My younger daughter who just graduated from college finds free time to be frustrating. She likes the structure of school and work and the weekends can make her a bit distraught. "Find routine in your off time," I advised, telling myself as well. She and I are very similar, so whatever I tell her, I'm shooting it right back to me.

So much time I have let drain away while watching TV or biting my nails or doing both for way too long of the day (and night). Franklin Roosevelt once said, “The only limit to our realization of tomorrow will be our doubts of today. Let us move forward with strong and active faith.” I told my older daughter recently that I knew I was being taught patience these past few years. There is a strong movement when patience and action connect. Erase fear from the equation and you have electricity.

Now I sit and wait patiently for my imagination to light up. I do not force it nor do I ignore it. I wait in a quiet room and when it is time, the words come. They need not be perfect, just visible. I then can see what lies in hiding, what has been waiting for me to wake up to and to act upon.

One of my favorite quotes comes from Franz Kafka: "You need not leave your room. Remain sitting at your table and listen. You need not even listen, simply wait. You need not even wait, just learn to become quiet, and still, and solitary. The world will freely offer itself to you to be unmasked. It has no choice; it will roll in ecstasy at your feet."

This summer my goal is to finish "The Year of the Brown Running Shoes." It will be through routine and listening in which I will accomplish this magnificent task.