Trusting Your Senses To Tell Your Story

By Barbara Kaplan Lane

“When an old person dies, a library burns to the ground.” (African proverb)

Sometimes we hesitate to write about our lives because we think they’re not interesting or that no one will be able to relate to them. The great English novelist, E.M. Forster, famously said, “Only connect.” Why are we here, if not to try to connect with other human beings?

Writing personal narrative or memoir is humbling. We don’t often have scintillating experiences to share, and that...