Today’s guest is Marney K. Makridakis, who wrote an interesting new book and created a whole program around the concept of time.
For writers and other creative people, Creating Time: Using Creativity to Reinvent the Clock and Reclaim Your Life, is right up there with The Author’s Journey and other books that inspire and gently nudge us to stay on track, or maybe get on the track in the first place.
However, the book is not just geared toward the artistic types. People in all walks of life and with many other careers can find inspiration and some good, practical advice in this book.
The sections of the book take us from exploring our relationship with time and how we measure it through various ways we can create time through gratitude, love, ritual synchronicity, visualization, and my favorite, stillness. Each section is illustrated with lovely art work by the author or by readers who have used her concepts for “creating time.”
Among all the jewels of wisdom I found in the book, this one resonated with me. Perhaps because I have less years left in my life than I have lived, and also because of family and friends who have made drastic changes in their lives after receiving a diagnosis of cancer or some other terrible disease that had the potential to end their time all too soon. “The truth of the matter is that life is a ‘life-threatening diagnosis’ for all of us. We have no way of knowing how much time we have. So we might as well realize how precious each and every moment truly is. We can create time by creating our own urgency to live as if every moment counts, because it does!”
Lest you think that the book is all about stopping to smell the roses or ticking things off a bucket list, be aware that it is much more than that. The chapters present ideas and suggestion for helping us make a mental shift in how we relate to time, and they all have real-life examples, step-by-step introspective processes, and powerful creative projects that inspire a new sense of time.
Karen Karsten, a prosperity coach and teacher had an interesting concept of time. “When I think about time as one day, I think of it like a lake, with connections to the earth and the universe. There’s total joy in diving into the lake: no waiting for the weekend here!” For her ARTsignment she painted a picture that featured a lake with the hands of a clock in the middle and one swimmer was diving off one of the hands, while a kid was swinging on another. She also had several skeleton keys in the picture because she said the ARTsignment “offered a little key to unlocking time. Come with me to this lake, swim in the stardust, surf with the music of time, unlock time for yourself.”
I learned a long time ago how important images are to me for reflection and reminders of things I need to be mindful of, so the idea of creating artwork as I move through the chapters and concepts in this book is not alien to me, although my artwork will not compare to some of the pictures I have hanging above my computer. That’s okay, though. Nobody is expected to turn out great masterpieces of visual art. The point is to make something that will remind you of what you learned and want to remember as you complete each section.
Now, just a few words from the author:
Why did you write Creating Time? Like most people, time has been a big challenge for me throughout my adult life, but it escalated after I gave birth to my first child in 2008 and struggled to find the time to “do it all”. I devoured every time- management book I could get my hands on, but found that I was still chasing time. I finally put myself on mission to find a new solution and explored ways that I could apply my best resource (imagination) to my biggest problem (time).
What are the main challenges with time that you’ve identified, and how does this book address them? To personalize the reader’s process, Creating Time contains a “Time Diagnosis Chart” which identifies 14 of the most popular time complaints and recommends which of the book’s tools are most effective in addressing them. I find it interesting that, while everyone’s specific time complaints are unique, they usually boil down to one very primal theme: I don’t have enough time to live the life I want to live.
What do you most hope that readers take away from this book?I hope that readers will come away with a new sense of a time, as well as practical tools to put this new approach into action, both in their day-to-day lives and into their fuller spectrum of meaning and purpose in life.
If you would like to purchase a copy of the book, click on the cover image on my right sidebar.
CREATING TIME by Marney K. Makridakis
April 17, 2012 • Personal Growth/Creativity • 288 pages • Trade Paperback in Four Color
Price: $22.95 • ISBN 978-1-60868-111-2
Maryann: Loved you intro to what sounds like a great book I could use as I find myself doing everything but editing my book that is due next month. Now I must return!
Wendy
W.S. Gager on Writing
I’m trying to cram about a million projects into the next month. I could use some extra time, too!
So interesting! I’m putting this on my list for a couple of time-challeneged individuals I know…
I need this book. Thanks for the heads up, Maryann.
Live as if every minute counts – we all need to do that.
“No waiting for the weekend” I like that. I love every day of the week and treat each one as a special gift.
Stephen and L. Diane, thanks for stopping by. I agree that there were so many quotes that could hang above everyone’s monitor to remind us to treasure the moments.
Pat and other Lisa, hope you enjoy the book if you get it. I am in the affiliate program for Creating Time, so if you order the book via my link on the blog, I get a small commission.
Wendy and Leslea, I think the success of this book and the program that Marney developed is based on the fact that we are all looking for ways to spend our time more efficiently. And adding the creative element makes it really appealing.
Hmmm that sounds like a great book. The wisdom you shared about living every moment is great. I need to remember that.
Thanks for stopping by, Jessica. I wish I could take credit for the advice to live each moment, but that is something people much wiser than I have been encouraging us to do for centuries. Pause. Breathe deeply. Think of the most joyous thing in life for just one minute. Wow, what a relaxing exercise.
Definitely sounds like a great book. Is there anyone who has enough time in the day?
Helen, nobody I know seems to have enough time in the day. Even my friends who are retired farmers say there is not enough time to sit on the porch each day. (smile)