Notes from the Edge

Latest Episodes:

Understanding Chronic Suicidal Thoughts: A Conversation About Hope, Healing, and Mental Health Jun 30, 2026

Show notes

What if thoughts of suicide aren’t always a desire to die, but a signal that something inside desperately needs to change?In one of the most important conversations we’ve had on Notes From the Edge, Lisa Lacy sits down with Harold Walter Azmann, Founder and CEO of the World Mental Health Forum, for a compassionate discussion about chronic suicidal thoughts, depression, suffering, hope, and what it truly means to be human.Together, they explore:
• Why suicidal thoughts are often misunderstood
• The difference between wanting life to end and wanting pain to end
• How depression can become a messenger rather than just a diagnosis
• What loved ones can do when someone is struggling
• Why curiosity and compassion matter more than judgment
• Finding hope even when life feels impossibly heavyThis conversation is for anyone who has ever struggled, loved someone who has, or wants to better understand the human experience behind mental health challenges.If today’s conversation resonates with you, please consider sharing it. You never know who may need to hear these words today.If you or someone you know is in immediate danger or thinking about acting on suicidal thoughts, contact your local emergency services or a suicide crisis service in your country right away. You don’t have to face it alone.If you found this conversation meaningful:
Like the video
Share your thoughts in the comments
Subscribe for more conversations about trauma, identity, resilience, healing, and the stories that shape us.Notes From the Edge
The conversations we should’ve had all along.#MentalHealth #Hope #Depression #Healing #SuicidePrevention #MentalWellness #TraumaRecovery #Psychology #NotesFromTheEdge #LisaLacy
Notes from the Edge with Lisa LacyHuman conversations about trauma, identity, recovery, reinvention, relationships, leadership, and the lives we build after survival.
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Maybe Success Was Never the Goal Jun 29, 2026

Show notes

What If Satisfaction Is the Thing You’ve Been Chasing All Along? What if the thing you’ve been chasing your entire life… was never the thing you actually needed?In this episode of Lessons for Lisa: Notes to My Future Self, a reflective series under the Notes From the Edge podcast, I explore a question that caught me completely off guard:If success doesn’t guarantee peace… what have I actually been chasing?After a day filled with exciting milestones, podcast growth, and incredible opportunities, I found myself sitting alone in my office after one in the morning with a heart that still hurt.That’s when I realized something.Achievement and fulfillment are not the same thing.In this deeply personal episode, we explore:• Why high-functioning survival can look like success.
• The hidden cost of constantly moving the finish line.
• Achievement versus inner peace.
• Why ambitious people often confuse progress with fulfillment.
• The difference between proving your worth and knowing your worth.
• What it means to stop performing your life and finally come home to yourself.This isn’t a lecture.It’s a letter to my future self.And if you’re an entrepreneur, leader, creative, caregiver, or someone who’s spent years believing that the next accomplishment would finally make everything feel okay…I hope you’ll find a piece of yourself in this conversation.If this episode resonates with you, I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments. What does “enough” mean to you?If you’re enjoying these conversations, please consider subscribing, liking this video, and sharing it with someone who needs to hear that peace isn’t something we earn… it’s something we practice.Welcome to the Edge.www.lisalacy.com#NotesFromTheEdge #LessonsForLisa #PersonalGrowth #HealingJourney #TraumaRecovery #MentalHealth #HighAchievers #SelfWorth #MidlifeTransformation #PeaceOverPerformance
Notes from the Edge with Lisa LacyHuman conversations about trauma, identity, recovery, reinvention, relationships, leadership, and the lives we build after survival.
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

When You Remember You’re Made of Stardust Jun 29, 2026

Show notes

How Looking at the Universe Can Shrink Even Our Biggest ProblemsWhat happens when you stop looking at your life through the lens of your problems… and start looking at it through the lens of the universe?In this episode of Midnight Menopausal Meanderings, I’m reflecting on a conversation that reminded me of something I’d forgotten.We’re not just people trying to survive another Monday.We are energy. We are consciousness. We are spiritual beings having an intensely human experience.There are more than two billion galaxies we know of. We’re living on a spinning rock orbiting a flaming ball of fire, with another rock lighting our night sky. When you zoom out far enough, something extraordinary happens.Your problems don’t disappear.They simply find their proper size.Drawing from my background studying theology, years of recovery, trauma work, and my own search for meaning, we’ll explore what science, spirituality, and awe have in common, and why remembering how small we are can actually make us feel more connected instead of less.This isn’t about escaping reality.It’s about expanding it.If you’ve been overwhelmed, exhausted, grieving, or feeling trapped inside your own mind, this conversation is an invitation to look up.Sometimes the perspective we’ve been searching for has been above us all along.Welcome to the Edge.www.lisalacy.com#Menopause #Spirituality #Consciousness #Perspective #Healing #Energy #TraumaRecovery #Mindset #PersonalGrowth #NotesFromTheEdge #MidnightMenopausalMeanderings #LisaLacy
Notes from the Edge with Lisa LacyHuman conversations about trauma, identity, recovery, reinvention, relationships, leadership, and the lives we build after survival.
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

