"Now is the Time" was born out of my business name, Adesso, which means "now" in Italian. One of the things that was so important for me, now but even more vitally, in the beginning stages of my divorce, was to stay present. For myself and for Henry, my son who was 7 years old at the time his father and I were splitting up.

What staying in the present moment did for me was kept me out of the drama of my situation. It made me see that everything is as it should be at this moment. I have nothing to be a victim to, no one to blame, nothing to regret.

Getting present means taking the time to get quiet. Slowing down allowed me to feel. It also meant connecting with my physical body. When I get in touch with where my feelings are being held in my body, I can make adjustments. Sometimes I would feel some stress somewhere in my body and then ask myself, "What is the emotion I am holding there?" Our bodies are messengers of emotional information that can be very powerful to tap into.

What went hand-in-hand with making the effort to be present was the willingness to look at my situation clearly and factually. Taking time for silence allowed for me to become an observer. When I got more experienced at doing this alone and in silence, I started to do it in my more active daily life. In being an observer, I became more aware of things I had been overlooking for a very long time.

This awareness lead me out of denial and into acceptance. To be aware means to be mindful that something exists because you notice it or realize that it is happening: well-informed about what is going on in the world around you. Similar words are consciousness, wakefulness, and sensitivity. By definition, awareness is the doorway to change. Once we become aware, we can see choices. This is very freeing in that it opens us up from that stuck place of denial and takes us into action.