Order can come in many forms: Sport, faith, and therapy - Writing Wednesday

Hello everybody and welcome back to another blog post, 

I'm not normally a listener of BBC Sounds but recently I came across their YouTube channel and I discovered an interesting interview that they hosted with Professor Jordan B Peterson, in Moss Side Fire Station Boxing Club in Manchester. The interview was entitled "Jordan B Peterson on masculinity and the plight of young men" and the interviewer was Nihal Arthanayake. After watching Jordan's excellent interview with North Korean human rights activist, Yeonmi Park, on her life in North Korea and how she managed to escape a tyrannical country, I was inspired to do some more research on Jordan Peterson and I happened to come across this interview.

If you're unaware of who Jordan Peterson is, he is a philosopher and clinical psychologist who, in the world of modern politics, is quite the figurehead in guiding the people away from authoritarianism both on the far left and far right of the political spectrum. He has made numerous comments against the recent rise of the neo-Marxist theory in both of his best selling books (Maps of Meaning and 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos) as well as on his YouTube channel where he posts his popular lectures and podcasts.

In this interview, however, Jordan had really put what he had said and preached to other people, into practise. It is easy for people to believe that Jordan is an malicious, far right Canadian Conservative, who upholds little value for ordinary working class people because of the content that he uploads. However, in this interview, he displays quite the opposite attributes as he sits down and listens to the troubles experienced by a group of young, oridnary, working class men from a wide range of backgrounds. In a society where men are unable to express how they feel, and suffer many issues with mental health as a result, I found it incredibly refreshing to see a group of able young men coming to the realisation that they are in control of their lives.

I'm currently in the process of reading Jordan's second published book, 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos, and it's one of the most profound works of literature that I've ever begun to read. The idea that people are inherently connected by a set of rules, even if the rules differ in terms of person, place, or origin, is a philosophy of the world that in the past, I'd never even considered, but now I can see how it makes sense.

In the interview the men were talking about their past troubles and how they were then able to find a sense of accomplishment in obtaining their own set of rules. Three of the young men in the conversation had said that they grew up in the roughest parts of Manchester and were exposed to gangs, violence, and crime. They found that the only way that they could escape the chaos of their home environment was to take up boxing, a discipline that they could centre their lives around. Some of them became boxing champions, others were able to travel the world. Another man in the group had also grown up in the rough parts of Manchester but he actually became a member of a gang. He was able to leave the criminal world behind by discovering Christianity and his faith. Another man in the conversation, was forced to take up the male position in his household at the age of 9 years old, when his parents got divorced. This had a detrimental impact on his mental health and he developed depression and often had suicidal thoughts. He was only able to find a sense of order in his chaotic life, through doing a year of intensive therapy.

Hearing the stories coming from these young men, made me realise how important rules are to people. The rules found in the discipline of boxing, religious scriptures, and the structure of therapy, can help people to find order in the chaos of day-to-day life. This is why, even if we can disagree with each other's opinions, it's important that we all learn to respect each other because we're all just following our own set of rules based on our own personal experiences.

This interview was centred around young men because although their are many men in positions of power who are vocal and refuse to listen, their are also oridnary male individuals who believe that they cannot express their opinions because they feel that they will be treated the same as the men in the positions of power. According to the Office for National Statistics, male suicides have consistently accounted for approximately three quarters of the suicides in Britain since the mid 1990s. It's a problem that needs to be dealt with because men are unable to express how they feel in modern society, and it's having an impact on their mental health.

However, I do think that many of the messages communicated in this interview and in Jordan Peterson's books, do apply to women as well. Most people are very keen to talk about female empowerment, yet I sometimes feel like women are treated like vulnerable individuals who need to wait for men to change their actions, in order for them to live their lives. As a young woman, it's ideas such as this, that make me feel less in control of my life. I think that if women can obtain their own set of rules by finding something that truly motivates them in life, I believe that that's one of the most empowering things that women can do for themselves because it shows that they do have complete control and autonomy over their own lives.

I've never really thought about this before but I think one of the main activities that has given me stability in some of the most chaotic parts of my life is dance. Not only is dance a great way to release energy, it's also a discipline that requires time, effort and a lot of concentration. In the future, whether I continue doing dance as a career or a hobby, I hope that I do continue because I now know how important it is to have something to focus on.

Well done to Nihal and the BBC for hosting such an interesting interview. It was great to watch.

Here is the video if you would like to listen. There are many more stories in the interview that I have not been able to include. :)

BBC Sounds

Have you ever taken up a discipline that helped to motivate you? Let Let me know in the comments below and I'll be sure to reply to them. I ♡ hearing from you!

Be sure to click the follow button below to keep up to date with my posts!

See you next time, 

Bye,

XOX, Juliette

Video channel links:

BBC Sounds

My social media handles:

My Instagram 

My Facebook 

My YouTube channel 

My second blog:

The Book Hub 

Previous post:

Your ultimate life ambition is often difficult to find - Life After Sixth Form (Post 2) - Lifestyle Monday