Leslie John

Do I respect you?

Instead of like, all right, you're not giving the talk.

Right.

Yeah.

So-

So what I'm hearing you say then, revealing, and the underrated power of oversharing is all based on context.

and maybe the answers won't be good maybe you and then that's informative too because you've learned that you're not on the same page and this person is right for you whatever but it was it was just like I know a lot of men I wrote a book about you know called The Mask of Masculinity eight years ago I guess it was now and it was about unpacking my own kind of

Inability to be vulnerable because I felt like I had to fit in in society around men, friend group with men, around intimacy and relationships with women, around how I was supposed to be as the youngest son, whatever it might be.

So it was like the mask that I wore to protect myself emotionally and psychologically in the world

And the masks that men have worn to try to fit in and belong.

Women have had to wear masks as well.

And taking them off?

Yeah, I mean, right around 13 years ago, 29 to 30 years old, I...

I had accomplished what I thought I was supposed to accomplish in my 20s by building a business and making millions of dollars and having attractive girlfriends and having status and having followers and all these things.

But I felt more empty, more alone, more unsure and insecure of myself.

But others thought I was figuring it out.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

And I had these kind of like three different breakdowns in relationships, um, that, you know, a business partnership, a girlfriend that was kind of like off and on and emotional and break up and get back together.

And then a friendship that was like all happening with the same season, like a few months, like all these relationships were broken, breaking down.

And I was originally like, what is wrong with each one of these people?