“It requires not just momentary bravery, but sustained courage”

John Dickerson:

In this series, I seek to reclaim risk. I want to remind myself—and you—of the buoyant, thrilling side of risk, and I will do it by telling the stories of people who embrace risk and who live with the fear, exhilaration, and ambiguity it creates without shirking. People engaged in every kind of human endeavor say that taking risks is the key to fulfillment and success. It is at the heart of our biggest thrills and proudest achievements. Ask someone when she felt most alive and she'll tell you a story about a risk she took….

Dickerson is doing a series on risk at Slate. He says:

As I came to realize [in researching for these stories], risk-taking is not just about a single big leap. It requires not just momentary bravery, but sustained courage to endure uncertainty and the sometimes lonely experience of living off your imagination and off an idea that may not succeed….Risk-taking as nourishment for the soul might sound like a New Age idea, but it is a fundamental American principle, with us since the nation's earliest days. Alexis de Tocqueville wrote, "Those living in the instability of a democracy have the constant image of chance before them, and in the end, they come to like all those projects in which chance plays a part … not only because of the promise of profit but because they like the emotions evoked."

First up, a story on two rock climbers in a job that paralyzes most folks in fright. Appropriate title: “Up.”

This should be a good series. At middle age, I can use it.