I've been writing as long as I can remember. Even when I was only drawing, I would make up stories for the pictures that I drew. Even before I understood how to properly converse with people, I understood that stories were meant to connect to people, to make them understand and feel something.

This basic lesson came back to me this weekend, after I saw Keith Urban live. This concert has been on my bucket list for years, and it went beyond every expectation I ever had. There were times when I was jumping up and down, screaming lyrics to songs I've known most of my life or brand new ones I'd learned the lyrics to within the past few weeks.

Then there were times when I was standing completely still, hand over my heart, lost in the experience that I've wanted for years and finally had. I screamed so much my throat was raw when I woke up the next morning. On an emotional high for two whole days despite feeling mentally and physically exhausted for most of it.

It's safe to say that this experience was amazing.

I stayed over a friend's house the night after the concert, and despite my never-ending ramblings, I didn't get many responses past "Oh, cool" or "That's awesome."

I went to work Monday morning and was asked how the concert was. After "Really good," I got given an "Oh, cool. I'm glad," and the conversation died right there, never to be picked up again. I'd been talking about this for months, and these people couldn't even remember the name of the artist that I saw.

As that day went on, all I could think about when I wasn't working was that I had failed. I had stories to tell, but no one wanted to hear them. If they heard them, they didn't understand them. I was failing as a storyteller because I couldn't get these stories across in a way that made people listen, care, or feel anything.

Much later in the night, though, it occurred to me: I was not the one at fault, but the event itself was.

There are certain things that can only truly be understood if they are experienced firsthand. You can try your hardest, but you can't truly convey what hearing thousands of people sing a song back to an artist sounds like. You can repeat all the inside jokes, but they lose their humor when repeated in only one voice.

As writers and as people in general, our whole lives are spent trying to connect with people. We want love. We want connection. We want to know that we're not alone.

It's so rare, though, that we are told that the fault isn't with us but with the story that we are trying to tell.

So take it from me: it's not your fault if some of your stories don't hit their mark. Only worry if every story you have falls flat.