Lorna Owens
has something to teach each of us. Through the development
of a rich variety of talents, careers and life changes
she has created a life and work around the central core
of her values. I met with Lorna recently on South Beach
for breakfast and came away inspired and refreshed by
her enthusiasm and commitment to her unique path. Born
in Jamaica, Lorna remembers a decision at 12 years of
age to become a lawyer; scoffingly her mother told her
that lawyers don’t go to heaven. Appropriately
concerned at the time she subsequently chose a career
as a nurse. Later while working and training in England
she added midwifery. Never wanting to say, “I
should have, could have, would have” she eventually
pursued a degree in Law at the University of Florida
in Gainesville, FL in 1991.
With this
shift, as in everything she does, she brought all of
herself to the challenge of building a legal career.
After working for 3 years as an assistant district attorney
for Janet Reno, she launched her own law practice in
criminal and entertainment law which she headed until
1999. When her father died in 1997 something in her
stopped and began to look at her life from a new vantage
point. She realized that she wanted to make a difference
in life and wanted to know that she had contributed
something.
In the clients
I work with I find there is often a pivotal point such
as this, whether it is an external event or an inner
prompting that just can’t be ignored any longer.
Something interrupts the normal flow of a life and it
can often lead to a shift towards deeper values or talents.
Slowly a notion had been growing in Lorna to develop
an event called “And the Women Gather”.
She wasn’t clear about the nature of the event
only that she wanted to bring women together in a way
that would be educational, inspiring and even life altering.
Always when one is moving into unknown territory, as
she did, there is a need to stay close to what is inspiring
you. Her own creative ideas, her inspiration, her talent
to read the market place and position her talents over
time created her own pathway. She did what is essential
in making a shift she went into it not having to know
all the answers but with a trust in the rudder of her
passion and an openness to experiment with something
new.
She now profiles
herself as an International Speaker and Life Strategist.
Her event, “And the Women Gather”, has evolved
into a 2 ½ hour event that she offers in various
cities in the US and Canada. Lorna chooses a city and
brings together a number of influential women in the
community from different disciplines: a writer, perhaps
a musician, a financial advisor, herself. Each offers
their talent to the evening in the form of a talk, music,
resources, inspiration. The spirit of it is to offer
an evening of empowerment by women for women. Each of
the participants can profile their work and the products
they have while they are gaining exposure to a large
group of women. When Lorna leaves the city she has contributed
to the formation of a community of women, made connections
between those who can continue to offer resources to
that community and often has invitations to further
speaking engagements. She is an inspirational keynote
speaker at Churches, corporations, conferences.
Her work
is continually evolving as she evolves. She says that,
“Once you’re doing what you’re passionate
about it’s really not work.” Her passion
supports the enormous energy and creativity that is
apparent in what she does. One of the messages she teaches
is one that I believe as well. We can change. Success
can be taught and learned. Learning to change behavior
is an important component of that success.
As we talked,
Lorna and I spoke about the need to get back to basics
when making a large life shift. Often in the course
of building a career or business people lose touch with
some of their core values; they lose track of the passion
for their own lives and what they have to offer. It
is important to take the time to evaluate if you are
living and creating your life from the foundation of
your real values, or if you have adopted societal goals
and are creating a life based on someone else’s
values. Clarifying this is one of the “back to
basics” issues. As Lorna was navigating the shift
in her life she found herself writing a great deal and
also going back to another basic in her life, prayer.
For her it created an inner environment of inspiration
that she needed in order to move towards what she wanted.
There is
an environment that can grow a person and their success.
In navigating a shift in your life or creating something
new it is essential to look at the various elements,
the environment that will contribute to its success.
Just as anything growing needs a certain environment,
nourishment, support in order to grow so do our dreams
and our lives. Initially aspects of that for Lorna were
writing and prayer. For some it might be allying yourself
with people who are inspiring or who can strategically
help you evolve your idea. Maybe it’s an exercise
regimen that creates the energy you need to move forward,
personal time to develop an idea, changing a behavior
or belief that trips you up.
Here are
some suggestions for developing your own way back to
basics.
-Spend awhile looking at something you truly want to
create in your life.
- Define it. Where do you see if evolving to in a year,
5 years?
- Does it inspire you or bring up your passion?
- What values are you living your life from?
- Ask yourself if what you are building is in line with
the values you want to live by.
- Look at what is needed for that project to grow and
succeed.
• Does it require you to change some behavior?
• Can you do that alone or do you need guidance?
• Do you have or can you obtain the resources
needed: physical, financial, educational and collegial?
• Do you have the energy to implement it? If not
what can you shift that will build that energy?
• Do you believe that you can do it? Belief is
an essential component of the environment of success.
Spending some
time looking at this and then providing what is needed
is time well spent. It is the foundation, the basis,
upon which you can build what you want.
Lorna’s
time in getting back to basics has created a new career
for herself, one that gives her the satisfaction and
the knowledge that she is contributing something that
makes a difference. It also gave her the material for
a book that she has just finished writing called, “Daily
Sustenance”. The book is meant as a daily companion,
inspiring people with quotes to move them forward on
their own path of creating a successful life. We can
all experience Lorna and material from her book at Books
and Books in Coral Gables on Friday August the 15th
at 8p.m. In the spirit of the evenings she offers there
will be music, food, inspiration and a reason to celebrate.
Join us and find out more about your, “Daily Sustenance.”
You can reach Lorna Owens at LOwens7550@aol.com
