Q & A with Creating Time author, Marney K. Makridakis
Recently, I've had the pleasure of meeting and working with Marney K. Makridakis author of newly released book, Creating Time. Shefounded the Artella online community for creators of all kinds and the printmagazine Artella. A popular speaker and workshop leader, she also created theARTbundance approach of self-discovery through art.
Marney provided an exclusive presentation for the Creative Oasis Day Trippers at her Dallas book launch this April and I heard from so many people who were unable to join us but wanted to learn more about this fabulous new book, that I'm thrilled to be able to share this interview with her now.
I hope you enjoy learning more about Creating Time with our Q & A session below. Oh...and if you haven't ordered your copy yet here's a link that will take you right where you need to go! I highly recommend buying the paperback vs. the electronic version. You won't want to miss all of the beautiful four-color illustrations and examples of ARTsignments shared throughout the book!
Likemost people, time has been a big challenge for me throughout my adult life, butit escalated to an extreme after I gave birth to my first child in 2008, andstruggled in vain to find the time to “do it all.” I devoured every timemanagement book I could get my hands on, but still found myself exhaustivelychasing time. I put myself on mission to find a new solution, and began to explore ways that I could apply my best resource (imagination) to mybiggest problem (time). I created an online course tohelp others do the same and saw that other people had success with thesetechniques as well. After that, I finally felt able to sit down andwrite a longer work that developed these ideas much more fully.
Creating Time is for people who feellike they don’t have enough time to live the kinds of lives they want to live.I want everyone to know: when we don’t have time, we have to create it, and the incredible news isthat we can do so using one of thegreatest resources ever to exist on our planet: human creativity.
What does "Creating Time" mean?
Tome, it means that there is amazing power held by each of us to imagine, create, and completelyreshape the way we experience time. For too long we have been servantsof time when in fact, time that can and should serve us. We can finally drop all the archaic view and limitations oftime that have held us back from fully embracing the wild beautiful truth: timeis not a defined line; it is instead a vibrant, completely moldable, layered,multi-faceted work of art that is in your hands to create and design, each andevery day.
How is your book different from a typical"time management" book?
Time-managementbooks, as well as the latest time-tracking and productivity aids, can certainlybe of help to us on the practical level, but they are limited in theirlong-term effectiveness, since the true nature of time extends beyond thechronological hours displayed in our calendars, wristwatches and smart phones.I really wanted to dive into the psychological, philosophical and emotionalaspects of time, to help readers come away with a liberating new view of selfand a fresh perspective on the meaning of being human, empowered, and fullyalive. So while the book is definitely filled with practical, hands-on tips forcreating more time in your day, it’s also about finding a new way to experiencetime in its entirety, your full time on this earth…shifting our focus away fromhow we spend time to instead revelingin what we receive from our time.And, besides, most time management books won’t guide you to make collages anddesign offbeat new clocks and creative time-pieces! While intensely practical,I also wanted the 14 time shifting projects in this book to be a lot of fun andinspire a sense of playful abandon and freedom.
 |
| ARTsignment by Violette Clark |
Professionally, you work primarily withartists, writers and creative individuals. Does someone have to think ofhim/herself as "creative" to benefit from your teachings?
Absolutelynot! The conclusion of eachchapter presents an “ARTsignment,” which is an art project designed to activateand expand self-awareness and transformation. ARTsignments, which are at thecore of my ARTbundance approach of self-discovery through creativity, offer apowerfully effective way to internalize and absorb a process and truly take itin. I’ve discovered that engaging our minds,imaginations, and bodies through physically creating art catalyzes anunmistakable transition from simply reading a concept to absorbing and becoming it, and this is true foranyone, not just people who think they are creative or artistic. Through the creative projects inthis book, absolutely anyone canenjoy the adventure of being transported throughcreativity, and this has very large and valuable implications regarding time“traveling” and time creation. Each ARTsignment combines a step-by-stepintrospective process; interactive journal questions; and a unique, hands-onart project that pulls you directly into the fulldimensions of time, extending the breadth of its meaning and experience. Youdon’t need to be an “artist” to tap into the transformative power ofcreativity! In these projects, the emphasis iscompletely on the process rather than the product, and their transformationpower holds true whether you are sketching stick figures on a paper napkin,making a collage of magazine cutouts, painting on a canvas, or creating anelaborate mixed media sculpture.
What do you most hope that readers takeaway from this book?
Ihope that readers will come away with a new sense of a time, as well aspractical tools to put this new approach into action, both in their day-to-daylives and into their fuller spectrum of meaning and purpose in life. When weare not slaves to time, when we are not chasing time and wishing time wasdifferent, we finally set our souls free to live the lives we’re meant to life.We enter into a new realm of possibility, partnering with time to create a lifefilled with awareness and fullness, instead of an inherent sense of lack, worryand dread. Believe it or not, time isin your hands, and you can mold, craft,and create time to be just about anything you would like it to be.
Thank you so much to Marney for sharing more details about Creating Time and explaining some ways in which we can think and feel differently about time in our own lives. I can assure you that I've enjoyed every minute I've spent with this book so far, and look forward to hearing your comments and stories about how this revolutionary book touches your life as well.
Until next time, all the best from my creative oasis to yours,
Jill