoughts may lead to the two biggest obstacles that creatives face in their creative process: exhibiting perfectionism as a way of avoiding vulnerability and postponing creative action through procrastination, daydreaming, or an inability to finish started projects. So – how do we change the way we perceive and think about creativity?
Well, The Brave Creative is here to provide you with answers. Through a constant focus on the process, The Brave Creative provides eight concrete steps for finding purpose, calm, focus, and creative action.
“What I’m hoping to contribute is a cognitive unlearning of the obstacles standing in the way of creativity; all of which are ingrained into our culture today,” Säthil explains. “We start The Brave Creative by mapping the creative process and then narrowing down our obstacles. Then we actively seek out uncomfortable situations to expose and condition the body and brain to acceptance and building the muscle of tolerate difficult emotions. We also place importance on self-compassion and being kind to yourself. It might sound a bit silly to give yourself positive affirmations, but compassion-focused therapy has been proven to really work. In relation to this, it is also important that we question our own thoughts and ask if they truly serve us,” Säthil continues. “When we’ve done all of that, we start working on daily routines and ways of working, defining what works and what doesn’t. Lastly, it is important to dare to be vulnerable in our creative process. Finding healing and connection in or with others can really boost a sense of community and creative acceptance.”
At xPlot, we are so happy to work with Pär Säthil and share so many of his thoughts and values on creativity. Like Säthil, we are big proponents of the interdisciplinary, the experimental, and a focus on the process; and as summed up so eloquently by Säthil himself:
“You know, I sort of have beef with the goal-setting theory – the development of an action plan to motivate and guide people towards “success.” Creative action should be fun and experimental; we need to let things grow organically and focus on the process rather than the end-goal.”
...and we so agree!
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