Where is the line between empathy and self-erasure?

I sat down with my dear friend Alys Crocker - actress, yoga teacher, and one of the most emotionally resilient humans I know - to talk about something we both know too well: being the person who absorbs everyone’s feelings in the room.

Alys is gifted - she can read energy, mediate chaos, and even find compassion for the villain. But, like many of us, she learned the hard way that you can’t control your way to safety. In this episode we dive into the emotional cost of being the fixer, the feeler, and the one who takes on everything.

🎙️ You’ll hear about:

🩷 Why being indecisive might actually be your superpower

🩷 The sun and moon dynamic in relationships

🩷 How childhood survival mechanisms shape the way we navigate our careers

🩷 The difference between controlling people’s emotions and being emotionally available

🩷 Rejection, competition, and everyone thinking they can do it

🩷 What it takes to play a villain with compassion (and how that skill translates to real life)

🩷 How you can actually help your loved ones in a crisis

⏱️ Timestamps:

00:00:00 – Why interview your friends

00:05:26 – Podcasting is the new acting

00:14:03 – The sun and moon dynamic

00:26:13 – Alys won’t date actors

00:38:45 – Mediating other people's feelings

00:52:17 – The toxic side of “holding space”

01:06:33 – Black and white thinkers

01:09:10 – Playing villains with compassion

01:12:23 – Helped, heard, or hugged?

🌸 If this episode made you question how you show up for the people you love (or how tightly you're gripping the reins), hit SUBSCRIBE and drop your favorite moment in the comments below.

🔗 Get in touch with me:

🎬 YouTube: On The Same Paige with Paige Leacey

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

🎧 Spotify: On The Same Paige with Paige Leacey

https://open.spotify.com/show/4sVFkvFcj3DW1wuVZuGd4U?si=af98abe607fb4c1a

🍎 Apple: On The Same Paige with Paige Leacey

https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/on-the-same-paige-with-paige-leacey/id1573526370

💌 Come be part of a community of smart, self-aware, wisdom seeking women:

https://paigeleacey.substack.com

📸 Instagram: @samepaige__

✨ TikTok: @samepaige__

🔗 Get in touch with Alys Crocker:

@alyscrocker