I am the youngest of 3 brothers. My oldest brother is a 130 lbs musician and poet. My middle brother cage fought competitively in his 20’s.
The story came by entertaining the extreme of those two prototypes. Sprinkle some Jungian psychology in the mix and imagine what those two extremes could look like in a fuller, more balanced form. All the while still maintaining their base nature and personality.
From the outside, each brother may not look much different, especially for Jordan in the story (he’s still fighting people after all). But when you focus on who he is fighting and why he is fighting them, that’s where the alchemy really takes place.
We want Jordan to mirror Josh more. We even expect that from him. But he did better than just mimic someone else’ virtue, he stayed true and became a poet in his own voice. Jordan talks with his hands. He hears rhyme in a different way— like a fighter. They are a different breed. Poets are their own breed too. When they enter that liminal space, it will look different for them like it would anyone. There is no cookie cutter in authenticity.
Josh may look like he swung on the next guy he saw but there is more at hand. Instead of provoking, he becomes self-defensive. Then, on top of that, he turned his bullies inward to receive their own judgement based on their own discrimination. His newfound brutish-ness is calculated but it isn’t excessive. He check-mates them on multiple levels. What he really gives them is an invitation to the path he is on. One where you have to confront what you hate, where you consider the shortcomings of staying where you are, afraid to leave where you came from. For them, it was back to homophobic Tuff Street through the eyes of an outsider.
Balance. Bravery. Daring. Not to mention, humility. Required ingredients to embrace the adventure of maturity.
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