INTRODUCING
AKU KUUTTI
I'm a 21-year-old filmmaker and content creator from Turku. I've always had a passion for inspiring others by creating visually and narratively unique stories.
I haven't studied anything related to the field; instead, I've self-taught everything about filming and post-processing.
However, I have always been even more passionate about playing ice hockey, and I have always prioritized it above everything else. In short, the worst thing happened, and I got seriously injured. It changed my whole life. During the extensive rehabilitation, my passion shifted back to this photography work. Since then, I have invested almost all of my time in this passion, which I have quietly dreamed about my whole life.
Even though I no longer play ice hockey, I still love sports, and it is still a significant part of my life. Currently I'm training for a marathon and on the side I lift weights. Additionally I play golf and padel. I cannot live without sports because it is essential for my body, but also, it significantly impacts my mind. It helps me perform better in every aspect of life. And also sports are proof to me that anything is possible if you just put yourself out there.
My goal is also to help and inspire others. To take the leap of faith when it scares the most or to go the path least followed. So hopefully I can push other like-minded people a bit further and closer to their dreams with my own example, especially when life feels unfair.
My Motto is: "I DON’T WANT TO BE THE BEST, I WANT TO BE THE ONLY."
INJURY THAT
CHANGED EVERYTHIBG
HOW IT ALL BEGAN
I've been playing ice hockey for most of my life. I first skated at the age of 3 and immediately fell in love with the game. Ever since I can remember, my dream has always been to play in the NHL.
But everything changed in the fall of 2021 when I injured my ankle. It was sometimes very painful and sometimes not. I persevered with it for a few months, but then it got so bad that I couldn't even put on my skates anymore. I had already seen a doctor once, and it was diagnosed as a minor inflammation. I played a few games with painkillers, but it had gone too far. I was mentally exhausted, likely experiencing overtraining. Games and practices were inconsistent, and my self-confidence was severely tested.
I felt that I was treated unfairly at times, which lead to this situation. I think that is incomprehensibly in that historical club. But I also blame myself because I didn't know how to or didn't dare to talk about it. Instead, I preferred to stay quiet and keep it in myself, which ended up burning me from inside. Which was really stupid. So my body and mind was too tired; I slept very little at night, and sometimes food didn't taste right. I had to put a stop to it and wanted the ankle to be thoroughly examined. I quickly got an MRI, and it turned out that one tendon was completely torn, severely inflamed, and there was a bone spur.
The ankle was then operated on, and everything went well in that regard.
I decided to rehabilitate it well and return between the pipes stronger.
I still had conflicting thoughts about whether I wanted to go back. I was afraid of experiencing something similar again. Everything that had happened made me think for the first time whether I still wanted to play this game anymore. However, I had always dreamed of just being able to play hockey.
Until then I had only seen myself from one perspective. I had tied my identity to being an ice hockey player my entire life and suddenly I didn't know if I wanted to to be that anymore. I didn't know who I was, where to go, or what to do. I was lost.
All of this, however, unknowingly built up my resilience, even though it didn't feel that way in the darkest moments. It was tough for a young boy.
REHABILITATION AND A NEW BEGINNING
During rehabilitation, there was a lot of time to reflect on everything. I had always been interested in photography and everything related to it. It started to cross my mind again. However, I had made all sorts of videos for my own enjoyment when I was younger. It had completely stopped in junior high school because I wanted to become an ice hockey player.
I watched a lot of videos related to filming and then decided to buy that damn camera. It was February 2022. I started to figure out how the camera worked. I was admittedly quite lost, and I didn't have clear goals of where this camera could take me. Nevertheless, the passion was intense, and I did something every day that took me forward. It was a difficult time, though. Everything was very new, and I had to decide whether I would still skate between the goalposts. Somehow, I wanted to. I loved the excitement, freedom, and competition that hockey gave me. I tried to think of all the good things, but unfortunately, it also includes all the negative aspects. Performance pressure, bad moments, injuries, the tough competition, and physical and mental stress.
I had now probably made the biggest decision of my life. All the time I had invested in this sport made me think that I couldn't throw it all away. However, new interests were pulling me towards them. I decided to continue, but with much less intensity. I switched to playing in the men's second division for my homegrown club. It had also been a small dream of mine to play there. When hockey wasn't so serious anymore, I suddenly started to enjoy it more. And the biggest thing was that we had a damn good team. There I could be myself, and we had a great time. The season was cut short due to military service, but I still left with a silver medal, and most importantly, I was myself again.
NEW DREAMS
After the season, I faced another decision. Do I continue playing or do I go all in with filmmaking. It was spring 2023, and I still had a lot of military service left. I had such a strong desire to chase my own dreams that ice hockey quickly became secondary. I decided that now I would go all-in for the dream that the camera had given me.
That wasn't easy either, but then I realized that sometimes good things fall apart so better things can come together. So the childhood dream was buried, but this time I was completely okay with it. At that point, I had realized how much hockey had given me. All the moments, friends, good and bad times, sacrifices, coaches, and most importantly, lessons for a lifetime. If anything has shaped and taught me how to get by in life, it's ice hockey. Without this sport I would surely be a different person, so I'm just so grateful that I got to play it for 16 years.
So, in conclusion, I want to say that if you have something you want to do here, go after it. It's not easy, and it shouldn't be, but never give up on what you really want. We are here only for ourselves and for a very short time, so why not do the things that make you truly happy.
Dare to jump, try, and fail, but never sell yourself the story
that you couldn't do it. You can
Aake
