In an interview - Ik ben goed zoals ik ben [I’m good as I am]
(Meidema NRC January 6 2016) - Dutch cyclist Marianne Vos discusses her struggle with non-functional overreaching. Marianne made it to World champion cycling 12 times and also was Olympic champion in 2012. She explains that being over-trained is like a burnout for a sports man. ‘Being on my bike is the only place where
I can really express myself, where I can be myself’. Talking about connecting, she confesses: ’Being together means that I have to invest time in someone, while I’m also working towards a contest’ (Meidema 2016).
Introduction
Although the world of sports and the world of music are different, they also have a few things in common. One of them is, to reach the top you have to be passionate and dedicated to be able to persist, despite physical or mental hindrances. This takes a strong personality that is capable of dealing with the stress involved. Like in sports, there are lots of books, training programmes, coaches, etc. available in music, that help you to deal with stress and allow you to achieve (Green & Galway 1986, Werner 1996, Buswell 2006, Faltin 2011, Citroen & van der Loo 2011, to name a few). The majority of the help offered is focused on empowering the individual; it’s lonely at the top and you have to be a master and think the right way. Recently there seems to be a growing awareness of self-confidence not only being something we can have control over, but something that is also defined and affected by our connection to others. Instead of the power of independence, there is the vulnerability of being dependent on the other. I’m aware that each conceptualization shows certain aspects of a complex phenomenon and leaves
other aspects in the dark.
In this thesis I would like to ask attention for concepts that stem from the perspective of connecting, like reciprocity and dialogue. It is a perspective that in my opinion deserves more interest; this is where the world of art and the world of (individual) sports are different. From this perspective, I would like to find support for a connection between artistic growth and personal growth. If there is, they even might obey the same rules. If we see personal growth from a perspective of connecting with the risk of being too vulnerable or not being received by others, there might be similar effects in artistic growth if we see it from the perspective of connecting. I prefer to use the word growth in the context of this thesis, because I like to see personal and artistic development as a possibility to mature instead
of just developing (cognitive) skills or learning how to cope.