Sandy Rudd, Namibia’s Theatre Director Extraordinaire sat down with 99FM’s MYD Art to talk motivation. “Motivation is created when you find your passion, you can’t be motivated without passion. If you don’t have a burning desire that burns through your veins then nothing will motivate you. You need to be excited about what you are doing. Your heart needs to beat faster. My heart beats when I talk about my work, I can’t wait to tell you about my work” Sandy says and she laughs when she adds “I don’t even care if you’re not interested in what I’m telling you about, I just love what I do.”
Sandy is a Namibian theatre veteran. She has won many awards for her work and her productions have toured both nationally and internationally. According to Sandy, “Every single person has something that makes their heart beat and they have to find it, because this is your motivation. Most motivation comes out of a person’s artistic side and I truly believe that every person has an artistic side. The key is to find your artistic side, to find your heart beat.”
When asked how you find your heart beat Sandy says “You need to look for the signs, the fear will give you signs like a dry mouth. Fear is the biggest blockage to motivation but as my father used to say, Do what you fear to do most because fear is just a thought and as much as you can have a thought of fear you can also have a thought of something good.”
Sandy goes on to explain that “When you are doing a major production like I just did at the presidential inauguration, you get filled with fear. I was very fearful but I was also terribly excited and this is a great motivator. In all things I believe you need to not be complacent because complacency creates mediocracy.”
Sandy’s jovial demeanour turns serious when she relays her frustration felt for the many Namibian artists living in such abject poverty and yet expected to be the home of our cultural identity. “It’s hard because Namibia doesn’t recognize that great value of the arts and what the arts does. As artists we get laughed at. We are the Cinderella of a society that places too much emphasis on Maths and Science. I have taken shows overseas; I have taken our national treasures overseas where people revere them but yet they live in absolute poverty. It makes me so sad to see the amount of artists who live in dire poverty in our country. These same people bring so much goodness to this country, they change people’s lives bringing them happiness through their art yet they live in tin huts.”
When asked how an artist stays motivated Sandy lights up once again as she explains that “To be motivated you must not dwell on any past work, you art must be ephemeral in other words, if you treat your art as precious you will not succeed. I find that as an artist you need to treat your art as the rivers of Namibia, they must rise up and flow with water and then disappear into dry rivers once again. It’s from here that you start again, from the dry river bed just like a dry mouth filled with fear and apprehension you start again.”
Without a moment to dwell on the beautiful metaphor just drawn, Sandy continues “You are only what you are doing at the moment and that is how it has to be as an artist. I also feel that in order to stay motivated you need to commit yourself. If you are a theatre director book a theatre, if you are a fine artist then book a gallery. If you look for ways to show your art then this becomes your motivation as once you are committed you have to do it. This is the discipline of a committed doing and drama means TO DO.”