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Circles | Edges

Circles | Edges

Written by: Aaron Tabacco
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About this listen

 Circles | Edges is a reflective podcast exploring the patterns that shape our lives and the moments when those patterns invite us to pause, choose, and change. Hosted by Aaron Tabacco, the show explores two fundamental dimensions of human experience. The circles are the rhythms we move within each day — habits, relationships, seasons, rituals, and familiar ways of being. The edges are the thresholds: moments of transition, boundary, and decision where something new becomes possible. Recorded in an old-school, late night talk radio style, Circles|Edges blends solitary reflection with live listener presence. Each episode opens with a contemplative monologue and expands through real-time questions, shared reflections, and moments of collective inquiry. This is not a guide or a set of answers. Circles|Edges is a place to slow down, listen inward, and sit with the questions that shape who we are and who we are becoming; of deciding the life and world we truly want to inhabit and then find the strength to make it so. It is a space where we connect to feel seen and heard, human to human.Copyright 2026 Aaron Tabacco Hygiene & Healthy Living Philosophy Psychology Psychology & Mental Health Self-Help Social Sciences Success
Episodes
  • Rings of Fellowship | 005

    Rings of Fellowship | 005
    Apr 25 2026
    In a quiet room lit by candlelight and softened by rain, this episode invites you to settle into the living rhythm of friendship as something more than connection, something closer to a shared becoming. Drawing from moments of reunion, long-held bonds, and a story that didn’t last, the conversation gently explores how the circles of fellowship shape us over time. There is a sense of returning here, to people who have known us across seasons, and also a quiet reckoning with the edges they reveal in us. What does it mean to truly tend a friendship, not just name it? What do we learn when a relationship asks more of us than we can give, or reflects something we are not yet ready to face? Moving between memory, story, and reflection, this episode becomes a space to notice who walks beside you, who has fallen away, and how each connection has quietly shaped your path. It is an invitation to sit with gratitude, to feel the weight and warmth of belonging, and to consider how friendship, when deeply lived, becomes one of the most powerful forces in who we are becoming.Invitations to Consider:The idea that friendship is not just connection but “tending what we tame,” requiring care, presence, and reciprocityHow friends act as companions of emergence, shaping who we become beyond our family of originThe evolving nature of friendship circles, including growth, distance, repair, and renewalA deeply personal story illustrating how friendships can expose moral boundaries and identity edgesThe concept of fellowship as shared investment, drawn from both personal reflection and literary influenceAbout Aaron:Aaron Tabacco, PhD, has spent more than thirty years guiding people through growth and change, often in complex and high-stakes environments. He currently serves as the Director of Staff Experience at a major academic health sciences university. With a background spanning nursing, neuroscience, education, coaching, and mediation, his work centers on helping individuals and organizations navigate identity, connection, and transformation with greater clarity and care.Known for his grounded presence and compassionate communication, Aaron works with students, clinicians, faculty, executives, and senior leaders across healthcare and other industries. His approach integrates relational depth, reflective practice, and a commitment to creating more humane, integrated ways of working and living. He works in San Francisco, California, and lives in Vancouver, Washington, where he continues a lifelong engagement with writing, music, and the landscapes of the Pacific Northwest alongside his husband and three adult sons.https://www.linkedin.com/in/aaron-tabacco-phd-83359b9/https://lucusgroup.com/homehttps://substack.com/@aarontabacco?r=b5ap9&utm_medium=ioshttps://www.youtube.com/@CirclesEdgesEmail: aaron@circlesedges.orgThanks for listening!Thanks so much for listening to our podcast! If you enjoyed this episode and think that others could benefit from listening, please share it using the social media buttons on this page.Do you have some feedback or questions about this episode? Leave a comment in the section below!Subscribe to the podcastIf you would like to get automatic updates of new podcast episodes, you can follow the podcast on Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcast app.Leave us an Apple Podcasts reviewRatings and reviews from our listeners are extremely valuable to us and greatly appreciated. They help our podcast rank higher on Apple Podcasts, which exposes our show to more awesome listeners like you. If you are enjoying the show, please leave us a review on Apple Podcasts.This show was brought to you in part by the Magic Thread Media Network. To learn more visit: https://magicthreadmedia.com/
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    57 mins
  • Origin Stories | 004

    Origin Stories | 004
    Mar 26 2026

    There are moments when a stranger’s story feels like a mirror, quietly revealing something we’ve carried for years without naming. In this episode, Aaron invites us into the layered terrain of family origin stories, where identity, belonging, and inherited narratives begin to take shape long before we have language for them. Through a deeply human encounter and a series of gentle questions, the conversation settles into the quiet realization that much of who we believe ourselves to be may not have been chosen at all. As the night unfolds, listeners are asked to sit with the stories they’ve lived, the roles they’ve carried, and the subtle edges where those inherited patterns begin to soften, shift, or ask for release.

