WHAT I KNOW NOW: Web Developer and YA Author, Jordon Greene
Name: Jordon Greene
Hometown: Lenoir, NC
Where you live now: Kannapolis, NC
What you wanted to be when you were a teenager: Architect & Sci-Fi Author
What you do now: Full-Stack Web Developer & Young Adult Contemporary Romance Author
What you’re most proud of: My YA novel Every Word You Never Said due to messages I’ve received about how much it meant to some readers. Little compares to that feeling.
3 words that describe your teenage self: Shy Religious Fundamentalist
3 words that describe you now: Reserved Empathetic Progressive
What you would tell your teenage self: Looking back there is a lot I would like to tell my teenage self, a whole lot. However, knowing my teenage self I can assume if I were to go back and tell myself any of the things I wish I could, my younger self would brand me a crazy anti-God liberal and immediately block me out mentally with the junk I’d been indoctrinated. That aside, I’d have a few main things I’d want myself to have known back then to save me from a lot of grief and anger.
I’m certain I’d start by telling myself that its okay to be gay, and not only okay, it’s completely normal and nothing to be ashamed of no matter what others may think or say. You’re allowed to be completely you. I’d tell myself to think critically and logically about the religious doctrine I’d been brought up in and indoctrinated to believe, to see it for what it is and the flaws and inconsistencies that consume it despite how cleverly they are overlooked. To move past it so it doesn’t haunt and hurt me in the future and keep me from living my life to its fullest. To realize the worst thing isn’t the end in a blazing hell, but looking back and realizing you didn’t truly live.
What you wish you knew about coming out that you know now: I wish I’d know the amount of people that loved me regardless of who or what I am, and could have seen how many new and amazing people I’d meet who would become family and the closest of friends.
What you love most about being a part of the LGBTQ+ community: Honestly, what I think I love most is simply that as part of the community I’m free to really be me. I can experiment with new things like painting my nails or hanging out with the girls, and simply be free to show my emotions without judgement, without being looked at as weird or disgusting for doing something completely normal and okay. The rigid expectations of traditional roles isn’t as present in the community and it allows me and others to really find out who we are.
Person you most admire: There are a few, so this is a hard one. I think in the end I’d have to say Laura Zimmerman. I didn’t know her until about five years ago but it took no time for her to become one of my closest friends, and in time to be dubbed my “work wife.” She’s also an author, and we got to know each other through our writing by helping each other with issues in our stories and giving each other advice and such. In time she became one of my dearest friends and moral supports though. I can’t tell you the times I’ve called her for advice or to just vent, and even though we don’t agree on everything she’s always been there to comfort and talk with me, or just hang out and watch movies.
If you could change one thing about the world, you would: One thing. I wish there were one thing that could solve it all. I guess if there was one thing I could change about the world, it would be that no one denies the reality of climate change so we can take care of our planet before it’s too late or becomes a massive burden on future generations, and take the necessary steps now to preserve it.
What inspires you now: Honestly it’s the new generation that inspires me. One because of the struggles I know they are going to face because how the older generation and politicians are trying to force their out dated values and beliefs on them, but mainly because their determination to stand up and be heard.
