Find Your Purpose

What does purpose do?  Purpose energizes, compels, calls forth, elevates, empowers, and enforces.  Purpose holds us in place—while moving us from here to there; purpose is a series of "from-here-to-there" movements. Purpose confirms, establishes, points to, and propels.  Purpose is a moving present that gathers up the past, impregnates the present, and gives birth to the future and to future futures.  Purpose captures the imagination, releases its powers, and focuses its intensity.  Purpose is the "ruling idea" and "guiding light." Purpose reconnects a human being to the world of humanity and opens new ways to thought, action, and passion.  Purpose is what making sense of it all is all about.

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Teaching and Learning from “The Greatest”

Muhammad Ali holds a number of titles: he is one of the most celebrated icons in American pop culture history; he is generally considered the greatest heavyweight boxer of all time (he won the heavyweight title three times); and for many who suffered both physically and emotionally from the agony of the Vietnam war, he is a veritable hero, the one very famous person who stood up against the United States government by refusing to go to war when he was drafted in 1967.

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Tender Voices

A tender voice weighs heavily on our hearts—soft, fragile, uncertain—these lonely tones push cautiously through a singer’s breath seeking safe haven and an understanding, sympathetic ear. Tender voices could awaken intense feelings of sadness and melancholy, and for this reason are the most mysterious of voices. We derive immense pleasure from this voice—there is no question about that—but it’s pleasure that also includes contrasting emotions. A tender voice disarms us—we are drawn to it as to a helpless, innocent child or puppy who is in need of our help. A tender voice could also bring to life dormant feelings that remind us of a long-lost, more joyful time. Yet, in a different vein, tender voices could also be felt as being overly revealing, as if the singer has peered too deeply into our most private feelings and personal thoughts.

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Primal Voices

Who would deny that there is often a sexual component to singing? Seductive, irresistible, penetrating, ecstatic, gripping, transporting—these are some of the adjectives that come to mind when thinking about the effect that exceptional singers can have on their fans. Many of the most popular singers of all time— Enrico Caruso, Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley, Janis Joplin, Michael Jackson, Jim Morrison, Tina Turner, Mick Jagger—have what I call primal voices, and their careers are based, in some cases to a considerable degree, on their ability to exude erotic energy through their voices. And it’s not uncommon for their fans to fall in love with their singing idols, and just as often to fantasize about having amorous relations with them. These are not accidental consequences. To the contrary, primal singers crave fans as imaginative lovers, and work to fan the flames of their desires. Primal singing, in other words, is clearly seductive by design.

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Charming Voices

The greatest artists—those who are gifted vocalists, possess beautiful tonal qualities, and are heart-felt singers—are also distinguished by yet another characteristic: their singing has a delightfully magnetic quality to it—that is to say, their singing is charming.

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