The Golden Shell: How Geometry Saved My Life

By Jay

They say math is the universal language. For me, it was a survival manual.

As a child, I was jumped twice at 12:25. Then again at 27.

Being from the projects, violence wasn’t an event; it was the weather. I have been assaulted by groups of three, by swarms of six, and pairs of two.

Mathematically, the odds were against me.

Physically, the numbers said I should be broken.

But every single time, I was the victorious one.

The Genius to My Madness

People see the musician. They hear the piano. They see the photographer framing the shot. What they don’t see is the Golden Shell that protects it all.

Survival in my 20s was different than survival in my 30s. In the beginning, it was instinct. Now, it is architecture. The assaults didn’t break me; they calcified me. They gave me a special type of shell, much like a turtle.