This week, Shaun sits down with his good friend, somatic therapist and sex & relationship coach Laura Griffiths, for a conversation that's part confessional and part masterclass on masculinity, grief, and the kind of intimacy most men are too scared to reach for.

Laura calls Shaun out on the charm he wears like armor, names his "performative" first-date energy that kept them from ever being romantic, and unpacks why women fully rooted in their bodies feel threatening to so many men, including him. They go deep on the Peter Pan archetype and the absence of real initiation into manhood, why the Manosphere is fueled by guys who are "angry their mothers weren't their fathers," and what healthy masculinity actually looks like when you let the mask down.

Shaun opens up about the emotional rock bottom he hit this past fall - a short romance that cracked open a lifelong childhood wound, followed by the death of his beloved dog Roger — and why he chose this time not to hide. Laura brings a somatic therapist's precision to grief, the pain body, receiving love, and the erotic charge that lives in the space between vulnerability and strength.

If you've ever wondered whether men and women can really be friends, why grief and eros live in the same room, or what it means to "optimize for heartbreak," this one's for you.

Laura Griffiths is a somatic therapist and sex & relationship coach working with individuals and couples on rupture, repair, and creative-erotic power. Find her at thelauragriffiths.com, on Instagram @thelauragriffiths, and on Substack at Tongue of Honey.

In this episode:

How Laura and Shaun met on Hinge — and why there were no flirty vibes
The mask of charm and the "little wounded boy" underneath it
Why powerful, embodied women feel threatening
Peter Pan, Neverland, and the initiation men never got
The Manosphere decoded: the father wound in plain sight
Grief, eros, and crying in coffee shops
What receiving really asks of us
Love as "optimizing for heartbreak"

Send Shaun your questions at +1 (415) 494-9559 or email him at podcast@thelovedrive.com. Voicemails and voicememos are preferred, but texts/emails are OK too.

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