When Your Body Becomes A Stranger Jun 28, 2026

Show notes

What happens when the body you’ve lived in for 50 years suddenly doesn’t feel like home?This isn’t just a conversation about menopause. It’s a conversation about identity.In this deeply personal solo episode of Notes From the Edge, Lisa Lacy explores the grief of watching your body change, the unexpected humor that helps us survive it, and the profound psychological shift that happens when you no longer recognize the person staring back at you in the mirror.From hot flashes and sleepless nights to changing curves, aching joints, brain fog, and the emotional impact of losing the body you once knew, this episode is an honest reflection on what so many women experience but few feel safe enough to say out loud.Lisa also shares her own journey through surgical menopause after an unexpected oophorectomy, navigating those changes while living with a life-threatening congenital clotting disorder that makes hormone replacement therapy impossible.This isn’t a medical lecture.It’s a late-night conversation about grief, resilience, humor, self-compassion, and learning to make peace with a body that is still carrying you forward.If you’ve ever looked in the mirror and thought, Who is this woman?, this episode is for you.Welcome to the conversation.Welcome to the edge.www.lisalacy.com Notes from the Edge with Lisa LacyHuman conversations about trauma, identity, recovery, reinvention, relationships, leadership, and the lives we build after survival.
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The Hidden Cost of Keeping Score Jun 28, 2026

Show notes

Lessons for Lisa: Notes to My Future Self is a reflective solo series under the Notes From the Edge podcast umbrella.These aren’t lectures.They aren’t polished TED Talks.They’re honest conversations with the woman I’m still becoming.Each episode is a letter to my future self, exploring the lessons I’m learning in real time about healing, identity, recovery, relationships, resilience, and what it means to keep choosing growth over performance.In Episode 001, The Hidden Cost of Keeping Score, I explore the emotional ledger so many of us carry.The people who never apologized.The conversations we keep replaying.The betrayals we can’t seem to release.The silent calculations that quietly steal our peace.What if letting go isn’t about saying what happened was okay?What if it isn’t permission, approval, or forgetting?What if it’s simply deciding that yesterday no longer gets to write today’s story?If you’ve ever found yourself replaying old conversations, carrying resentment, or struggling to release what someone else never acknowledged, this conversation is for you.Welcome to Lessons for Lisa: Notes to My Future Self.Perhaps you’ll find a few notes to your future self along the way.Welcome to the Edge. —Notes From the Edge is a podcast exploring trauma, psychology, identity, recovery, leadership, creativity, and what it means to be fully human through honest conversations and reflective storytelling.Connect with Lisa Lacy Website: www.lisalacy.com LinkedIn: https://linkedin/in/lisalacycalm/
Notes from the Edge with Lisa LacyHuman conversations about trauma, identity, recovery, reinvention, relationships, leadership, and the lives we build after survival.
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Midnight Menopausal Meanderings: It was Never about the Biscuits & Gravy Jun 28, 2026

Show notes

Welcome to the first episode of Midnight Menopausal Meanderings, a new recurring series under the Notes From the Edge umbrella.
This series is where the polished masks come off. It’s part storytelling, part philosophy, part neuroscience, part marriage counseling you didn’t ask for, and occasionally… it starts with something as ridiculous as biscuits and gravy.
In this deeply personal solo episode of Notes From the Edge, Lisa Lacy explores what happens when two people in recovery, both neurodivergent creatives, both living with mental health challenges, try to build a life together while carrying very different histories.This isn’t really about biscuits and gravy.It’s about survival, menopause, addiction and recovery, love after trauma, a 16-year age gap, living with life-threatening illness and about the strange ways ordinary disagreements uncover extraordinary truths.Sometimes the people we love most become our greatest teachers, not because they’re easy to live with, but because they illuminate the places where we still have healing to do.This episode is a reminder that the real conversation is almost never the one we think we’re having.Where ordinary moments become extraordinary conversations, and where healing often begins with asking a better question.Welcome to the Edge.www.lisalacy.com Notes from the Edge with Lisa LacyHuman conversations about trauma, identity, recovery, reinvention, relationships, leadership, and the lives we build after survival.
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The Biology of Trust After Betrayal Jun 28, 2026

Show notes

Why is it so hard to trust again after betrayal, even when you know the danger has passed?In this episode of Notes From the Edge, Lisa Lacy explores the biology of betrayal and why healing is about so much more than “letting it go.”Together, we’ll explore:
• Why trust is a biological prediction, not just an emotion
• What happens inside the brain and body after betrayal
• Why attachment and fear can exist at the same time
• How survival strategies become identities
• Why hypervigilance, people-pleasing, and emotional numbness are often adaptations rather than personality traits
• How trust can be rebuilt one safe experience at a timeIf you’ve ever questioned yourself after infidelity, emotional abuse, manipulation, or repeated violations of trust, this conversation is for you.You are not broken.Your survival system has simply been trying protect you. What did you perform in order to survive?These are the conversations we should have been having all along.Welcome to the Edge.www.lisalacy.com Notes from the Edge with Lisa LacyHuman conversations about trauma, identity, recovery, reinvention, relationships, leadership, and the lives we build after survival.
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The Courage to Be Seen: What Healing Really Asks of Us Jun 27, 2026

