 
by Bethany Broadwell
Making music is Ginny Owens’ business, but making a difference helping others in combination with her music is the way the 31-year-old singer and songwriter from Nashville, Tenn., strives to create harmony in her life.
“I think that one of the primary reasons we exist is to support each other—to encourage one another during the challenges, celebrate each others’ gifts, and ultimately, offer God’s hope and love to one another,” said Owens.
Born with poor eyesight due to a hereditary condition on her father’s side of the family, Owens lost what little sight she had by the time she was 3. That challenge, however, did not stop her from singing and playing piano as a young girl.
In reflecting on her childhood, Owens described she was extremely shy with little confidence in her abilities. While she spent time making music, she was mostly keeping it to herself.
“It wasn’t until my senior year of high school that I began sharing the music I composed,” Owens explained. “I never thought I’d do this for a living, but it certainly has been a wonderful learning experience and an extraordinary blessing.”
Today, the vocalist with her insightful, Christian songs has an intense touring schedule; multiple albums to her credit, including her newest release, “Long Way Home” and involvement in various charitable causes.
Owens, in fact, has founded her own nonprofit organization, called The Fingerprint Initiative, with the ultimate goals of serving people and teaching people to serve. Its mission is to conduct local community service activities in some of the places the singer visits for concerts and to raise support and awareness for international projects the initiative adopts.
All of the local events and international projects fall under a theme determined by The Fingerprint Initiative. During the past year, the focus has been “Holding little hands; bringing hope to children.”
To accomplish this mission, Owens said, The Fingerprint Initiative has served in schools and children’s homes, sponsored children with special needs through Compassion International, raised awareness of child-slavery in South Asia and built a Habitat for Humanity home for a family with disabilities.
Owens expressed how difficult it can be to feel relaxed about her identity: “I think my greatest challenge has been finding peace with who I am.” She added, “Society teaches us to ‘fit in,’ and so I’ve spent quite a bit of my life trying to minimize my disability and feeling pressure to be like everyone else.”
She described all of her songs as reflecting her thoughts and feelings in some way, almost like journal entries: “The struggles and joys that I have faced because of my disability have spawned many of my songs.”
 Owens’ Web site gives details about the lyrics on “Long Way Home.” The song, “Wonderful Wonder,” for example, expresses how the singer “sees” faith; and the song, “Pieces,” tells the story of how her fragmented life is coming together with His guidance.
The high standard of perfectionism Owens said she has always set for herself is a standard that has sometimes been more than she can realistically attain. The more she has matured, according to her, the more she has come to understand that it is OK to be blind.
“It’s OK to make mistakes or to completely embarrass myself every once in awhile. I’ve learned to feel the pain of others’ prejudices against me, to let it hurt and then to move beyond it,” Owens said. “I’ve learned that each day I’m given is a gift—a reason to grow and change, an opportunity to educate others and another chance to understand who God created me to be.”
When the recording artist finds an opportunity to fit some respite into her busy routine, she enjoys cooking, hiking, shopping with friends, reading and even occasionally watching TV. Owens also declared herself a “computer junkie,” who loves tech toys and all their accessories. To make them work for her needs, she uses adaptive equipment such as Jaws for Windows, Mac voice-over, Braille Note PK and Mobile Speak Pocket.
Owens makes use of all of the resources and strategies she can to lead as independent of a life as possible. She knows, however, that one of her most incredible powers is music: “Music encourages, heals, provokes thought, brings peace, offers happiness and can even provide temporary relief and release.”
Since music offers Owens these fulfillments, she said, “I love to be able to offer it as a gift to others.”
For that reason, the singer’s plan is to make more music, perform more service work and keep conquering the world.
By pursuing a rich and satisfying life, Owens is modeling why people should consider taking a risk and getting involved.
“One of the most challenging challenges for those of us with disabilities is convincing others that we’re able to serve,” she explained. “But we must be brave and willing to educate others with the good news that we, too, can help make a difference. We can’t be too discouraged when doors are closed.”
Owens concluded, “We must also remember that we have valuable life lessons to offer not only to those we serve, but also to those who might be serving with us.”
for more information...
Ginny’s Owens’ Web site featuring her tour dates, current news, bio, music details and more can be found at www.ginnyowens.com.
Ginny’s Owens’ nonprofit organization, The Fingerprint Initiative, has a Web site at www.fingerprintinitiative.org. It describes the many charitable efforts in which the vocalist participates.
Habitat for Humanity, Compassion International and International Justice Mission are all organizations that Ginny has partnered with and supports.
www.habitat.org
www.compassion.com
www.ijm.org
Owens makes use of all of the resources and strategies she can to lead as independent of a life as possible. Those wishing to learn further about the products she uses, may explore:
BrailleNote PK is a personal digital notetaker offered by HumanWare. More details are available at www.pulsedata.com/Products/Notetakers/braillenotepk.asp.
JAWS for Windows is a screen reader featured at www.freedomscientific.com/fs_products/JAWS_HQ.asp.
The VoiceOver capability offered by Mac is described at www.apple.com/accessibility/voiceover.
Mobile Speak Pocket is screen reading software for handheld devices. Learn more about it by visiting www.codefactory.es/mobile_speak_pocket/mspeak_pocket.htm. |