    Invitations to Consider:

    • A powerful real-life encounter that opens the doorway into reflecting on human resilience and chosen identity
    • How family origin stories shape identity, often before we are aware of it
    • The role of belonging, attachment, and emotional conditioning in early development
    • The hidden influence of family roles, myths, and power structures on adult life
    • The possibility of rewriting inherited narratives and choosing new ways of being

    About Aaron:

    Aaron Tabacco, PhD, has spent more than thirty years guiding people through growth and change, often in complex and high-stakes environments. He currently serves as the Director of Staff Experience at a major academic health sciences university. With a background spanning nursing, neuroscience, education, coaching, and mediation, his work centers on helping individuals and organizations navigate identity, connection, and transformation with greater clarity and care.

    Known for his grounded presence and compassionate communication, Aaron works with students, clinicians, faculty, executives, and senior leaders across healthcare and other industries. His approach integrates relational depth, reflective practice, and a commitment to creating more humane, integrated ways of working and living. He works in San Francisco, California, and lives in Vancouver, Washington, where he continues a lifelong engagement with writing, music, and the landscapes of the Pacific Northwest alongside his husband and three adult sons.

    https://www.linkedin.com/in/aaron-tabacco-phd-83359b9/

    https://lucusgroup.com/home

    https://substack.com/@aarontabacco?r=b5ap9&utm_medium=ios

    https://www.youtube.com/@CirclesEdges

    Email: aaron@circlesedges.org

    Thanks for listening!

    Thanks so much for listening to our podcast! If you enjoyed this episode and think that others could benefit from listening, please share it using the social media buttons on this page.

    Do you have some feedback or questions about this episode? Leave a comment in the section below!

    Subscribe to the podcast

    If you would like to get automatic updates of new podcast episodes, you can follow the podcast on Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcast app.

    Leave us an Apple Podcasts review

    Ratings and reviews from our listeners are extremely valuable to us and greatly appreciated. They help our podcast rank higher on Apple Podcasts, which exposes our show to more awesome listeners like you. If you are enjoying the show, please leave us a review on Apple Podcasts.

    This show was brought to you in part by the Magic Thread Media Network. To learn more visit: https://magicthreadmedia.com/
    Show More Show Less
    54 mins
  • “Fix”-ation | 003

    “Fix”-ation | 003
    Feb 26 2026

    Email: aaron@circlesedges.org

    There are moments when the world feels heavy with brokenness, when problems gather around us and something inside wants to move quickly toward repair. Aaron gently lingers in that space, exploring the quiet pull to become the fixer in every room. With steady presence and thoughtful questioning, he invites us to notice the subtle line between compassionate presence and identity built on being needed. What happens when helping becomes who we are? What tightens inside us when conflict appears, and what softens when we choose to sit with discomfort instead of controlling it? Through reflections on burnout, empathic distress, and relational tension, Aaron opens a path toward deeper self-awareness and spiritual growth. Rather than rejecting service, he encourages a more spacious way of showing up, one rooted in wholeness instead of fear. The conversation settles into a simple but profound question: who are you if you are not fixing?

    Invitations to Consider:

    • The difference between fixing as control and presence as companionship in service.
    • How empathic distress can drive reactive helping behaviors.
    • The emotional cost of attaching identity and self-worth to being needed.
    • Why sitting with discomfort can deepen relationships and reveal truth.
    • The societal consequences of collective “fixing” rooted in fear rather than awareness.

    About Aaron:

    Aaron Tabacco, PhD, has spent more than thirty years guiding people through growth and change, often in complex and high-stakes environments. He currently serves as the Director of Staff Experience at a major academic health sciences university. With a background spanning nursing, neuroscience, education, coaching, and mediation, his work centers on helping individuals and organizations navigate identity, connection, and transformation with greater clarity and care.

    Known for his grounded presence and compassionate communication, Aaron works with students, clinicians, faculty, executives, and senior leaders across healthcare and other industries. His approach integrates relational depth, reflective practice, and a commitment to creating more humane, integrated ways of working and living. He works in San Francisco, California, and lives in Vancouver, Washington, where he continues a lifelong engagement with writing, music, and the landscapes of the Pacific Northwest alongside his husband and three adult sons.

    https://www.linkedin.com/in/aaron-tabacco-phd-83359b9/

    https://lucusgroup.com/home

    https://substack.com/@aarontabacco?r=b5ap9&utm_medium=ios

    https://www.youtube.com/@CirclesEdges

    Email: aaron@circlesedges.org

    Thanks for listening!

    Thanks so much for listening to our podcast! If you enjoyed this episode and think that others could benefit from listening, please share it using the social media buttons on this page.

    Do you have some feedback or questions about this episode? Leave a comment in the section below!

    Subscribe to the podcast

    If you would like to get automatic updates of new podcast episodes, you can follow the podcast on Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcast app.

    Leave us an Apple Podcasts review

    Ratings and reviews from our listeners are extremely valuable to us and greatly appreciated. They help our podcast rank higher on Apple Podcasts, which exposes our show to more awesome listeners like you. If you are enjoying the show, please leave us a review on Apple Podcasts.

    This show was brought to you in part by the Magic Thread Media Network. To learn more visit: https://magicthreadmedia.com/
    Show More Show Less
    50 mins
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