Show notes

What if healing isn’t about becoming someone new?What if it’s about having the courage to finally tell yourself the truth?In this episode of Notes From the Edge, Lisa Lacy sits down with counselor Teddy Engels for a thoughtful conversation about self-awareness, personal responsibility, and the questions that shape our lives. Together they explore what it means to know yourself without judgment, why curiosity is more powerful than certainty, and how genuine healing begins when we stop trying to be fixed and start becoming fully seen.Rather than offering easy answers, this conversation invites listeners to ask better questions about who they are, what they’re carrying, and what they’re ready to release.If you’ve ever wondered what real personal work looks like, this episode is an invitation to begin.In this episode:
• What it really means to know yourself
• Why healing starts with curiosity instead of judgment
• The difference between being “fixed” and being understood
• What we should expect from therapy and from ourselves
• How honesty creates lasting transformation
• Lisa’s signature question: “What did you perform in order to survive?”www.lisalacy.comAbout Notes From the EdgeThese are the conversations we should have been having all along.Hosted by Lisa Lacy, writer, trauma educator, and executive advisor, Notes From the Edge explores trauma, identity, recovery, leadership, and the psychology of performing our lives.Subscribe for new conversations that challenge assumptions, inspire reflection, and invite you to stop performing your life.™
Teddy Engels | LinkedIn
Notes from the Edge with Lisa LacyHuman conversations about trauma, identity, recovery, reinvention, relationships, leadership, and the lives we build after survival.
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The Masks We Wear: Identity, Narcissism & What We Perform to Survive Jun 27, 2026

Show notes

Welcome to another episode of Notes From the Edge.In this unscripted solo conversation, Lisa Lacy explores the masks we wear to survive and the identities we often mistake for who we really are.From mom guilt and relationships to the growing misuse of the term “narcissist,” Lisa challenges listeners to look beneath the labels and ask deeper questions. Why do we perform certain roles? What happens when survival becomes identity? And how do we begin returning to ourselves?This episode is part reflection, part conversation, and part invitation to become curious about the stories we’ve been telling ourselves.In this episode we explore:

Why we overuse psychological labels
Mom guilt and carrying responsibility that isn’t ours alone
The difference between survival and identity
The masks we wear in relationships and at work
Finding congruence instead of performance
The question that sits at the heart of Notes From the Edge:

What did you perform in order to survive?If this conversation resonates with you, subscribe, share it with someone who needs to hear it, and join us live for future episodes where we have the conversations we should have been having all along.Welcome to the Edge.www.lisalacy.com
Notes from the Edge with Lisa LacyHuman conversations about trauma, identity, recovery, reinvention, relationships, leadership, and the lives we build after survival.
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

What Men Don’t Say: Breaking the Trauma Bond Cycle Jun 25, 2026

Show notes

Why do so many intelligent, capable people stay trapped in relationships that continue to hurt them?In this episode of Notes From the Edge, Lisa Lacy sits down with Steve Barton to explore trauma bonds through the often-overlooked male perspective. Together, they unpack how childhood conditioning, identity, fear, shame, and the need to earn love can keep people locked in unhealthy relationship patterns long after they know they need to leave.Steve introduces his Game of Ten® framework, explaining how awareness becomes entangled with fear, self-doubt, guilt, and shame, and how healing begins not by finding a different relationship, but by returning to ourselves. The conversation expands beyond romantic relationships into leadership, personal growth, recovery, and the stories we tell ourselves to survive. If you’ve ever asked yourself:• Why is it so hard to leave?
• Why do I keep repeating the same patterns?
• What did I learn about love that no longer serves me?
• What did I perform in order to survive?…this conversation is for you.Website: www.stevebartoncoaching.comWebsite: www.lisalacy.comLisa Lacy is a writer, trauma educator, executive advisor, and host of Notes From the Edge, where we explore the conversations we should have been having all along. Her work focuses on high-functioning survival, identity, leadership, recovery, and the hidden performances people develop to navigate difficult environments.If this episode resonated with you, please subscribe, leave a review, and share it with someone who may need to hear it.Until next time… stop performing your life, tell the truth about your story, and we’ll meet you back here on the edge.Connect with Steve BartonConnect with Lisa Lacy
Notes from the Edge with Lisa LacyHuman conversations about trauma, identity, recovery, reinvention, relationships, leadership, and the lives we build after survival.
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Our TOPPODCAST Picks

Follow Us

Stay Connected

Related Podcasts

Links

Stay Connected

Our TOPPODCAST Picks

Follow Us

Stay Connected

Notes from the Edge

Related Podcasts

1

2

3

4

5

6