We loose more and more of our privacy. We post on Facebook what we do, what we think, where we are. Many apps have access to all contacts on our mobile devices. Google and Facebook know what sites we visit on the internet. But why bother, if we have nothing to hide? Last week I saw a very interesting documentary on TV: “Super Stream Me”. Last year, two Dutch guys, Tim den Besten and Nicolaas Veul, started the experiment to […]
Are you creative? Do you see yourself as an artist? I believe that we are all creative, all of us. We are all born to be creative. It’s what makes us humans. Creativity can be expressed in all facets of life, in the dress you pick to wear today, in the dinner you prepare, in the way to do your work. And of course it shows in paintings, songs, dancing, films. If we are all creative, what makes artists more […]
The phrase that the world is a village is often used when you have friends all over the world. It’s easy to travel. As musician you are touring around the world, or you are dreaming about touring around the world. In a social sense, the world is a village too. You are connected with colleagues, friends and family, wherever they are. You share your background and your believes with them. But do you know people with a different background, with […]
The Olympics 2016 in Brazil are over. And again it was all about the medals. The Dutch ‘Chef de Mission’ Maurits Hendriks is very disappointed. His task is, according to himself, to motivate the athletes. But they didn’t perform as expected. Very disappointing! What about the Olympic creed? “The most important thing in the Olympic Games is not to win but to take part, just as the most important thing in life is not the triumph but the struggle. The […]
Last year I was a panelist at Summerschool of BKKC. The purpose of Summerschool is to improve the entrepreneurship of artists in all kind of creative fields, from sculptors to flutists, from interior designers to painters. The main obstacle for the present artists is to find enough clients. They all feel very creative, but in order to find clients, they have to come out of their studio or workplace to connect to real people. The best way to do so […]
Have you ever participated in a band-competition? You probably have. There are so many competitions, that you might think that every band must have won at least one of them! Here the basic rules for a band-competition: – Several bands participate, similar to a festival, but they don’t get paid. – The audience come for one of the bands and listens to the others too. – The audience likes the contest-element, it’s a way to participate as audience. – Bands […]
Many life-coaches tell you that you have to become a leader, that you shouldn’t follow anyone. But we are all followers, not only on Twitter. We all have some people or idea’s that we admire. Whom or what you follow, can have a broad range. It goes from following leaders like Michelle Obama or Mahatma Gandhi, to following what your friends do or expect you to do. From following hypes and fashion to your following own intuition or following a […]
Do you remember Popeye? It’s an almost 90 year old cartoon figure; a sailor man who tries to impress his girl Olive. Though she loves strong men like Bluto. Bluto is tall, strong, with very broad shoulders, with a beard and a small head. Popeye has a big mouth with a pipe, a big chin, big forearms, but he is small and has small shoulders. His secret power is spinach. Spinach makes him invincible, even when fighting against Bluto. Just […]
What happens now, after the attacks in Brussels yesterday, is that we fool ourselves in order to stay comfortable. A logic mistake many make is to think: A: All attackers were Muslims. (or: All tulips are flowers.) B: You are a Muslim. (or: A rose is a flower.) C: You are an attacker. How wrong this logic is becomes clear, if we replace attackers with tulips, Muslims with flowers and you with a rose: A: All tulips are flowers. […]
How do you feel when you are alone? I mean really alone, without friends around you, without a computer or smartphone? FOMO, Fear-Of-Missing-Out is one of the main reasons why we are afraid of being alone. Others might have fun without us. We might miss an important event or some breaking news. That’s scary. Important events on FB are often not more than a photo of the dinner a friend is eating. Breaking news is about the holiday plans of […]
“If only we could play this major festival, we would become successful and happy.” “If only I could find an agent, I would have many shows and will be happy.” “If only a major record company would discover me, I would become famous and happy.” Do you recognize the if-only thoughts? Many musicians have them. They think that their happiness is dependent on positive events, and that positive events will lead to long-lasting happiness. Research in the ’70s has shows […]
Get better in what you are good at already. That’s the motto of one of the big Dutch all-round speed-skate champions Gianni Romme. He’s a successful speed-skate trainer now. If you are not Dutch, you probably didn’t notice. Last weekend were the World Championships in all-round speed skating in Berlin. With speed-skating, the skaters compete in pairs in an oval of 400 m. dressed in tight jump-suits. All-round speed-skating means, that it’s about the overall winner in 4 distances. For […]
If you want a life without stress, don’t become an artist, don’t become a musician! As a musician, you better know how to deal with stress! You need stress if you want to be a good musician. The most common form of stress is to live up to expectations – from others or from yourself. Don’t underestimate your own expectations. At all levels you meet expectations: how you want to sound, how you want to play your instrument, what kind […]
Doesn’t it feel great when you put your heart and soul into something, music for example, and you feel the enthusiasm? You’re in a flow, the world is at your feet. This is what you need to succeed. How can enthusiasm slow you down?? There are two different versions of enthusiasm. The first version is the enthusiasm that I describe above. It’s the enthusiasm you feel after you’ve accomplished something. The inner fire is burning, you feel happy. You feel […]
Have you heard of winter-depression? Are you infected too? I can get quite down if the days are so short as they are right now. No wonder that the celebration of the winter solstice is so important in most Nordic cultures. It’s the start of the days getting longer again. Many Christmas customs have their origin in the celebration of winter solstice in Nordic countries. Pines and pine branches stand for the hope of everything getting green again in spring. […]
