LEAD June 2025 | Page 24

OVERTHINKING IS AN ORANGE SAFETY CONE

Mary Marantz

I once heard a speaker at a conference say,“ You leaped the first time. But will you leap again the next time the ledge comes back around?”
For the life of me, I don’ t remember a single other thing he said in his talk. I don’ t remember what he was wearing. Or what the room looked like. I don’ t know if he was using notes or winging it, had a handheld mic or a lavalier. I couldn’ t tell you what kind of chair I was sitting in, what my own outfit looked like, or what day of the week it was. I honestly couldn’ t even tell you if it was a
quick thirty-minute talk or a full two hours.
But for the last fifteen years or so since I first heard him say it, I haven’ t been able to get that one line out of my head.
Will you leap again the next time the ledge comes back around?
Sitting in that room( whatever it looked like), shifting uncomfortably( in whatever kind of chair it was), I also remember exactly how I felt.
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