Fascinated by stories for as long as I can remember, there’s never been a time when I didn’t wish to write well—first, to craft stories of my own, and as I grew older, to share the depths of stories I might hear. Inspired by National Geographic Magazine in my youth, the beautiful photography and long-form articles about the far reaches of the earth sang to me in a way that felt specific and idyllic.

Yet, as too often happens with youthful dreams, other passions took hold and I let go of my dream to tell stories of far-off lands and the people, places, animals and events in them.

… Or, so I thought.

Truth be told, my dream to capture life and share it merely transformed within me as I quietly experienced and witnessed life around me. Journaling, writing poetry and eventually creating one blog after another, I finally felt strong enough to share with the world a style of vivid recollection I call “experiential writing.”

It is this ability to listen, to be quiet and to ask questions when pertinent, that creates in me the possibility of sharing moments in such crisp detail that, as some remark, makes my readers feel as if they’ve slipped into my place, experiencing the very sensations of which I write.

Once, I was told that one has to live to be able to write.

I would pair with that the even more important rule:

One must be able to be quiet, to feel and acknowledge everything in a moment, to truly write experientially.

— Meredith L. McGuire McConn