Destroying Negativity

Whether you think you can or think you can’t, you’re probably right.

Track is more mental than it is physical. There are debilitating consequences of thinking negatively and it relates to performances on the track. As the captain of the Women’s Varsity track and field team here at BGSU, I have a responsibility to lead my team through positive thinking.

“Destroying Negativity” was created before the MAC Championship in February 2015, which is the league title meet and biggest meet of the indoor season. At this time, doubts about training and performance are at their highest and as captain, there was opportunity to empower the team to concentrate on what’s actually important; not on negative scenarios that the imagination creates. This work is a reflection of that action.

For this work, my teammates were surveyed six months ago about their most frequent negative thoughts when preparing for a competition. Eight phrases were selected for their commonalities of the team’s fears. At practice before the MAC Championship meet, the team ran over cut typographic messages of white paper while wearing their spikes. The physical destruction of negativity was at the core of this process to free our minds and allow room for positive mental affirmations to emerge.