04: Marney Makridakis on Hop, Skip, Jump: 75 Ways to Playfully Manifest a Meaningful Life

In addition to mentoring hundreds of small business owners, publishing Artella magazine, and authoring hundreds of online workshops and courses, Marney Makridakis' first book, Creating Time: Using Creativity to Reinvent the Clock and Reclaim Your Life, was published by New World Library in 2012, and hit #1 on Amazon’s bestseller lists in several categories. Marney is also the founder of the ARTbundance approach to self-discovery through creativity. Since 2009, the ARTbundance Certification Training Program (ACT) has trained over 300 coaches and practitioners in her techniques, and is the result of her deep desire to help creatively minded people design a successful business rooted in true passion, personal joy, and creative meaning. A graduate of Duke University, Marney playfully hops, skips, and jumps in Dallas, Texas, with her wonderful husband and their wise and adventurous young son, Kai. She names these things as being essential to her creative well-being: the color orange, poetic novels, singing loudly, daily naps, the love of a good man, and hero worship of Mary Poppins. The New Book: We habitually view work and play as mutually exclusive opposites. But what if we didn’t? What if we could manifest whatever our heart desires from a place of fun, joy, and ease? What if having more fun could mean getting more done? In Hop, Skip, Jump: 75 Ways to Playfully Manifest a Meaningful Life (New World Library, November 15, 2014), creativity expert and bestselling author Marney Makridakis presents a blueprint for melding work and play into a single approach and shows how doing so can transform every aspect of our lives — from work to health to family to money, and beyond. “When it comes to the intersection of play and productivity, the secret is quite simple: what moves us is what moves us, which simply means what moves us emotionally is what moves us to action,” writes Marney. “This is why play helps us be productive. Play is many, many things, but it is never still, stuck, or stagnant; it somehow always moves. So when it comes to manifesting a meaningful life, play works.” Marney explains that successful manifestation unfolds through the following three phases. However, the quality of time, energy, and pleasure experienced in each phase varies greatly, based on an individual’s natural tendencies and conscious choices: Hop – Focuses on exploring new beliefs. Skip — Helps us harness spontaneity, wonder, and love. Jump — Spurs us into inspired action. The introduction of Hop, Skip, Jump includes a quiz that helps readers identify which of the three phases represents their manifestation strengths. This allows readers to fully enjoy the part of the process that comes naturally to them, while encouraging them to step out of their comfort zones to embrace the other key elements as well. Then, 75 playful tools and techniques help readers activate all three phases. “Think of anything you’ve manifested in your life, and if you look closely, I believe you’ll see that you touched on each of these phases in some way, though likely spending more time in some phases than other,” writes Marney. “If you look at the things you want but have not yet manifested, you will likely realize you have not hit all three phases yet, or perhaps have not explored them all fully.” For more information on Marney and her work, visit http://artellaland.com.